SIDON

Lehite GN

1.

River, ca. 87 BC (Alma 2:15,17,27,34,35; 3:3; 4:4; 6:7; 8:3; 16:6,7; 22:27,29; 43:27,32,35,39,40,41,50,51,53; 50:11; 56:25; Mormon 1:10)

Etymology

Since the Book of Mormon river SIDON passed through ZARAHEMLA, a city that was first settled by Mulekites, it is likely that this GN is of Mulekite origin. If it does derive from the biblical name for the Phoenician city SIDON (Hebrew ṣidon, Phoenician ṣdn, EGYPTIAN ddwn3, ASSYRIAN ṣiduna), as most commentaries suggest, this may denote the presence of Phoenician influence among the Mulekites. HALOT notes that the “etymology [of the Phoenician GN Sidon] is not absolutely certain." DNWSI gives “unknown meaning” for ṣdn, and “uncert[ain] meaning” for ṣd, and has no entry for ṣwd. It is possible that it may come from HEBREW ṣwd, to catch, hunt, and if it does, -ôn may be the fairly common nominalizing ending.

Rather less likely is the derivation of SIDON from Greek σουδαριον, “cloth to wipe off sweat” (Liddell and Scott) as in Luke 19:20 (KJV “napkin”) (RFS).

Cf. Book of Mormon SIDOM.

See also Sidon Variants

Variants

Sidom, Siden

Deseret Alphabet: 𐐝𐐌𐐔𐐊𐐤 (saɪdʌn)

Notes

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