18 And when they had been cast into prison three days, there came many lawyers, and judges, and priests, and teachers, who were of the profession of Nehor; and they came in unto the prison to see them, and they questioned them about many words; but they answered them nothing.
19 And it came to pass that the judge stood before them, and said: Why do ye not answer the words of this people? Know ye not that I have power to deliver you up unto the flames? And he commanded them to speak; but they answered nothing.
20 And it came to pass that they departed and went their ways, but came again on the morrow; and the judge also smote them again on their cheeks. And many came forth also, and smote them, saying: Will ye stand again and judge this people, and condemn our law? If ye have such great power why do ye not deliver yourselves?
21 And many such things did they say unto them, gnashing their teeth upon them, and spitting upon them, and saying: How shall we look when we are damned?
22 And many such things, yea, all manner of such things did they say unto them; and thus they did mock them for many days. And they did withhold food from them that they might hunger, and water that they might thirst; and they also did take from them their clothes that they were naked; and thus they were bound with strong cords, and confined in prison.
Alma 14:18-22 (Emphasis mine)
Alma(2) and Amulek were thrown in jail and were abused by their captors. Food and water were withheld from them. They were bound. They were naked. They were mocked. They were treated as though they were in a zoo; they were on display.
All this time, lawyers, judges, priests, and teachers came and questioned them. They mocked them. But they remained silent.
This had to anger these arrogant people. Didn’t they realize who they were? They were the leaders and most important people in their society. They had power over them. A judge reminded them that he could have them burned. They were physically abused. They were spat on.
If they were so powerful, why hadn’t they freed themselves? They couldn’t do it (or so they believed). They believed they had total control over Alma(2) and Amulek, yet they refused to answer and respond to them.
This mocking is reminiscent of what Christ suffered on the cross. He, too, was mocked by the wicked.
39 ¶ And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Matthew 27:39-43 (Emphasis mine)
Daniel C. Peterson once commented on the tone found in a message board with comments written by those who oppose the Church. He likened them to those who were persecuting Alma(2) and Amulek.
“Contemplating a depressing number of the posters on that board, I have thought to myself, ‘If this is what liberation from the Mormon “myth” makes you—a vulgar and sometimes duplicitous crank, cackling with malice and spite—then I would prefer to spend the few brief years left to me (before I dissolve into the irreversible and never-ending oblivion many of the board's atheistic contributors prophesy for me and all humankind) with people who have not been liberated.’ I think of the apostates of Ammonihah, mocking Alma and Amulek in prison, ‘gnashing their teeth upon them, and spitting upon them, and saying: How shall we look when we are damned?’ (Alma 14:21). Surely the damned will not look much different from this.” [1] (Emphasis mine)
23 And it came to pass after they had thus suffered for many days, (and it was on the twelfth day, in the tenth month, in the tenth year [81 B.C.] of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) that the chief judge over the land of Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords.
24 And the chief judge stood before them, and smote them again, and said unto them: If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words.
Alma 14:23-24 (Emphasis mine)
The persecution continued. Then a day came when the chief judge and many others came and continued the persecution. He demanded they free themselves and only then would they believe their words.
38 ¶ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:38-40 (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley comments:
“Well, here's the old chestnut [in verse 24]: ‘If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands.’ They asked Jesus to bring himself down from the cross if he could. And, of course, they asked for a sign. They all went forth and smote them again, and this routine went on until Alma and Amulek had had about enough.” [2] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Reflections on Secular Anti-Mormonism, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 6, 2011.
[2] Lecture 50: Alma 14-17, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed November 6, 2011.
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