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#REDIRECT[[Names in the Book of Mormon]]
{{Resource Title|Book of Mormon Anachronisms: Names}}
 
{{summary}}
 
{{BoMPortal}}
 
== ==
 
{{Criticism label}}
 
 
 
It is claimed that 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 "[[Book_of_Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Timothy|Timothy]]"
 
 
 
Many other examples of authentic ancient names that would have been unknown to Joseph Smith—or anyone else—are discussed below.
 
 
 
{{CriticalSources}}
 
 
 
== ==
 
{{Conclusion label}}
 
 
 
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.
 
 
 
== ==
 
{{Topics label}}
 
====A====
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Abish|subject=Abish}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Akish|subject=Akish}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Aha|subject=Aha}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Alma|subject=Alma}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Aminadi|subject=Aminadi}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Aminidab|subject=Aminidab}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Ammon|subject=Ammon}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Ammonihah|subject=Ammonihah}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Amnihu|subject=Amnihu}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Amnor|subject=Amnor}}
 
====B====
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Bountiful|subject=Bountiful}}
 
====C====
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Chemish|subject=Chemish}}
 
{{SummaryItem|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Com|subject=Com}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Coriantumr|subject=Coriantumr}}
 
{{SummaryItem|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Korihor|subject=Corihor}}
 
{{SummaryItem|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Cumenihah|subject=Cumenihah}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Cumorah|subject=Cumorah}}
 
 
 
====G====
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Gidgiddoni|subject=Gidgiddoni}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Gidgiddonah|subject=Gidgiddonah}}
 
{{FMEItemShort|link=Gidianhi|subject=Gidianhi}}
 
 
 
====H====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Hagoth
 
|subject=Hagoth
 
|summary="One Book of Mormon critic argued that Joseph Smith derived the name Hagoth from the name of the biblical prophet Haggai. Indeed, the names may be related, but a closer parallel is the biblical Haggith (see {{b|2|Samuel|3|4}}; {{b|1|Kings|1|5}}, etc.), which may have been vocalized Hagoth anciently. All three names derive from a root referring to a pilgrimage to attend religious festivals.  The name Hagoth is attested in the form Hgt on an Ammonite seal inscribed sometime in the eighth through the sixth centuries BC36 (The Ammonites, neighbors of the Israelites and descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot, wrote and spoke the same language as the Israelites.)" <ref>{{JBMS-9-1-10}}</ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Helaman
 
|subject=Helaman
 
|summary="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.<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
==== ====
 
{{FMEItem
 
|link=Ham
 
|subject=Ham
 
|summary=Egyptian
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Hem
 
|subject=Hem
 
|summary="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." <ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Himni
 
|subject=Himni
 
|summary="Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah. Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>"...the name Himni is clearly Hebrew and is represented by the unvocalized form, Hmn on two Israelite seals. The first, from the eighth century BC, was found at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. The other is from the first half of the seventh century BC." <ref>{{JBMS-9-1-10}}</ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
====I====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Isabel
 
|subject=Isabel
 
|summary="Isabel was a harlot in the land of Siron, on the border between the Lamanites and the Zoramites (see {{s||Alma|39|3}}). LDS scholars have generally assumed that the name is identical to that of the Old Testament Jezebel, the Hebrew form of which was 'ÃŽzebel, and this is probably correct. But the spelling Yzbl is now attested on a seal in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem that is thought to be Phoenician in origin." <ref name="gee"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Ishmael
 
|subject=Ishmael
 
|summary=Ishmael is a biblical name, but Nibley has shown that it has close affinities to the proper context for Lehi's journey.
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Irreantum
 
|subject=Irreantum
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
====J====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Jarom
 
|subject=Jarom
 
}}
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Jershon
 
|subject=Jershon
 
}}
 
 
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Josh
 
|subject=Josh
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Kish
 
|subject=Kish
 
}}
 
 
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Kishkumen
 
|subject=Kishkumen
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Korihor
 
|subject=Korihor
 
|summary="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."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>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.<ref>Hugh Nibley, ''Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price'', edited by Robert Smith and Robert Smythe (n.p., n.d.), 11.</ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Kumen
 
