AMULON

Nephite PN	1.	Priest of King NOAH, made king of lands of AMULON and HELAM by King LAMAN, 2nd c. BC (Mosiah 23:32, 33, 34, 35, 39; 24:1 (x2), 4, 5, 8, 9, 11; 25:12; Alma 21:2; 25:4, 7, 8)
Nephite GN	2.	Land settled by No. 1 and his followers, 2nd c. BC (Mosiah 23:31 (x2); Alma 24:1)

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Etymology

The name AMULON may be derived from the biblical PN Amal (1 Chronicles 7:35), from root ʿml “trouble, toil, labor,” plus the hypocoristic diminutive -on (IPN 38) (JH). See also the Palmyrene PN ʿmlʾ (Stark, p. 106). Since the full name is nowhere preserved, the meaning of the hypocoristicon remains unexplained. Perhaps the vowel pattern is based on the pattern exemplified by the PN klwb, Chelub (1 Chronicles 27:26).

It may be that the u vowel is a vestige of the old nominative singular case ending, such as in Methuselah and Methusael. But this would leave -lon, which does not make sense. (JH)

Hebrew ʿam mālôn, “people of the lodging place” is an unlikely PN because it would appear that the am in PNs refers always to kinship relations (JH).

Another remote possibility would be to see mul as a separate lexeme meaning either “opposite” or “circumcision” (RFS). Combining this with ʿam and the hypocoristic ending -on does not yield plausible names, though “people of the circumcision” might be a suitable name for the high priest of a people who claimed strict adherence to the Law of MOSES (Mosiah 12–13). (JAT) This is, however, unlikely because the hypocoristic ending -on occurs only on shortened names and ʿam mul is not a shortened name.

Cf. Book of Mormon AMULONITES

Variants

Deseret Alphabet: 𐐈𐐣𐐏𐐆𐐅𐐢𐐊𐐤 (æmjɪuːlʌn)

Notes

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