Bitter and sweet

2 Nephi 2 is known as Lehi's discourse on an "opposition in all things". He says

it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. (2 Nephi 2:15)

Curiously, Lehi changes the order when he refers to the taste of the fruit. It is of course the forbidden fruit (mentioned first) that is bitter (mentioned last) and the tree of life that is sweet. Lehi would know. He got to taste the fruit of the tree of life in a dream and described it as

most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. (1 Nephi 8:11)

So Lehi's statement in 2 Nephi 2 is structured chiastically

the forbidden fruit in opposition to 

     the tree of life; 

     the one being sweet 

and the other bitter

A much more complex and well-know chiasmus is also playing on the sweet and bitter opposites, namely Alma 36.

Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. (Alma 36:21)

An antithetic parallelism in the middle of that long chiasmus. In a previous blog post, I speculated that Alma and other prophet's description of "tasting" joy, love and light are references to the tree of life. His talk of bitter and sweet makes me even more sure. There are a few other verses in the scriptures talking about this contrast and they typically connect to the Garden of Eden

39 And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet—
40 Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment (L&P 29)

53 And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
54 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.
55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. (Moses 6)

So I'm making the case that Alma with his talk of bitter and sweet in Alma 36:21 was referring to 2 Nephi 2 and the symbolism of the two trees. In the next verse he quotes 1 Nephi 1:8 verbatim

Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there. (Alma 36:22)

Let's also have a look at the next 4 verses

23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.
24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;
26 For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.

Compare with 1 Nephi 8:11-12

11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.
12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.

Based on all this it is easy to imagine that Alma is teaching his son, Helaman, from the small plates. He uses Lehi's teachings and the tree symbolism in the Garden of Eden to relate his own conversion story. In particular, I noted a this part of verse 24

that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste

As I have mentioned on this blog before, repentance in Hebrew ('shuv') literally means to turn around. The underlying idea is to walk back to the original state in the Garden of Eden, to God's presence, from which they were cast out because of sin.

Not only Adam tasted the bitter. Adam is Hebrew for 'mankind'. We all taste the bitter according to the plan of salvation. But through repentance, we can turn around and partake of the sweet fruit of the tree of life. It was originally blocked by cherubim and a flaming sword because 'mankind' needed to taste the bitter first. But Alma is teaching Helaman that when we have tasted the bitter fruit that this life inevitably offers, we can repent, cry out for mercy and taste the sweet.