ZORAM: Difference between revisions

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|'''[[:Category:Lehite PN|Lehite PN]]'''
|'''[[:Category:Lehite PN|Lehite PN]]'''
|1.
|1.
|Servant of [[LABAN|L<small>ABAN</small>]] at [[JERUSALEM|J<small>ERUSALEM</small>]], ca. 600 BC ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/4/35#35 1 Nephi 4:35]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/54/23#23 Alma 54:23])
|Servant of [[LABAN|L<small>ABAN</small>]] ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/4.20?lang=eng#19 1 Nephi 4:20]-[http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/5.6?lang=eng#5 2 Nephi 5:6])
|-
|-
|
|
|2.  
|2.
|General, ca. 81 BC ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/16/5,7#5 Alma 16:5, 7])
|Chief captain of [[NEPHITE(S)|N<small>EPHITE</small>]] armies, ca. 81 B.C. ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/9.18?lang=eng#17 Alma 9:18]-[http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/16.8?lang=eng#7 16:8])
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|-
|
|
|3.  
|3.  
|Apostate, ca. 74 BC ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/30/59#59 Alma 30:59]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/31/1#1 31:1])
|[[NEPHITE(S)|N<small>EPHITE</small>]] apostate and leader of [[ZORAMITE(S)|Z<small>ORAMITES</small>]] ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/30.59?lang=eng#58 Alma 30:59]- [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/31.3?lang=eng#2 31:3])
|}
|}


The name '''ZORAM''', from the hypocoristic ''ṣūr 'am,'' "[God is] the rock of the people," is plausible.  
Likely theophorous Hebrew ''ṣûrām'' “Their-Rock”  (ǁYHWH; [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/deut/32.30?lang=eng#29 Deuteronomy 32:30] = LXX theos “God”), and more explicitly ''ʼĕlōhîm ṣûrām'' “God was their Rock” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ps/78.35?lang=eng#34 Psalm 78:35]; ''ṣûr yîśrāʼēl'' “Rock of Israel,” [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/2-sam/23.3?lang=eng#2 2 Samuel 23:3]; and ''ṣûr yîśrāʼēl'' “Mighty One of Israel,” [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/isa/30.29?lang=eng#28 Isaiah 30:29]; ''ṣûrî'' “My strength,” [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ps/18.2?lang=eng#1 Psalm 18:2] [3]; or simply ''ṣûr'' “Mighty God,” [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/hab/1.12?lang=eng#11 Habakkuk 1:12]), etc.  Cf. usage of this Semitic root in Hebrew ''Ṣōr'', ''Ṣôr'' “Tyre; the Rock” (= [[EGYPTIAN(S)|E<small>GYPTIAN</small>]] ''Dr'', ''DЗ''(''y'')''r'', ''DЗwyr'', ''DЗwЗr''  “Tyre”<ref> Pap Anastasi I, 21, 1, ''Urkunden'' IV:891, El Amarna Letters; cf. the [[EGYPTIAN(S)|E<small>GYPTIAN</small>]] root word ''dri''(''t''), ''drry'' “wall, siege-wall”; ''drw'' “walls; boundary.”</ref>  = Phoenician ''Ṣr'', Greek Tyros).<ref> Barker, ''Temple Mysticism'' (SPCK, 2011), 120-121, 136, suggests that Hebrew ''ṣûr'' in these instances actually means “form, essence; engraved archetype; Invisible One” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/deut/32.4,%2015?lang=eng#3 Deuteronomy 32:4, 15]; [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/2-sam/23.3?lang=eng#2 2 Samuel 23:3]; [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/isa/44.8?lang=eng#7 Isaiah 44:8]; 4Q405:19), like Hebrew ''děmût'', the “invisible reality” in the Holy of Holies – upon which physical realization is based.</ref>


Since Hebrew does not express a double ''r'', and if two ''r'''s can be assumed for the name, then perhaps, Z<small>ORAM</small> is composed of two elements, ''ṣūr,'' "rock" (as in "rock of our salvation" in [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ps/95/1#1 Psalms 95:1]) (DBM 274), which occurs in the biblical PN's Zur, Zuriel, and Zurishaddai, and of ''rām'', "height; high, exalted," which occurs in biblical names such as Abram. Z<small>ORAM</small> would perhaps then mean "the Rock is exalted."
Another possibility is hypothetical Hebrew ''*ṣûr''-''ʿām'' “Rock of the people.”


Also possible is "their rock, ''ṣūram'', as in [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/deut/32/31#31 Deuteronomy 32:31] (JAT and RFS), even though the reference there is to a foreign god and would be an unusual PN. Perhaps the biblical name for Tyre, ''ṣor'', is from the same root and could have something to do with this name if Z<small>ORAM</small> was a Phoenician in the service of [[LABAN|L<small>ABAN</small>]] (R&S 1:42)
Bill Hamblin (2012) suggests that the etymology is a form of Hebrew ''zerem'' “flowing water, rain,” and that '''ZORAM''' is not simply a “servant,” but a “slave” to [[LABAN|L<small>ABAN</small>]], since Hebrew ''ʿebed'' means both, and since [[NEPHI|N<small>EPHI</small>]] convinces Z<small>ORAM</small> to take an oath to join the Lehite clan so that he will then be free and no longer a slave ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/4.33?lang=eng#32 1 Nephi 4:33]). If Z<small>ORAM</small> is [[LABAN|L<small>ABAN</small>]]’s slave, then his name might very well reflect foreign nationality ([[ISRAELITES|I<small>SRAELITES</small>]] were not allowed to hold other [[ISRAELITES|I<small>SRAELITES</small>]] in slavery), and the possibility that he was Tyrian might help explain the tendency to heresy of the much later [[ZORAMITE(S)|Z<small>ORAMITES</small>]].


