One book of mormon scribe categorized his people as wanderers, cast out from jerusalem,32 while another called them wanderers in a strange land. Jacob is the first to mention the name christ in the book of mormon. Their beliefs and scriptures make them generally very. However, the written language of the maya is neither hebrew or egyptian the only two languages mentioned in the text.
This article explores several book of mormon proper names that are attested from hebrew inscriptions. The story is that part of the agreement to secure the lease for the byu jerusalem center included a stipulation that the church not produce the book of mormon in hebrew. This name generator will give you 10 random names unique or common to members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Cyrus gordon demonstrated that there were contacts between the. Indeed, the very script that mormon used in abridging the plates was, according to him, an egyptian script called amongst the nephite scribes reformed egyptian mormon 9.
This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. Most people unfamiliar with mystical practice interpret this to mean that. Book of mormon, in encyclopedia of hebrew language and linguistics, 4 vols. Many book of mormon names are not found in the bible, and were unknown to joseph smith. Lehi, nephi, helaman, shiblon, moronihah, amalickiah. When adding biographies, be sure to add a category link seen at bottom of this edit page so that it will be added. If the removal of names can lead to the destruction of a people, then the appropriate use of names can bring redemption. Jeremy began the discussion below by responding to the claim that the book of mormon showed evidence of hebrew names and phrases. Tvedtnes, john gee, and matthew roper, book of mormon names attested in ancient hebrew inscriptions, journal of book of mormon studies 9, no. Names and maya glyphs book of mormon archaeological forum. Is the name nephi in the book of mormon related at all to.
In his book lehi in the desert, nibley compares names found in the book of mormon with ancient egyptian names from upper egypt. The jewish exegesis method called pardes breaks down scripture in a way to be able to accomplish this through 4 interconnected methods. Furthermore, not one single of the 303 proper names found in the book of mormon have been discovered on the thousands of deciphered inscriptions in the new world. It could be ultimately derived from hebrew adam meaning to be red, referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from akkadian adamu meaning to make. Book of mormon central evidences of the book of mormon. Finding the first use of the name christ in the book of mormon. Meaning is found in many ways, and one way is in the symbolism of numbers. Book of mormon names no fiction writer would choose. As with biblical names, some common mormon names are taken from the book of mormon, a religious text of the latterday saints, from heroes or characters of the. The book of mormon says it was written in a reformed egyptian script by ancient prophets who preserve the culture and language of their hebrew ancestors, one of the best ways to test this claim is look at the names in the book of mormon of its 330 seven proper names, 180, eight or unique, meaning they can also be found in the bible because most words in the book of mormon are english. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, often known as mormons to outsiders, are a religious and cultural group started by joseph smith in the 1820s. The names in the book of mormon, another testament of jesus christ, have been thoroughly investigated and researched over the years. Book of mormon names attested in ancient hebrew inscriptions. As is the majority of these comments many of which say, no.
Some book of mormon placenames have good hebrew etymologies. An egyptian linguistic component in book of mormon names. Usually pronounced knee feye, it can often come out as neffee. In recent years, we have learned that several ancient documents were. How was the book of mormon pronouncing guide developed, and what is its chief purpose. I love the hebrew language and culture because i can study the bom in hebrew without even knowing hebrew.
Hickman to joseph fielding smith regarding the quality. In the book of mormon it is the name of a son of lehi and sariah. Hebrew translations of the bom by common consent, a. Thanks mostly to the bible, hebrew names or variants thereof are known through much of the world. In recent years, we have learned that several ancient documents were written in precisely that fashion. Greek names in the book of mormon book of mormon research. Posted on october 28, 2015 september 6, 2016 by dave mack. All opinions, speakers and presenters represent and express their own individual opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of firm foundation, book of mormon evidence, or its employees, and no information or opinions represent the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. May 04, 2018 the answer is that, no, the name nephi is not at all related to the nephilim mentioned in the hebrew text of the bible and some english translations. Some lds students of the book of mormon contend that the rather sophisticated glyph language system of the maya civilization in mesoamerica is evidence that the book of mormon history occurred there. They would have used other names for him from their own language and. For an in depth look at where book of mormon names came from, visit this page. Some of the names found in english bibles also show up in the book of mormon, some hebrew names found in the book of mormon are not in the bible a rare peculiarity of semitic names is the use of the nisbe gentilic forms, of which the book of mormon, like the bible, has just a few.
