Book of Mormon Language Structure

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Book of Mormon names are frequently cited as evidence of the ancient origin of the text. But is it also possible that they came from another source? At least some of them are directly found in the Bible and elsewhere, others have a very close equivalent, and others are two names put together. So while Mormons believe that this is proof of the ancient origin of such names (yes, I’ve read a few FARMS/MI articles on it), it is also just as possible that someone that had access to various resources such as the KJV, whether that be Smith OR any of the other people that are posited as contributing to the Book of Mormon, could have used those resources to either directly lift, or slightly modify names already existing. Here are a few examples:

All Bible references are King James Version:

Lehi:
Found in Judges 15:9
“Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.”
Found in Judges 15:14
“And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him…”
Found in Judges 15:19
“…wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.”

Nephi
Found in 2 Maccabees 1:36 (KJV, not NAB)
“And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.”

Lemuel
Found in Proverbs 31:1
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.”
Found in Provers 31:4
“It is not for kings, O Lemuel…”

Laban
Found in Genesis 24:29
“And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.”
Also found in Genesis 24:50, 25:20, 27:43, 28:2, 28:5, 29:5, 29:10, 29:13-14

Gideon
Found in Judges 6:11
“and his son** Gideon** threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.”
Also found in Judges 6:13, 6:19, 6:22, 6:24

Ammah
Found in 2 Samuel 2:24
"…and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah…

Aminadab
Found in Matthew 1:4
“And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson…”
Found in Luke 3:33
“Which was the son of** Aminadab**…”

Ether
Found in Joshua 15:42
“Libnah, and** Ether**, and Ashan,”
Found in Joshua 19:7
“Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages:”

Cumorah and Moroni
The African island nation of Comoros, with its capital being Moroni. Moroni became the capital of Comoros in 1958, however it was founded as a city as early as the 10th century. Both names have Arabic/Swahili origins. Of course, the prophet Moroni buried the plates in the Hill Cumorah.

This is just a small sampling of Book of Mormon names. The vast majority either are directly found in the Bible, have a single letter change, a 2 letter addition or subtraction (especially endings), or are two words put together. So, while this doesn’t necessarily mean that Smith and company DID copy, it shows that it is possible that they did.
 
ThuriferAcolyte said:
Book of Mormon names are frequently cited as evidence of the ancient origin of the text. But is it also possible that they came from another source? At least some of them are directly found in the Bible and elsewhere, others have a very close equivalent, and others are two names put together. So while Mormons believe that this is proof of the ancient origin of such names (yes, I’ve read a few FARMS/MI articles on it), it is also just as possible that someone that had access to various resources such as the KJV, whether that be Smith OR any of the other people that are posited as contributing to the Book of Mormon, could have used those resources to either directly lift, or slightly modify names already existing. Here are a few examples:
Click to expand...
“Mosiah” is a combination of Moses and Isaiah.
 
ThuriferAcolyte said:
Here are a few examples:

All Bible references are King James Version:

Lehi:
Found in Judges 15:9
“Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.”
Found in Judges 15:14
“And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him…”
Found in Judges 15:19
“…wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.”

Nephi
Found in 2 Maccabees 1:36 (KJV, not NAB)
“And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.”

Lemuel
Found in Proverbs 31:1
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.”
Found in Provers 31:4
“It is not for kings, O Lemuel…”

Laban
Found in Genesis 24:29
“And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.”
Also found in Genesis 24:50, 25:20, 27:43, 28:2, 28:5, 29:5, 29:10, 29:13-14

Gideon
Found in Judges 6:11
“and his son** Gideon** threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.”
Also found in Judges 6:13, 6:19, 6:22, 6:24

Ammah
Found in 2 Samuel 2:24
"…and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah…

Aminadab
Found in Matthew 1:4
“And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson…”
Found in Luke 3:33
“Which was the son of** Aminadab**…”

Ether
Found in Joshua 15:42
“Libnah, and** Ether**, and Ashan,”
Found in Joshua 19:7
“Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages:”

Cumorah and Moroni
The African island nation of Comoros, with its capital being Moroni. Moroni became the capital of Comoros in 1958, however it was founded as a city as early as the 10th century. Both names have Arabic/Swahili origins. Of course, the prophet Moroni buried the plates in the Hill Cumorah.

