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Book of Mormon Commentary
Alma Chapter 17
ALMA TELLS HELAMAN OF HIS CONVERSION, VER. 1-30
Alma 17:3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold thou art in thy youth, and therefore I beseech of thee
that thou wilt hear my words, and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God,
shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last
day;
Alma was getting old, and felt the time had come to counsel and bless his sons, beginning with
Helaman, the oldest (16:84). He started by giving a prophecy that ''as ye shall keep the
commandments of God, ye shall prosper in the land" (1). Next he reminded him of the deliverance
of their fathers from Egyptian bondage by the power of God (2).
He assures Helaman that his knowledge of God's ways is not of himself, temporal, nor of the
carnal mind, but is of the Spirit and of God, for he had been "born of God" (Mos. 3:9). An angel
"made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself" (5).
Alma 17:7 But behold, the voice said unto me, Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel.
And he said unto me, If thou wilt not of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.
Alma then begins the narrative of his conversion. An earthquake had thrown Alma to the ground,
and he was speechless and unable to use his limbs three days and three nights (6, 8). His soul was
"racked with eternal torment," and he says, "I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I
was tormented with the pains of hell (10) The very thoughts of coming into the presence of my
God, did rack my soul with inexpressible horror” (12).
Alma 17:16 Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart, O Jesus, thou Son
of God, have mercy on me, who art in the gall of bitterness, and art encircled about by the everlasting
chains of death.
With the utterance of, this prayer, he Says he could "remember my pains no more, ... and what
marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain" (17,
18). He testified that he thought he saw "God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless
concourses of angels" (20). "Because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many
have been born of God, and have tasted, as I have tasted" (23).
Alma 17:25 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of
afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put
my trust in him, and he will still deliver me;
This deliverance he likens to God's liberation of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Then he warns
Helaman that if he should fail to keep God's commandments, “ye shall be cut off from his
presence” (30).