The large number of book of mormon names and the diversity of cultures that they are said to represent required a. In many instances, bowen contends, the names of important book of mormon people and places are directly and deliberately related to words matching the most. Most who have studied the subject conclude that this signifies writing the hebrew language in modified egyptian characters. In many instances, bowen contends, the names of important book of mormon people and places are directly and deliberately related to words matching the most likely hebrew and egyptian origins for those names. Fwiw, sidney sperrys book of mormon compendium has a bit of information on the miller translation, including a letter from j. Jeremy jacobs comments will be listed in green, the mormon apologists comments will be listed in purple, and mine will be in black.
Some mormon name trends include using religious, ancestral, invented, themed names and a. Some of the names found in english bibles also show up in the book of mormon, some hebrew names found in the book of mormon are not in the bible. Yhwh is a form of the hebrew hayah i am and is pronounced as yahweh. Apr 22, 2012 it is amusing i suppose for those familiar with mormon names to hear the variety of mispronunciations people come up with. As one example, the title lord is stated as yhwh in the hebrew book of mormon. Now all those descended from jacob were seventy souls, and. Moroni, pronounced mor own eye, often comes out as mor on knee.
Because of this, and considering that 1 lehi was a descendant of joseph of egypt 1 nephi 5. The actual meaning of nephi and 3 other book of mormon names. The answer is that, no, the name nephi is not at all related to the nephilim mentioned in the hebrew text of the bible and some english translations. Shemot opens with a list of the names of the children of israel as they came down to egypt, counting each individual within those families. However, the book was pulled from shelves and discarded with few surviving copies. To this day, the lds church does not produce a hebrew book of mormon. The classic one is nephi, the name of the main book of mormon writer, and of no fewer than four characters in the book. Two years ago i was asked to give a paper on hebrew names in the book of mormon at the world congress of jewish studies held in jerusalem.
Even kish is found in the old testament as the name of several individuals, including the father of saul, first king of israel. Arnold greens byu studies article a survey of lds proselyting efforts to the jewish people also notes that a rabbi edward joseph isaacson translated the book of mormon into yiddish in the late 1880s fwiw, sidney sperrys book of mormon compendium has a bit of information on the miller translation, including a letter from j. I think that was the first time that that organization of scholars from all over the world, most of them jewish, had really invited someone to discuss the book of mormon as one of the serious topics on that scholarly forum, and i was glad to do that. Other book of mormon names in addition to alma and sariah, a number of other nephite names are attested in ancient hebrew inscriptions. Antipas, archeantus, esrom, ezias, jonas, judea, lachoneus and zenos. They would not have used a greek word to talk about him when they came from a hebrew speaking culture. It is claimed that some book of mormon names are used improperly or in an inappropriate context.
Some of the names in the book of mormon, another testament of jesus christ, are not of hebrew origin, but rather they are of egyptian origin, and also there are some other ancient nearest languages involved. Book of mormon language, names, and metonymic naming gordon c. May 17, 2018 some lds students of the book of mormon contend that the rather sophisticated glyph language system of the maya civilization in mesoamerica is evidence that the book of mormon history occurred there. Nibley postulates that names do not match exactly due to the process of metathesis. Hugh nibley among other lds apologists has spent his life digging for any scrap of ancient evidence that remotely resembles something mentioned in the book of mormon, and then he uses the few forced scraps that he thinks by twisting can coincidentally match to come to the conclusion that yes indeed, the book of mormon must be of ancient origin while he. On this blog i occasionally profile people whose work should be known by both mormons and jews.
How was the book of mormon pronouncing guide developed. The book of mormon contains some names which appear to be greek, some of which are hellenizations of hebrew names e. Since the book of mormon is said to have been written by people who fled ancient israel, why does it contain such greek names as timothy 3 nephi 19. Lemuel m biblical, mormon, biblical hebrew means for god in hebrew. Missing indices indicate people in the index who are not in the book of mormon. Shemot, the hebrew title of the book of exodus, means names, suggesting how significant the issue of identity will be as the saga of jewish slavery, redemption, and revelation unfolds. Joseph smith may have known that hebrew was the language of lehi, but how did he know of the huge cultural impact of egypt on israel in 600 b. Analysis of book of mormon names needed to be more technical in considering sound variations than the analyses of studies and authors previously presented. Nov 28, 2007 i really believe a good study of the book of mormon in light of the hebrew language and the learning of the jews would be fantastic to understate my enthusiasm. The book of mormon mentions the word hebrew in only one verse, and even that passage, mormon 9. Also, a quick glance at a dictionary of maya glyphs shows that they lack several letters found in hebrew. Tribe of manasseh hebrew and native american ties by. Traditions and trends lds smile said on january th, 2015 at 3.