This is just a small sampling of Book of Mormon names. The vast majority either are directly found in the Bible, have a single letter change, a 2 letter addition or subtraction (especially endings), or are two words put together. So, while this doesn’t necessarily mean that Smith and company DID copy, it shows that it is possible that they did.
Click to expand...
Here is another example:

General treatments on Book of Mormon names
John A. Tvedtnes, “What’s in a Name? A Look at the Book of Mormon Onomasticon (Review of I Know Thee by Name: Hebrew Roots of Lehi-ite Non-Biblical Names in the Book of Mormon),” FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 34–42. off-site PDF link
Gordon C. Thomasson, “What’s in a Name? Book of Mormon Language, Names, and [Metonymnic] Naming,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3/1 (1994): 1–27. off-site PDF link wiki
Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “The Hebrew Origin of Some Book of Mormon Place Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (1997): 255–259. off-site PDF link wiki
Paul Y. Hoskisson, “What’s in a Name?,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 7/1 (1998): 78–78?. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Aha
“Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means “warrior” and is a common word.” [Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Anonymous, “Out of the Dust,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/2 (1999): N/A–N/A. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Alma
“Alma is supposed to be a prophet of God and of Jewish ancestry in the Book of Mormon. In Hebrew Alma means a betrothed virgin maiden-hardly a fitting name for a man.” - “Dr.” Walter Martin, The Maze of Mormonism (Santa Ana, California: Vision House, 1978), 327.

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]

Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
Terrence L. Szink, “New Light: Further Evidence of a Semitic Alma,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999): 70–70. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
John A. Tvedtnes, John Gee, Matthew Roper, “Book of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 40–51. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Ammon
“Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Corihor
See:Korihor

Cumorah
Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “The Hebrew Origin of Some Book of Mormon Place Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (1997): 255–259. off-site PDF link wiki
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.[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Himni
“Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah.
Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Jaredite Names
See: below.

Jershon
Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “The Hebrew Origin of Some Book of Mormon Place Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (1997): 255–259. off-site PDF link wiki
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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
 
Here are more examples of bulls eye names:

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
Anonymous, “Seeking Agreement on the Meaning of Book of Mormon Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 28–29. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Sariah in the Elephantine Papyri,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/2 (1993): 196–200. off-site PDF link wiki
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “The Names Lehi and Sariah—Language and Meaning,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 32–34. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
John Gee, “A Note on the Name Nephi,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1/1 (1992): 189–191. off-site PDF link wiki
Paul Y. Hoskisson, “Lehi and Sariah,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 30–31. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Paul Y. Hoskisson, “Response to the Comments,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 38–39. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Dana M. Pike, “Response to Paul Hoskisson’s “Lehi and Sariah”,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 35–36. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
John A. Tvedtnes, “Lehi and Sariah Comments,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 37–37. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
Liahona
literally, “to Yahweh is the whither” or, by interpretation, “direction of-to the Lord.”
Jonathan Curci, “Liahona: “The Direction of the Lord”: An Etymological Explanation,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16/2 (2007): 60–67. off-site PDF link wiki
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Mosiah
John Sawyer, “What Was a Mosiaʿ?” Vetus Testamentum 15 (1965): 475–486 [FARMS Reprint in 1989]; cited and applied by John W. Welch, “What Was A ‘Mosiah’?,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 105–107. ISBN 0875796001 off-site FAIR link (subscript. required) GospeLink
Mulek
Anonymous, “New Information About Mulek, Son of the King,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 142–144. ISBN 0875796001 off-site FAIR link (subscript. required) GospeLink(subscript. required) GL direct link
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, “Has the Seal of Mulek Been Found?,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12/2 (2003): 72–83. off-site PDF link wiki
John L. Sorenson, “The Mulekites,” Brigham Young University Studies 30:? (Summer 1990): 6–22. off-site
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
John Gee, “A Note on the Name Nephi,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1/1 (1992): 189–191. off-site PDF link wiki
Paul Y. Hoskisson, “What’s in a name?,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/2 (2000): 70–71. off-site [No PDF link] wiki
 
