The Age of Alma the Younger
In Sunday School yesterday the following question was
asked: How old was Alma the Younger when he was stopped by the angel? Typically we think of him as being pretty
young—I think the image I’ve had in my head was that he was maybe late teens or
early 20s, probably mainly due to the animated videos I watched as a kid that
show him as the local rowdy teenager. The
text does not give us his age, but what we do know seems to suggest that he was
probably older. We know that Alma the
Elder died around 91 BC at the age of 82 (see Mosiah 29:45). Alma the Younger’s experience with the angel
happened sometime between 100 BC to 92 BC according to the chapter heading of
Mosiah 27, so it was at most 9 years before Alma the Elder died. That means that Alma the Elder was at least
73 years old when the angel came to Alma the Younger. For Alma the Younger to have been only 20 at
that time would have meant that he was born when his father was in his 50s,
which probably isn’t that likely.
We
know a little bit more about the life of Alma the Elder which might help us
understand his son. He was teaching the people
at the waters of Mormon around 145 BC, which would have put him at about 28
years of age. It seems unlikely that he
had had any children at this point, but then the next 25 years or so he lived
in the city of Helam. He left there at
the age of 53 to return to Zarahemla in their miraculous escape, and so he
spent his last thirty years or so at the head of the Church in Zarahemla. So Alma the Younger was probably born
sometime while his father was in the city of Helam. He spent the last 20 years or so of his life
preaching the gospel since he was taken up like Moses in about 73 BC—those were
a busy 20 years given how much he accomplished that is recorded in Alma
1-45. At any rate, all of this suggests
that Alma was more likely 30 or 40 when he was visited by the angel and called
to repentance.
So
what does it matter? It doesn’t really,
but perhaps the one thing an understanding of these circumstances gives us is
hope in repentance. It’s more amazing to
think that Alma the Younger was 30 or 40 when he chose to repent and completely
change his life around. That makes the
story all the more incredible to me to think that even at that age he could
soften his heart and repent completely.
The older we get it seems the harder it is to change, but knowing that
Alma the Younger likely wasn’t very young at all when he changed his ways
completely gives us hope that anyone—no matter the age—can repent and forsake
their evil ways.
When you say "It seems unlikely that he had had any children at this point," is this simply because it is unthinkable that a) fleeing a military would cause someone to need to leave their young children, or b) that any wife Alma would have had would not have completely changed her life and beliefs, and trusted and followed Alma, even without the experience of hearing Abinadi?
ReplyDeleteOr do you have other information that leads you to this assumption?
I agree both that Alma (the Younger) was not Young when the angel visited him, and that this information is inspirational. I do question whether he was even older than you suppose when the angel visited him. I do sometimes wonder if this answers the 'why' of Alma's rebellion, that perhaps he was 23 or older the first time he met the father that abandoned him and his mother while a small child, and that father is hailed as a national hero for the very act that caused him to be abandoned.
It also makes me wonder if this can be an example, perhaps extreme, of the sometimes negative consequences of doing the right thing, and how God can make it right, in the end, in His own time, even if pain, heartache, embarrassment, and loss of family seem the effects of what you were inspired to do.
But I don't know, these are just questions. Do you have information leading you to this assumption?
By the way, the angel said that Alma's fathers were in captivity in both Nephi and Helam... if his mother and father were both in Helam, then when exactly were his fathers in captivity in Nephi?
Delete'Fathers' is not as specific in Hebrew cultures as it is in today's Western cultures, but it still leads, I think, to an interesting question.
Along with the comment above about fathers in captivity, I wonder if this is hinting that Alma the younger was never in captivity, hence why the Angel prompted him to think about what his father went through. The scriptures are rife with examples of men having children in their old age. I believe that Alma was similar in age to Ammon and the other sons of Mosiah. Mosiah was 33 when Alma made it to Zarahemla, so I think Alma was in his Late teens to mid 20’s when converted. At most I would say 30, but that a stretch as at 10 he would remember the land of Helam.
ReplyDeleteIf Alma the younger was 30 or 40 when converted, that'd put him at 40 or 50 when fighting Amlici and the Lamanites. I of course understand the Lord gave him power, but fighting is a young man's game. I also tend to believe he was early to mid 20's max, when converted.
ReplyDeleteI imagine him as a young adult in his early twenties. I think he would have grown up with the the sons of Mosiah.
ReplyDeleteI would think Alma would be 30-50. Considering his name was Alma, after his father, he would probably be the oldest son. The sons of Mosiah were probably younger than Alma. Alma Sr. was 19 years older than Mosiah, so I would guess the sons of Mosiah would be Younger than Alma Jr.
ReplyDelete