|subject=Kumen
 
}}
 
 
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Kumenonhi
 
|subject=Kumenonhi
 
}}
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Lachoneus
 
|subject=Lachoneus
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Laman
 
|subject=Laman
 
|summary=An attested name, and also a "pendant" name that ''should'' be coupled with Lemuel (one is a corruption of the other).
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Lemuel
 
|subject=Lemuel
 
|summary=An attested name, and also  "pendant" name that ''should'' be coupled with Laman (one is a corruption of the other).
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Lehi
 
|subject=Lehi
 
|summary=two different twentieth-century archaeological finds from Palestine attest to the term lḥy as a male personal name. One inscription is on a papyrus fragment found in 1962 among the Samaria Papyri of the Wadi el-Daliyeh; it preserves lḥy  as the main element of a compound name. The other inscription in which ''lḥy''  stands alone as a personal name appears on an ostracon (an inscribed ceramic sherd) found in 1939 at Tell el-Kheleifeh (ancient Elath) on the shore of the Red Sea.
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Liahona
 
|subject=Liahona
 
|summary=literally, "to Yahweh is the whither" or, by interpretation, "direction of-to the Lord."
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Limhah
 
|subject=Limhah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Luram
 
|subject=Luram
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
* "The name is reflected in the second element of the name 'dn-Lrm, "Lord of LRM," known from a seal of ca. 720 BC found during excavations at Hama (Hamath) in Syria. The name is also known from graffiti on three bricks from the same level at Hama." <ref name="gee"></ref>
 
====M====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Manti
 
|subject=Manti
 
}}
 
 
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Mathoni
 
|subject=Mathoni
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Mathonihah
 
|subject=Mathonihah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Moronihah
 
|subject=Moronihah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Mosiah
 
|subject=Mosiah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
*John Sawyer, "What Was a Mosiaʿ?" ''Vetus Testamentum'' 15 (1965): 475&ndash;486 [FARMS Reprint in 1989]; cited and applied by {{reexploring|author=John W. Welch|article=What Was A 'Mosiah'?|start=105|end=107}}
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Mulek
 
|subject=Mulek
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Muloki
 
|subject=Muloki
 
|summary="Muloki was one of the men who accompanied the sons of Mosiah on their mission to the Lamanites (see Alma 20:2; 21:11). His name suggests that he may have been a Mulekite. Also from the same root are names such as [[#Mulek|Mulek]] and Melek, which is the Hebrew word meaning "king". Mulek is hypocoristic for Hebrew Mlkyh(w) (KJV Melchiah and Malchiah), which is attested both in the Bible (see 1 Chronicles 6:40; Ezra 10:25, 3; Nehemiah 3:14, 31; 8:4; 11:12; Jeremiah 21:1; 38:1, 6) and in numerous ancient inscriptions, most of them from the time of Lehi. Indeed, it has been suggested that one of the men bearing this name is the Mulek of the Book of Mormon. He is called "Malchiah the son of Hammelech," which means "Malchiah, son of the king" (see Jeremiah 38:6).<br>Muloki corresponds to the name Mlky on a bulla found in the City of David (Jerusalem) and dating from the time of Lehi." <ref>{{JBMS-9-1-10}}</ref>
 