RebeccaJ said:
“Mosiah” is a combination of Moses and Isaiah.
Click to expand...
Yes, exactly. The vast majority of the Book of Mormon names are found in the Bible, have a one letter change, are a combination of two names, or have a two-three letter addition, usually at the end. Therefore it is perfectly possible that Smith and company used such methods to come up Book of Mormon names.
 
why_me said:
The point is: it exists in the book of mormon. If it didn’t you would bring it up as proof the book of mormon is not ancient. 🙂 Get the picture?
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You dodge the point. And we wouldn’t bring it up, because as the linguist on this thread stated, chiasmus is NOT proof of ancient origin, since it also occurred throughout the years surrounding Smith in many other non-ancient books. So, the point that you are free to ignore is that just like how Strang could, in your belief, recognize unique verse structures in the Book of Mormon and create his own versions of that, Smith and/or company could also recognize unique verse structures in the Bible, and create their own unique versions of that. But then, Mormon scholars claim that these unique structures were not recognized until recently. You can’t have it both ways, LOL.
 
Why does the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 13:9-13 include the doxology of the Lord’s Prayer (“for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen”) in the text? The doxology is not found in any of the ancient Gospel of Matthew manuscripts that Biblical scholars have. It was added as a footnote, which was then incorporated into the KJV text of Matthew 6:13 (it is not found in the Luke version). It is not found in the NIV, NAB, ASV, ESV, is included in brackets of the NASB, and is included in the New KJV (though it says that the NU-Text does not include it). Why would the Book of Mormon include a footnote as part of the Lord’s Prayer, when it wasn’t part of the oldest Matthew manuscripts, though it is found in the KJV, which Smith and company had access to? The doxology is found in the Didache, and as Catholics, we do recite it at Mass (after a brief invocation by the priest following the end of the Our Father proper), however why don’t the earliest manuscripts include it?
 
ThuriferAcolyte said:
Yes, exactly. The vast majority of the Book of Mormon names are found in the Bible, have a one letter change, are a combination of two names, or have a two-three letter addition, usually at the end. Therefore it is perfectly possible that Smith and company used such methods to come up Book of Mormon names.
Click to expand...
I find this map to be interesting.

http://www.mormondoctrine.net/images/mormonmap.gif

http://www.mormondoctrine.net/images/modernmap.gif
I any never seen any indication that Smith was ever talking about anywhere outside of where he lived.
 
Here are some more book of mormon names that seem to have roots in the middle east:

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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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."[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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.””[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Rameumptom
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
“While Sam is a perfectly good Egyptian name, it is also the normal Arabic form of Shem, the son of Noah.”
“Sam (BM), brother of Nephi.
Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian “uniter of the lands,” title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
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
Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “The Hebrew Origin of Some Book of Mormon Place Names,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (1997): 255–259. off-site PDF link wiki
Zenoch
“Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet.
Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
 
The Book of Mormon fails on three main counts. First, it utterly lacks historical or archaeological support, and there is an overwhelming body of empirical evidence that refutes it. Second, the Book of Mormon contains none of the key Mormon doctrines. This is important to note because the Latter-Day Saints make such a ballyhoo about it containing the “fullness of the everlasting gospel.” (It would be more accurate to say it contains almost none of their “everlasting gospel” at all.) Third, the Book of Mormon abounds in textual errors, factual errors, and outright plagiarisms from other works.

