Libro de Mormón Anacronismos: Nombres

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Criticism

Critics claim some Book of Mormon names are used improperly or in an inappropriate context. Examples include:

  • using "Alma" as a man's name, rather than a woman's name
  • using names of Greek origin, such as "Timothy"

Source(s) of the Criticism

  • "That Man Alma," Utah Evangel 33:3 (April 1986): 2.
  • Walter Martin, The Maze of Mormonism (Santa Ana, California: Vision House, 1978), 327.
  • Robert McKay, "A Mormon Name," Utah Evangel 31:8 (August 1984): 4.
  • John L. Smith, editorial comment on Robert McKay, "A Mormon Name," Utah Evangel 31:8 (August 1984): 4.

Key

Hugh Nibley did considerable work on Book of Mormon names. References to his work will be marked as follows to avoid multiple, repetitive footnotes:

Response

General treatments on Book of Mormon names

Aha

"Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means "warrior" and is a common word." Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Alma

Despite claims into the 1980s by anti-Mormon critics, the name "Alma" has been known since the 1960s as a male Hebrew name. It occurs in contexts from 2200 B.C. to the second century B.C.[1]

Ammon

"Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Ammonihah

"Ammoni-hah (BM), name of a country and city. [compare with]
Ammuni-ra (OW), prince of Beyrut under Egyptian rule. The above might stand the same relationship to this name as Khamuni-ra (OW), Amarna personal name, perhaps equivalent of Ammuni-ra."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Corihor

See:Korihor

Cumorah

Helaman

"Helaman (BM), great Nephite prophet. [compare with]
Her-amon (OW), "in the presence of Amon," as in the Egyptian proper name Heri-i-her-imn. Semitic "l" is always written "r" in Egyptian, which has no "l." Conversely, the Egyptian "r" is often written "l" in Semitic languages.Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Hem

"Hem (BM), brother of the earlier Ammon."
"Hem (OW), means "servant," specifically of Ammon, as in the title Hem tp n 'Imn, "chief servant of Ammon" held by the high priest of Thebes."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Himni

"Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah.
Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Jaredite Names

See: below.

Jershon

Korihor

"Korihor (BM), a political agitator who was seized by the people of Ammon.
Kherihor (also written Khurhor, etc.) (OW), great high priest of Ammon who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes, cir. 1085 B.C."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel
The twenty-first [Egyptian] dynasty was founded by a person called Korihor whose son was Piankhi. That's a very funny name; you don't invent a thing like that. It wasn't discovered until the 1870s that Piankhi is a name that we have in the Book of Mormon. Korihor was a priest of Amon who usurped the power of the state. His son Piankhi became king.[2]

Compare: Paanchi

Lachoneus

Wrote Hugh Nibley of this Old World name:

The occurrence of the names Timothy and Lachoneus in the Book of Mormon is strictly in order, however odd it may seem at first glance. Since the fourteenth century B.C. at latest, Syria and Palestine had been in constant contact with the Aegean world, and since the middle of the seventh century Greek mercenaries and merchants, closely bound to Egyptian interests (the best Egyptian mercenaries were Greeks), swarmed throughout the Near East. Lehi's people...could not have avoided considerable contact with these people in Egypt and especially in Sidon, which Greek poets even in that day were celebrating as the great world center of trade. It is interesting to note in passing that Timothy is an Ionian name, since the Greeks in Palestine were Ionians (hence the Hebrew name for Greeks: "Sons of Javanim"), and—since "Lachoneus" means "a Laconian"—that the oldest Greek traders were Laconians, who had colonies in Cyprus (BM Akish) and of course traded with Palestine.[3]

Lehi or Mulek's group would have then known—or even contained—people named "Lachoneus," a proper Greek name of the proper sort in the proper timeframe.

Compare: Timothy

Lehi and Sariah

Manti

"Manti (BM), the name of a Nephite soldier, a land, a city, and a hill.
Manti (OW), Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g., Manti-mankhi, a prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 B.C. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Mosiah

  • John Sawyer, "What Was a Mosiaʿ?" Vetus Testamentum 15 (1965): 475–486 [FARMS Reprint in 1989]; cited and applied by Plantilla:Reexploring

Mulek

Nahom

  • Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
  • See also Nahom in geography section.

