SEBUS

Lehite GN

1.

“waters of” (Alma 17:34, 18:7, 19:20-21), “water of” (17:26), “the place of water” for the flocks of King LAMONI in the land of ISHMAEL ([http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/17.26-32?lang=eng#25 Alma 17:26-32]) during the early 1st century B.C.

SEBUS may reflect a West Semitic root śbs “to gather, assemble (persons).” PYH suggests the meaning “Place of Gathering” for SEBUS. The root appears as an Aramaic loan word in Neo-Babylonian texts as a verb (us-sa-ab-bi-is) and as an adjective (su-ub-bu-su-tu). This same root may be reflected in the hapax legomenon śbs in Amos 5:11, where it apparently refers to the collecting of a grain payment.

Less likely is an Egyptian etymology from *š-bs, “lake of initiation” (RFS), because one would expect *Shebus, rather than Book of Mormon SEBUS.