AMINADAB
| Lehite PN | 1. | Rebel, went over to Lamanites, dwelt in LehiNephi, ca. 30 BC (Helaman 5:39, 41) |
Aminadab is identical to the biblical PN Amminadab. For the etymology see the standard biblical commentaries.
Notes
Compare the Edomite PN ʾamyndb, Amminadabbi (HWN in SC 195). “Amanathabi,” chief of a Canaanite city under Egypt; a “reformed Egyptian” name (HWN in LID 27). Unlikely is the suggestion that this name contains the name of the Egyptian god Amon (HWN in LID 31, and ABM 235).
In exploring a possible metonymy in this name, it has been pointed out that “although [Aminadab’s] Nephite kinsmen had been among the most noble, he himself had apostatized from them. Perhaps some memory of his heritage, carried with him in his name, made him more receptive to understanding [the miracle he witnessed in Helaman 5:36]. Perhaps Mormon preserved this name in the record for the very purpose of reinforcing Mormon’s conviction of the nobility of the Nephite cause as witnessed by this influential miracle” (JWW). This seems to be stretching the search for metonymy too far (JH).