We read that Jesus “shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem, which is in the land of our forefathers” (Alma 7:10). But Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1).

Another problem: Scientists have demonstrated that honey bees were first brought to the New World by Spanish explorers in the fifteenth century, but the Book of Mormon, in Ether 2:3, claims they were introduced around 2000 B.C.

The problem was that Joseph Smith wasn’t a naturalist; he didn’t know anything about bees and where and when they might be found. He saw bees in America and threw them in the Book of Mormon as a little local color. He didn’t realize he’d get stung by them.
 
RebeccaJ said:
I find this map to be interesting.

I any never seen any indication that Smith was ever talking about anywhere outside of where he lived.
Click to expand...
en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_place_names_from_North_America

Conclusion
A modern survey of thousands of square miles and hundreds of small townships can doubtless turn up a few coincidental matches to Book of Mormon place names—or place names from any other source.

Cognates and similar names occur easily by chance and can readily be found anywhere one looks. (One LDS author has compiled a list of Hawaiian “parallels” that are at least as convincing as the critics’, to demonstrate how pointless this exercise is.)[9]
The examples provided by the critics fail on multiple grounds, as this color-coded chart demonstrates:

Book of Mormon City Claimed Source Book of Mormon City Claimed Source
Teancum Tecumseh Ramah Rama
Moron* Morin* Ogath Ste Agathe (des Monts)
Moriancum Moraviantown Angola Angola
Onidah Oneida Kishkumen Kiskiminetas
Jacobugath Jacobsburg Jerusalem Jerusalem
Alma Alma Land of Lehi-Nephi Lehigh
Shilom Shiloh – –

Key

Red = Did not exist in Joseph’s day
Blue = Biblical name or element
Green = Small, distant and likely unknown to Joseph
Violet = Strained parallel at best given name differences
Black starred (*) = site not yet located on modern map. Has it vanished or is this an error?
Critics are desperate to discredit Joseph, and so even resort to suggesting place names that did not exist in his day. They also resort to extremely small, distant sites about which Joseph almost certainly could have had no knowledge.

They also overlook the Biblical source for their American “parallels,” which are far more likely and plausible than giving Joseph an encyclopedic knowledge of North American place names. Even if they insist that he forged the Book of Mormon, isn’t the Bible a far more likely source for these names than obscure hamlets hundreds of miles away?

And, for any of this to work at all, they must develop a map based on New England; they cannot reconstruct their map from the Book of Mormon text itself–the Book of Mormon’s geography is coherent and consistent, and it does not match Holley’s efforts at all
 
LDSGuy said:
cometozarahemla.org/hebraisms/hebraisms.html

How do Latter-day Saint critics account for the Hebrew language structure (“Hebraisms”) found throughout the Book of Mormon?
Click to expand...
why_me said:
Here are some more book of mormon names that seem to have roots in the middle east:

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.”[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
Compare: Korihor

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
Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning “blind man”; also Pamenches (Gk.
Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, “he is praised.”"[Nibley: Lehi in Des.]
]
Click to expand...
Well which is it, Hebrew, or “reformed Egyptian”?

And here we are again, at “seems to”, might have, could have.

You have build your house on sand.

(PS, you do realize Nibley’s work is very questionable. His references are just made up, which is an indication that his connections are as well.)
 
Ammon/Ammonite
Found in Genesis 19:38
“And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.”

Found in Deuteronomy 2:20
“(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;”

Also found in Number 21:24, Deuteronomy 2:19, 2:37, 3:11, 3:16, 23:3, Joshua 12:2 and 13:10

Sidon
Found in Genesis 10:15
“And Canaan begat** Sidon** his first born, and Heth,”
Found in Genesis 10:19
“And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon…”

Also found in Matthew 11:21-22, 15:21

**
Jershon**
Found in Genesis 46:11 as “Gershon”
“And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.”

Many other Book of Mormon names are Biblical names with a phonetic letter change, such as “J=G”.such as the BOM “Ziff”, found in the Bible as “Ziph” (Joshua 15:24), BOM “Ezrom” found in the Bible as “Esrom” (Matthew 1:3), etc.
 
