Grant H. Palmer argues that Alma the Younger is based on the Apostle Paul; Alma 12 borrows from Hebrews 3.
Grant H. Palmer, An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2003), 50–51
The story of Alma the younger seems to draw from the New Testament story of the apostle Paul as a model. Consider the following comparisons:
1. Both men were wicked before their dramatic conversion (Mosiah 27:8; 1 Tim. 1:12-13).
2. Both travelled about preaching and seeking to destroy the church of God (Alma 36:6, 14; 1 Cor. 15:9; Acts 22:4).
3. Both were persecuting the church when they saw a heavenly vision (Mosiah 27:10-11; Acts 26:11-13).
4. Their companions fell to the earth and were unable to understand the voice that spoke (Mosiah 27:12; Acts 22:9; 26:14).
5. Both were asked in vision why they persecuted the Lord (Mosiah 27:13; Acts 9:4; 22:7).
6. Both were struck dumb/blind, became helpless, and were assisted by their companions. They went without food before converting (Mosiah 27:19, 23-24 Acts 9:8-9, 18).
7. Both preached the gospel and both performed the same miracle (Mosiah 27:32; Alma 15:11; Acts 9:20; 14:10).
8. While preaching, they supported themselves by their own labors (Alma 30;32; 1 Cor. 4:12).
9. They were put in prison. After they prayed, an earthquake resulted in their bands being loosed (Alma 14:22, 26-28; 16:23, 25-26).
10. Both used the same phrases in their preaching.
To expand on point number ten, much of the language of Alma the younger’s speech in Alma 12-13 is reminiscent of Hebrews 3-4, as the following comparisons demonstrate:
Hebrews 3:7-13
The Holy Ghost saith, . . . To day if ye will hear his voice, (7) Harden not your hearts as in the provocation (8) . . . so I swear in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. (11) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief . . . But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened (12-13) . . .
Alma 12:33-36
But God did call on men, . . . saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, (33) . . . behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest (35). And now, my brethren, . . . if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation (36) . . .
In the next verse, the same point-for-point sequence is again repeated:
Hebrews 3:15-18
To day if will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke (15-16) . . . that they should not enter into his rest (18)
Alma 12:37
And now, my brethren, . . . let us . . . harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us; . . . but let us enter into the rest of God (37) . . .
These motifs are present elsewhere in Hebrews 3-4 and Alma 12-13. They seem to indicate some borrowing from Paul’s discourse.