}}
 
====N====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Nahom
 
|subject=Nahom
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Nephi
 
|subject=Nephi
 
|summary="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."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Nephihah
 
|subject=Nephihah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
====O====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Onihah
 
|subject=Onihah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
====P====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Paanchi
 
|subject=Paanchi
 
|summary="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."<ref name="Nibley">{{Book:Nibley:Lehi in the Desert World of the Jaredites There Were Jaredites|pages=[http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1106&index=5 Chapter 2]}} </ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Pahoran
 
|subject=Pahoran
 
|summary=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."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Pacumeni
 
|subject=Pacumeni
 
|summary="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."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Pachus
 
|subject=Pachus
 
|summary="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.""<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
====R====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Rameumptom
 
|subject=Rameumptom
 
|summary=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" ({{s||Alma|18|13}}) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" ({{s||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.<ref name="Stubbs">{{EoM1|vol=1|start=181|author=Brian D. Stubbs|article=[http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Book_of_Mormon_Language Book of Mormon Language]}}</ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Rabbanah
 
|subject=Rabbanah
 
|summary=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" ({{s||Alma|18|13}}) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" ({{s||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.<ref name="Stubbs"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
====S====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Sam
 
|subject=Sam
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Sariah
 
|subject=Sariah
 
|summary=It is also an interesting coincidence that similar evidence for Lehi's wife's name has turned up in a papyrus document, written in Persian period Aramaic, in the era following the sixth century BC. The female Jewish/Hebrew name Sariah appears in an Aramaic papyrus from the fifth century BC (albeit partially restored by the original publisher). The document is known as C-22 (or Cowley-22), and was found at Elephantine in upper Egypt around the year 1900....The female name Sariah does not appear in the Bible, just as the male name Lehi does not. Yet both appear in the Book of Mormon. That we can now identify both the Jewish/Hebrew names Sariah in the Elephantine Papyri and Lehi in the Samaria Papyri and on Ostracon 2071 represents two significant steps forward in corroborating the authenticity [of the Book of Mormon].
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Seantum
 
|subject=Seantum
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Sheum
 
|subject=Sheum
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Shilum
 
|subject=Shilum
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
====T====
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Timothy
 
|subject=Timothy
 
}}
 
 
 
====Z====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Zarahemla
 
|subject=Zarahemla
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
* {{JBMS-6-2-15}}
 
{{FMEItemShort
 
|link=Zeezrom
 
|subject=Zeezrom
 
}}
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Zemnarihah
 
|subject=Zemnarihah
 
|summary=
 
}}
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
 
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
 
 
==== ====
 
{{SummaryItem
 
|link=Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names/Zenoch
 
|subject=Zenoch
 
|summary="Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet. Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god."<ref name="Nibley"></ref>
 
}}
 
 
 
==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):
 
 
 
* Bruce W. Warren, "Surviving Jaredite Names in Mesoamerica," ''Meridian Magazine'' (26 May 2005){{link|url=http://www.ldsmag.com/ancients/050526mesoamerica.html}}; citing {{NewEvidencesOfChrist|start=17|end=22}}
 
* Bruce W. Warren, "'Kish'&mdash;A personal Name" ''Meridian Magazine'' (17 February 2005){{link|url=http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/050217kish.html}}; citing {{NewEvidencesOfChrist|start=19|end=22}}
 
 
 
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."<ref>{{Ensign1|author=Dallin H. Oaks|article=[http://www.lds.org/ensign/1989/05/alternate-voices?lang=eng Alternative Voices]|date=May 1989|start=27}}</ref>
 
== ==
 
{{Videos label}}
 
 
 
<videoflash>pDqeaU0N-tg</videoflash>
 
 
 
== ==
 
{{Endnotes label}}
 
<references />
 
 
 
 
 
{{FurtherReading}}
 
*{{FR-8-2-5}}
 
*{{JBMS-3-1-2}}
 
*{{JBMS-6-2-15}}
 
*{{JBMS-9-1-10}}
 
*{{Nibley5|start=23-32}}
 
*{{Book:Nibley:CW06|pages=[http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1107&index=25 Chapter 22]}}
 
*{{JBMS-7-1-11}}
 
 
 
 
 
[[de:Anachronismen_im_Buch_Mormon/Namen]]
 
[[es:Libro_de_Morm%C3%B3n_Anacronismos:_Nombres]]
 
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[[fr:Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Names]]
 

Latest revision as of 21:39, 1 May 2024