Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Two linguistic notes regarding Book of Mormon names

Two linguistic notes regarding Book of Mormon names

Last updated on: June 2, 2020 at 11:44 pm by Dan Peterson

Two linguistic notes regarding Book of Mormon names 2020-06-02T23:44:16-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, with volcanic Mount Atitlán in the background
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

Martin Tanner and I will have Dr. Stanford Carmack as our guest this evening on the Interpreter Radio Show during its first hour (7-8 PM). During the second hour (8-9 PM), Martin and I will discuss Alma 23-29.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

In the meantime, here are a couple of items from John W. Welch, et al., eds. Knowing Why: 137 Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is True (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2017):

The unusual name Anti-Nephi-Lehi has perplexed Book of Mormon readers, especially in trying to make sense of the presence of Anti– in this name. It often causes confusion, because anti- looks like the Greek preposition commonly used today to mean “opposed to; against.”

In light of the context, it would not make sense for these recent converts to declare themselves to be against Nephi and Lehi. Alternatively, if the name element Anti– derives from the Egyptian relative adjective nty, which means “the one who,” “that,” or “which,” then the name would mean just the opposite — roughly, “that-which(-is-of-)Nephi-Lehi” or “the-one-who(-is-of-)Nephi-Lehi.” (303)

Here is the relevant discussion in the online Book of Mormon Onomasticon:

https://onoma.lib.byu.edu/index.php/ANTI-NEPHI-LEHI

As an Arabist, though, I need to reply to the Onomasticon‘s treatment of عند (‘inda), which does not mean “opposite.” Rather, it means “near” or “at” (e.g., ‘inda al-baab “by the door” or “at the door”). It can also mean “to have,” as in ‘indak kitaab? (“Do you have book?”). I’ve sometimes wondered, accordingly, whether ‘inda might be related to the -ondi- in Adam-ondi-Ahman, which might then mean something like “Adam in the Presence of Ahman.” And might Anti-Nephi-Lehi mean approximately “With Nephi and Lehi”? Of course, if ‘inda really is, as the Onomasticon suggests, unattested in any Semitic language other than Arabic and perhaps even a loanword from Greek, that would seem to make it a less likely contributor in this case.

See:

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-did-converted-lamanites-call-themselves-anti-nephi-lehies

“Anti-Nephi-Lehi,” Book of Mormon Onomasticon, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson.

Royal Skousen, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon: Part 4, Alma 21–55 (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2007), 2091–2095.

Stephen D. Ricks, “Anti-Nephi-Lehies,” in Book of Mormon Reference Companion, ed. Dennis L. Largey (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2003), 67–68.

***

As explained by Latter-day Saint scholars Stephen D. Ricks and Matthew L. Bowen, the name Jershon and the attending detail that it was a land of “inheritance” for the Anti-Nephi-Lehies is a fairly straightforward Hebrew pun. The Hebrew verb yrsh (pronounced yarash) means “to take possession of” or “to inherit.” The nominal form (morashah/morash, “possession”) of this root is specifically used to describe the land of promise: “And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage [morashah]: I am the LORD!” (Exodus 6:8).

The Hebrew letter yod (y) is typically rendered in English with a J, as in the names Jehovah (YHWH or Yahweh) and Jerusalem (yerushalaim). Combining yrsh with the element –on (which in Hebrew toponymy may designate a place or location) would easily render the name Jershon: “place of possession/inheritance.” Quite literally, then, Alma 27 depicts the Anti-Nephi-Lehies “inheriting” or “taking possession” of the “place of possession/inheritance.” (310-311)

See:

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-was-jershon-called-a-land-of-inheritance

Matthew L. Bowen, “‘They Were Moved with Compassion’ (Alma 27:4; 53:13): Toponymic Wordplay on Zarahemla and Jershon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 18 (2016): 233–253.

Stephen D. Ricks, “A Nickname and a Slam Dunk: Notes on the Book of Mormon Names Zeezrom and Jershon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 8 (2014): 191–194.

Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “Notes and Communications: The Hebrew Origin of Some Book of Mormon Place Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6, no. 2 (1997): 255–59.

Previous Post

May 31, 2020

Luke as Careful Historian

Next Post

May 31, 2020 Literary craftsmanship and a jubilee celebration in Alma 29?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet's call included a vision of an almond branch and boiling pot?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Daniel Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel