Redaction: Mormon quotes the Zoramite prayer or worship statement offered from the Rameumptom (v. 20), which Alma doubtless recorded easily after hearing it repeated many times.
The Zoramite prayer begins by defining God: “thou wast a spirit, and… thou art a spirit, and… thou wilt be a spirit forever.” This statement logically precedes the statement, “there shall be no Christ” (v. 16). They see Yahweh as an eternal spirit because they deny the Nephite teaching that Yahweh (Christ’s premortal name) would come to earth and take a body. The Zoramites not only define their belief but contrast it to the Nephite beliefs they have rejected.
Culture: Standing on the Rameumptom, the Zoramites “stretch forth… hands towards heaven.” Not only their prayer is ritualized but also their posture and gestures. Nibley notes: “This is the way they would go. They would go on the top and stretch forth their hands to heaven. That’s the hallel gesture, which you find anciently everywhere. It gave us the Hebrew letter h.… You see it on jars, vases, rocks, glyphs, etc.”