“When I Did Turn Unto My Closet”

Brant Gardner

Context for Alma’s discourse: These verses take the concept of place closer to the person, and farther from the city state where this clan had supposed that they must worship. In their own homes, and inside their own homes, there would be a place for worship. While in Zenos’ time and place there might have been internal structures fitting the idea of a closet, in Mesoamerica the typical farmer’s home would not have any internal structure that might fit our understanding of a closet. What they might have had, however, is a household shrine, and this verse might have been interpreted by them to indicate such a location of worship inside the home. This still fits the understanding that Alma is presenting, which is that worship of God does not depend upon the formal location for religious practices in the city center.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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