Nephi

"Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite nation.
Nehi, Nehri (OW), famous Egyptian noblemen. Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on "ph," Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Paanchi

"Paanchi (BM), son of Pahoran, Sr., and pretender to the chief-judgeship.
Paanchi (OW), son of Kherihor, a) chief high priest of Amon, b) ruler of the south who conquered all of Egypt and was high priest of Amon at Thebes."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Compare: Korihor

Pahoran

Pahoran (BM), a) great chief judge, b) son of the same.
Pa-her-an (OW), ambassador of Egypt in Palestine, where his name has the "reformed" reading Pahura; in Egyptian as Pa-her-y it means "the Syrian" or Asiatic."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Pacumeni

"Pacumeni (BM), son of Pahoran.
Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "blind man"; also Pamenches (Gk. Pachomios), commander of the south and high priest of Horus."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Pachus

"Pachus (BM), revolutionary leader and usurper of the throne.
Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, "he is praised.""Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Rameumpton

Rameumptom was the name given by the Zoramites to the elevated place in their synagogues whence they offered up their vain-glorious and hypocritical prayers. Alma states that the word means a holy stand. It resembles, in its roots, Hebrew and also Egyptian in a remarkable manner. Ramoth, high (as Ramoth Gilead), elevated, a place where one can see and be seen; or, in a figurative sense, sublime or exalted. Mptom has probably its roots in the Hebrew word translated threshold, as we are told that the Philistines' god, Dagon, has a threshold in Ashdod (See 1 Samuel 5:4-5). Words with this root are quite common in the Bible. Thus we see how Rameumptom means a high place to stand upon, a holy stand.[4]
While many words and names found in the Book of Mormon have exact equivalents in the Hebrew Bible, certain others exhibit Semitic characteristics, though their spelling does not always match known Hebrew forms. For example, "Rabbanah" as "great king" (AlAlma 18:13) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" (Alma 31:21), meaning "holy stand," contains consonantal patterns suggesting the stems /rmm/ramah/, "to be high," and /tmm/tam/tom/, "to be complete, perfect, holy.[5]

Rabbanah

While many words and names found in the Book of Mormon have exact equivalents in the Hebrew Bible, certain others exhibit Semitic characteristics, though their spelling does not always match known Hebrew forms. For example, "Rabbanah" as "great king" (Alma 18:13) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" (Alma 31:21), meaning "holy stand," contains consonantal patterns suggesting the stems /rmm/ramah/, "to be high," and /tmm/tam/tom/, "to be complete, perfect, holy.[6]

Sam

"Sam (BM), brother of Nephi.
Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian "uniter of the lands," title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Sheum

  • Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link

Shilum

  • Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link

Timothy

Critics have argued that "Timothy" is an unlikely Nephite name, since it is of Greek origin.

Hugh Nibley pointed out:

[R]emember...that in Lehi's day Palestine was swarming with Greeks, important Greeks. Remember, it was Egyptian territory [prior to being seized by Babylon] at that time and Egyptian culture. The Egyptian army, Necho's army, was almost entirely Greek mercenaries. We have inscriptions from that very time up the Nile at Aswan-inscriptions from the mercenaries of the Egyptian army, and they're all in Greek. So Greek was very common, and especially the name Timotheus.[7]

Compare: Lachoneus

It would thus not be at all surprising for Lehites or Mulekites to be familiar with the name "Timothy" (or a derivative), or even for a "Timothy" to have accompanied Mulek's party of immigrants.

Zarahemla

Zenoch

"Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet.
Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god."Plantilla:NibleyLehiDesertLabel

Less well supported examples

Linguistics is a complex subject, and it is all too common for zealous but mistaken defenders of the Church to use parallels in names or language which cannot be sustained. Since most Church members have no training in ancient American languages, evaluating such claims can be difficult.

Mesoamerican scholars consulted by FAIR have recommended that the following sources, while superficially persuasive, should be used with caution (if at all):

These comments are not intended to disparage the individuals involved, but to encourage rigor and restraint in claims made. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks cautioned, "When attacked by error, truth is better served by silence than by a bad argument."[8]

Conclusion

Many Book of Mormon names are not found in the Bible, and were unknown to Joseph Smith. Yet, these names have meaning in ancient languages and/or have been found as actual names from ancient history. These "hits" provide additional evidence that the Book of Mormon is indeed an ancient record.

Endnotes

  1. [back]  Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
  2. [back]  Hugh Nibley, Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price, edited by Robert Smith and Robert Smythe (n.p., n.d.), 11.
  3. [back]  Plantilla:Nibley5 1
  4. [back]  Plantilla:NibleyTeachingsBoM1 1
  5. [back]  Plantilla:CommentaryBoM1
  6. [back]  Plantilla:EoM1
  7. [back]  Plantilla:EoM1
  8. [back]  Dallin H. Oaks, "Alternative Voices," Ensign (May 1989): 27. off-site

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Libro de Mormón "Anacronismos"
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