TUBALOTH

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Lehite PN 1. LAMANITE king (Helaman 1:16)

Etymology

TUBALOTH resembles the HEBREW PNs תובל Tubal (Genesis 10:2) and תובל קין Tubal-cain (Genesis 4:22, where he is described as “an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron”) as well as the GN Tubal (Isaiah 66:19, probably from the Assyrian GN Tabāl [ HALOT ]). The biblical PN Tubal could be derived from the hiphil Hebrew verb יבל ybl meaning “to bring” (HALOT). TUBALOTH therefore may be a noun form thereof with the Hebrew abstract ending –oth[1] and may have the abstract sense “gift, presentation.”

The Hebrew stative verb טוב ṭūb “it is good,” and אלות ʾālôt “curses,” in juxtaposition could yield the dysphemism “Curses are good,” an apt name for the nephew of and eventual successor of the Nephite-turned-Lamanite king who started a protracted war.

The Hebrew stative verb ṭūb “it is good,” and ʿălôt “to sacrifice,” in juxtaposition could yield the meaning “sacrificing is good.” The Hebrew word for burnt offering, ʿōlâ, in the plural is ʿōlôt, which does not work well because of the vowels of TUBALOTH, even though in some north-west Semitic languages the vowels would be ʿālāt.

Because the PN Tubal-cain is described as an instructor of metal crafting in Genesis 4:22, and because the Arabic cognate of cain means “smith” (HALOT), it is possible that tubal may mean “metalworker, smith.” Thus, TUBALOTH, on analogy with HAGOTH, “joy,” may mean “skilled.”

Variants

Deseret Alphabet: 𐐓𐐆𐐄𐐒𐐁𐐢𐐊𐐛 (tɪoʊbeɪlʌθ)

Notes


  1. Although the -oth ending looks like the feminine plural noun ending, Hebrew -ôth (like the ending -îm) has an abstract meaning, and is used in men’s names. Compare Lapidoth (Judges 4:4); Naboth (1 Kings 21:1, 3, 8, 9, and passim); and Meraioth (Ezra 7:31; Nehemiah 11:11; 12:15; 1 Chronicles 6:5, 7, 52; 9:11), as well as the ending the Book of Mormon masculine PN HAGOTH (Alma 63:5).
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