Alma commends the people for coming to him and humbly seeking answers to their questions, but before he answers their questions he wants to make sure that they came to him for the right reasons. Therefore he says:
“Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed -- yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty. Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.”