AMNIHU

Nephite GN

1.

Hill, ca. 87 BC (Alma 2:15)

Etymology

Given the tendency to name places after people, it is likely that AMNIHU was originally a PN. The most likely etymology would derive the name from אמן ʾmn, “craftsman; faithfulness; truth,” with the 3m.s. pronominal suffix, hū, yielding the meaning “his faithfulness,” or even “he is faithfulness” (RFS and JAT).

For “faithfulness” in PNs see ʾmwn in IPN 228; a-mi-num in CAAA 235; and ʾmwn in Stark, 69. For the 3m.s. pronoun in PNs compare Ugaritic hwʾl, “he is (my) God” (Gröndahl, 134 and CAAA 33). An EGYPTIAN etymology would not be out of the question.

Doubtful is any connection with ʾamānāh, a river near DAMASCUS (The Song of Solomon 4:8 and 2 Kings 5:12, where the Qere is ʾamānāh, but the Kethib is ʾabānāh) (JAT).

It is doubtful that a HEBREW based culture would use EGYPTIAN theophoric elements in its onomasticon. Therefore, it is unlikely that AMNIHU is derived from the EGYPTIAN element imn, the god Amon (HWN in LID 30 & ABM 235, misspelled Amminihu). RFS draws attention to the EGYPTIAN context in Jeremiah 46:25 and Nahum 3:8 where Amon occurs, as well as its numerological and cryptographic use at Qumran (1QS 10:4), W. H. Brownlee, BASOR Supplement 10–12:39, n. 17; Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, §§ 84–7, 112.

Cf. Book of Mormon AMNIGADDAH, OMNI, AMMON, AMMONIHAH, et al.

Variants

This content is from page AMMINIHU:

AMMINIHU does not occur in any Book of Mormon text. It is no doubt a mistake for AMNIHU or AMMONIHAH. In early editions of Hugh W. Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, the spelling Amminihu occurs among other possible EGYPTIAN-style names. In the 3rd edition of An Approach to the Book of Mormon, produced while Hugh Nibley was still alive, Collected Works of Hugh W. Nibley 6 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 287, AMNIHU replaces Amminihu.

Deseret Alphabet: 𐐈𐐣𐐤𐐌𐐐𐐆𐐅 (æmnaɪhɪuː)

Notes

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