E.E.N.S said:
The Book of Mormon fails on three main counts. First, it utterly lacks historical or archaeological support, and there is an overwhelming body of empirical evidence that refutes it. Second, the Book of Mormon contains none of the key Mormon doctrines. This is important to note because the Latter-Day Saints make such a ballyhoo about it containing the “fullness of the everlasting gospel.” (It would be more accurate to say it contains almost none of their “everlasting gospel” at all.) Third, the Book of Mormon abounds in textual errors, factual errors, and outright plagiarisms from other works.

We read that Jesus “shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem, which is in the land of our forefathers” (Alma 7:10). But Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1).

Another problem: Scientists have demonstrated that honey bees were first brought to the New World by Spanish explorers in the fifteenth century, but the Book of Mormon, in Ether 2:3, claims they were introduced around 2000 B.C.

The problem was that Joseph Smith wasn’t a naturalist; he didn’t know anything about bees and where and when they might be found. He saw bees in America and threw them in the Book of Mormon as a little local color. He didn’t realize he’d get stung by them.
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EENS,
Just for the record (not that it will make a dime’s bit of difference to you or anyone), Ether 2:3 was still talking about the Old World, not the New World. The Jaredites took honey bees with them while traveling in the Old World. No further mention is made of them.
 
RebeccaJ said:
Well which is it, Hebrew, or “reformed Egyptian”?

And here we are again, at “seems to”, might have, could have.

You have build your house on sand.
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Aren’t we all playing name games? It is a pointless exercise but you and someone else are trying to score points. I also countered your map of names.

Names that didn’t exist in Joseph’s day
Critics scour modern maps looking for “parallels,” and, without realizing it, use some place names that didn’t exist at all during the period of time that the Book of Mormon was being translated in 1829.

Angola supposedly derived from Angola…a place not named such until 1855
This name is identical, and located within New York state. This would seem to be an excellent candidate for the critics’ theory. However, the settlement at that site was not named “Angola” until 1855![4]

The earliest settlers to arrive were in the vicinity located in the Evans Center area. Saw and grist mills along Big Sister Creek were established; and with the blacksmith shops and stores nearby, it soon became the center of most social activities.
However, in 1852 the Buffalo and State Line Railroad laid tracks and built a station about a mile south of Evans Center. The railroad proved to be a great boon to the area causing a shift of the center of activities towards “Evans Station,” known today as Angola.
Over the years many have searched and probed into the past to determine the origin of the name Angola. There have been several versions but the following seems to be the most authentic. In 1820 a mail route was established between Buffalo and Olean, and a post office was opened at Springville. Two years later a post office designated" Angola" was opened at Taylor Hollow near Gowanda. The name may be related to the fact that a majority of the residents in Taylor Hollow were Quakers who being missionary-minded helped to support Angola, Africa, as one of their projects.
In 1855 John Andrus, an influential owner in Evans Station, made application to have the “Angola” Post Office transferred…[5]
There’s a chance Joseph could have heard of the little Angola post office, or of the territory of Angola in Africa, but it seems far-fetched to think that modern Angola, New York could have any direct bearing on the Book of Mormon.

Teancum supposedly derived from Tecumseh…A place not named until 1912
Tecumseh, the supposed origin of Teancum, requires considerable creativity to even make the words the same. (The critics rely on the fact that words which start with the same letter seem “the same” to us on a cursory glance.) To get Teancum from Tecumseh, one has to take off the last syllable, add “an” after the “Te,” and there you have it. Tecumseh = Teancum. Kind of like John = Joshua!

