SHUM

Lehite noun

1.

Measure for Gold weight, ca. 82 BC (Alma 11:5, 9)

The most obvious possibility is Hebrew šūm (Akkadian šūmu, Sumerian s u m, Arabic tūm, Aramaic tūmâʾ) “garlic,” an unusual but not implausible name for a measure of gold.

Less likely as the source for Shum are Semitic cognates of Hebrew šēm, “name, monument,” e.g., Akkadian šumu. This root appears in the Ebla PNs ṭubi- šum and išma- šum as the theophoric element, according to Dahood (in Pettinato, Archives) (JAT).

Unlikely is the meaning *”to value” for shum (Reynolds, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, IV, p. 282).

(Shum is not in the Bible, but it is found in Moses)

Cf. Book of Mormon SHEM, SHIM, et al.