What does “cross yourself” mean?

Thomas R. Valletta

“The phrase ‘cross yourself,’ as used in Alma 39:9, is not familiar to us today. However, in Webster’s 1828 dictionary, we find the following helpful definitions that relate to Alma’s counsel to his son: ‘To erase, to cancel, to counteract, to stop, to preclude’ (Noah Webster’s first edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828). All of these actions apply well to what one must do to avoid moral transgression, the topic Alma was teaching his son Corianton. Refer also to the footnote for Alma 39:9b, which refers to self-mastery” (Book of Mormon Student Manual [2009], 62).

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