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Source:Echoes:Ch12:14:Jershon
Hebrew Name:Jershon
Hebrew Name:Jershon
When the Lamanites converted by the sons of Mosiah fled their homeland to escape persecution, the Nephites allowed them to settle in the land of Jershon. The name Jershon, though not found in the Bible, has an authentic Hebrew origin, the root *YRS meaning "to inherit" and the suffix -ôn denoting a place-name. Three passages in the Book of Mormon present Jershon in context with the idea of inheritance: Alma 27:22 ("and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance"), Alma 27:24 ("that they may inherit the land Jershon"), and Alma 35:14 ("they have lands for their inheritance in the land of Jershon").
The -ôn ending of Jershon is typical of other place-names belonging to the ancient Near East. Wilhelm Bore, in his outstanding study Die alten Ortsnamen Palästinas (The ancient place-names of Palestine), cites fully eighty-four ancient Canaanite place-names with the ending -ôn in biblical and extrabiblical sources (e.g., Egyptian and Mesopotamian writings, the El-Amarna letters, ostraca), including Ayyalon (spelled Ajalon in KJV Joshua 19:42), Ashkelon (spelled Asklon in KJV Judges 1:18), Gibeon (Joshua 9:3), Hebron (Joshua 10:36), Dibon (Numbers 21:30), and Heshbon (Numbers 21:30). The Book of Mormon place-name Jershon, then, is right at home with a number of other biblical and extrabiblical place-names. [1]
Notes
- ↑ Stephen D. Ricks, "Converging Paths: Language and Cultural Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Book of Mormon," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 12, references silently removed—consult original for citations.