But could Joseph have known about Tecumseh, Ontario? As a prophet of God, yes, but as a plagiarizer, unlikely. Tecumseh, Ontario did not get this name until 1912. As Wikipedia explains:

Originally known as Ryegate Postal Station when it was first settled in 1792, Tecumseh was renamed in 1912 after the Shawnee tribe leader of the same name. It was officially incorporated as a town in 1921.[6]
Desperate to save this idea, other critics have suggested the town of Tecumseh, Michigan instead of the Tecumseh, Ontario, replacing a ridiculous candidate with one that is merely silly (and even further from Joseph Smith than its later Canadian cousin).

A check of the Michigan location reveals that this tiny Western suburb of Detroit had just barely been settled by a tiny handful of people in the late 1820s, but at least there was a village of Tecumseh in 1824. Insignificant and remote for those in Joseph Smith’s area, it’s hard to imagine Joseph being aware of that village and feeling some need to stick it on a mental map of the Book of Mormon. And while he may well have heard of the Indian warrior Tecumseh, it’s still quite a stretch to get Teancum from that name.[7]

Strained “parallels”
Some of the supposed “parallels” are extremely weak.

Kishkumen and Kiskiminetas might be said to share a “Kish/Kisk” first syllable. But, what relationship is there between “-kumen” and “-iminetas”? Critics hope we’ll notice the first and ignore the second. This is poor scholarship. The map and discussion at Mazeministries also mis-spells the North American place name as “Kishkiminetas,” perhaps hoping to strengthen this supposed parallel.
Moriancum and Moravian likewise share a “Mor-” first element. But, what are we to make of “-iancum” and “-avian”?
It seems no evidence is too weak when attacking Joseph.

Other implausible sites
Alma = Alma
Alma, West Virginia is another interesting name. Unfortunately, the town is so small that there is almost no information about it on the Web - not even a stub in Wikipedia. The satellite image of the town suggests that there might be a couple of businesses in the area, but there seems to be little there even in modern times.

With so many other sources of “Alma” to choose from - like “alma mater” or the female Latin name Alma, why do we have to drop down to West Virginia to find this “incredible” parallel? Alma isn’t a city in the Book of Mormon - it’s a prominent name for a couple of prophets. True, there was a valley that Alma’s group encounters in Mosiah 24 that his people briefly called the valley of Alma on their way back to the main land of the Nephites, but this is nowhere close to a notable landmark in Book of Mormon geography. The reality is that nothing available to Joseph Smith would have informed him that Alma was not a female name, but was actually an authentic male Jewish name in Nephi’s day, a name that could have been brought to the New World by Nephi’s group.

Rama = Ramah
As indicated above, Ramah is a perfectly good Biblical name.

Critics claim, however, that “Rama, Ontario” was Joseph Smith’s source for this name. However, it is on the opposite side of Lake Huron, and today holds only a casino and about 500 inhabitants.[8] How likely is it that Joseph would have even heard of this obscure spot? Ramah is also the Jaredite name for Cumorah, yet Holley’s map does not place it at the New York Cumorah location, but in Ontario. This would seem to be more evidence that he created his “Book of Mormon map” by looking at New England placenames, and not by looking at the Book of Mormon text.

Conclusion
A modern survey of thousands of square miles and hundreds of small townships can doubtless turn up a few coincidental matches to Book of Mormon place names—or place names from any other source.

Cognates and similar names occur easily by chance and can readily be found anywhere one looks. (One LDS author has compiled a list of Hawaiian “parallels” that are at least as convincing as the critics’, to demonstrate how pointless this exercise is.)[9]

en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_place_names_from_North_America
 
RebeccaJ said:
Mormons guessing, trying to make something, anything, fit.
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Well the New England map makes the most sense to me, I’m surprised it hasn’t had more attention given to it. Plus, didn’t they have their last battle up there? And how about that Hill Cumorah?

How did they get from South America to upstate New York? Was there any mention of this migration in the Book of Mormon?
 
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