Less likely is "prince of people," from ''sar'', "prince, counselor" in West Semitic (as in Book of Mormon [[SARIAH|S<small>ARIAH</small>]]), and ' ''m'', "people" (RFS), because of the incongruence of the vowels.
Cf. [[EGYPTIAN(S)|E<small>GYPTIAN</small>]] god-name ''Zrm'' (Book of the Dead spell 39 S 5).  
 
Notes:
 
Derivations paralleling GNs such as Eblaite ''zuramu'', the name of a village near Ebla (Pettinato, ''Archives,'' p. 164) (RFS), or Qatabanian ESA ''ẓrm'', the name of a mountain pass
(ANET 668:2) (JAT), are less likely. In light of the ESA feminine PN ''drm.t'' (ABM 234–5 and fn. 10 to Chap. 22), a derivation based on Hebrew ''zerem'', “rain” (JAT) should not
be dismissed outright.


RFS
See Book of Mormon [[ZORAMITE(S)|Z<small>ORAMITE(S)</small>]].
See Book of Mormon [[ZORAMITE(S)|Z<small>ORAMITE(S)</small>]].


Cf. Book of Mormon [[ZERAM|Z<small>ERAM</small>]], [[CEZORAM|C<small>EZORAM</small>]], [[SEEZORAM|S<small>EEZORAM</small>]], [[ZEEZROM|Z<small>EEZROM</small>]], [[ESROM|E<small>SROM</small>]], [[EZROM/EZRUM|E<small>ZROM</small>]]/[[EZROM/EZRUM|E<small>ZRUM</small>]].
Cf. Book of Mormon [[ZERAM|Z<small>ERAM</small>]], [[CEZORAM|C<small>EZORAM</small>]], [[SEEZORAM|S<small>EEZORAM</small>]], [[ZEEZROM|Z<small>EEZROM</small>]], [[ZEEZRUM|Z<small>EEZRUM</small>]], [[ZERAM|Z<small>ERAM</small>]], [[ESROM|E<small>SROM</small>]], [[EZROM/EZRUM|E<small>ZROM</small>]]/[[EZROM/EZRUM|E<small>ZRUM</small>]].


See also [[Zoram / Zorum Variants]]
See also [[Zoram / Zorum Variants]]


[[Category:Names]][[Category:Lehite PN]]
[[Category:Names]][[Category:Lehite PN]]

Revision as of 13:26, 30 March 2012

Lehite PN 1. Servant of LABAN (1 Nephi 4:20-2 Nephi 5:6)
2. Chief captain of NEPHITE armies, ca. 81 B.C. (Alma 9:18-16:8)
3. NEPHITE apostate and leader of ZORAMITES (Alma 30:59- 31:3)

Likely theophorous Hebrew ṣûrām “Their-Rock” (ǁYHWH; Deuteronomy 32:30 = LXX theos “God”), and more explicitly ʼĕlōhîm ṣûrām “God was their Rock” (Psalm 78:35; ṣûr yîśrāʼēl “Rock of Israel,” 2 Samuel 23:3; and ṣûr yîśrāʼēl “Mighty One of Israel,” Isaiah 30:29; ṣûrî “My strength,” Psalm 18:2 [3]; or simply ṣûr “Mighty God,” Habakkuk 1:12), etc. Cf. usage of this Semitic root in Hebrew Ṣōr, Ṣôr “Tyre; the Rock” (= EGYPTIAN Dr, DЗ(y)r, DЗwyr, DЗwЗr “Tyre”[1] = Phoenician Ṣr, Greek Tyros).[2]

Another possibility is hypothetical Hebrew *ṣûr-ʿām “Rock of the people.”

Bill Hamblin (2012) suggests that the etymology is a form of Hebrew zerem “flowing water, rain,” and that ZORAM is not simply a “servant,” but a “slave” to LABAN, since Hebrew ʿebed means both, and since NEPHI convinces ZORAM to take an oath to join the Lehite clan so that he will then be free and no longer a slave (1 Nephi 4:33). If ZORAM is LABAN’s slave, then his name might very well reflect foreign nationality (ISRAELITES were not allowed to hold other ISRAELITES in slavery), and the possibility that he was Tyrian might help explain the tendency to heresy of the much later ZORAMITES.

Cf. EGYPTIAN god-name Zrm (Book of the Dead spell 39 S 5).

RFS See Book of Mormon ZORAMITE(S).

Cf. Book of Mormon ZERAM, CEZORAM, SEEZORAM, ZEEZROM, ZEEZRUM, ZERAM, ESROM, EZROM/EZRUM.

See also Zoram / Zorum Variants

  1. ↑ Pap Anastasi I, 21, 1, Urkunden IV:891, El Amarna Letters; cf. the EGYPTIAN root word dri(t), drry “wall, siege-wall”; drw “walls; boundary.”
  2. ↑ Barker, Temple Mysticism (SPCK, 2011), 120-121, 136, suggests that Hebrew ṣûr in these instances actually means “form, essence; engraved archetype; Invisible One” (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15; 2 Samuel 23:3; Isaiah 44:8; 4Q405:19), like Hebrew děmût, the “invisible reality” in the Holy of Holies – upon which physical realization is based.
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