According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. It is amusing i suppose for those familiar with mormon names to hear the variety of mispronunciations people come up with. Although historians and archaeologists consider the book to be an anachronistic invention of joseph smith, many members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint movement believe that it. Other greek names are nonbiblical and their presence in the book is puzzling to both believers and skeptics, since neither smith nor the nephites spoke greek. The book of mormon claims a close tie to all things egyptian 1 nephi 1. Names included are sariah, alma, abish, aha, ammonihah, chemish, hagoth, himni, isabel, jarom, josh, luram, mathoni, mathonihah, muloki, and samnone of which appear in english bibles. There are numerous ties to hebrew culture in native american indians. The pronouncing guide, located at the back of the current english edition of the book of mormon, contains 344 proper names. Jun 11, 2008 authentic egyptian names in the book of mormon the book of mormon claims a close tie to all things egyptian 1 nephi 1. Book of mormon language names in the book of mormon. Tvedtnes, john gee, and matthew roper journal of book of mormon studies 91 2000. Roberts, studied native american languages based on the idea that the book of mormon shows peoples able to converse with one.
Israel academy of sciences and humanities, 1997, 6667. By keeping their hebrew names during the period of enslavement, the israelites prevented total assimilation into egyptian culture. Because names are a way to identify cultural and ethical values within a country or group of people, mormon names are sometimes chosen to honour an ancestor or a religious figure. The book of mormon in hebrew a labor of love jewish. The book of mormon mormons mormon mormonism book of mormon jesus jesus christ the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds god mormon bible gold bible the book of mormon two.
Some mormon name trends include using religious, ancestral, invented, themed names and a combination of the above to title a new baby. Gods desire to liberate the slaves is aroused, in part, by the names with which shmot opens. This was the name of a king briefly mentioned in proverbs in the old testament. Apr 03, 2011 the names in the book of mormon, another testament of jesus christ, have been thoroughly investigated and researched over the years. The only book of mormon names with any connection to joseph smiths family or associates are joseph and samuelsuch common names in ancient hebrew cultures and so prominent in the bible that claims of personal connections seem unfounded.
Book of mormon names attested in ancient hebrew inscriptions john a. Parry, assistant professor of hebrew at brigham young university. Book of mormon characters mormonism, the mormon church. This one is particularly striking, because it lists a whole slew of phrases that are identical in the bible and the book of mormon, like before my face psalm 5. The comparisons show that many names in the book of mormon are similar to names in a certain region and era of ancient egypt. These include aha, ammonihah, chemish, hagoth, himni, isabel, jarom, josh, luram, mathoni, mathonihah, muloki, and sam, none of which appear in english bibles. Hebrew translations of the bom by common consent, a mormon blog. The book of mormon claims to have been written in reformed egyptian morm. Names in the book of mormon were transliterated rather than translated and comprise a large portion of the small corpus of lexical items preserved in the original book of mormon language, from which we may derive a deeper understanding of the linguistics and culture of those people. Gideon in the book of mormon, gideon was a faithful leader of the church and an eventual enemy to the wicked king noah. It is also borne by the hero of jonathan swifts novel gullivers travels 1726. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830, mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support it.
When i heard that there was a rocket scientist in alabama who is working on a hebrew translation of the book of mormon, i knew that i had to find out more. Native american hebrew and greek language comparisons. Tvedtnes,john gee, and matthew roper, book of mormon names attested in ancient hebrew inscriptions, journal of book of mormon studies 91 2000. Of the many personal names contained in the book of mormon, some are biblical or directly linked to the levant. Hebrew names having meanings, the book of mormon claims. The subject of hebrew numerology in the book of mormon has been identified as a promising field of study still open to fruitful exploration. Anthropological perspectives are presented on names, and on the social and literary function of names, in principle and in the book of mormon. The city zarahemla, for example, seems to be hebrew, seed of compassion.
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