NEUM
| Brass Plates PN | 1. | A non-biblical ISRAELITE prophet (1 Nephi 19:10) |
Etymology
Perhaps short for nēʾūm-YHWH “declaration of Yahweh” (LXX Greek legei kyrios), which is part of the oracle formula common to Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.[1] So, this may be taken from HEBREW nēʾūm (naʾim, noʾem) "visionary utterance; decree" (Genesis 22:16; Numbers 24:3-4, 15-16; 2 Samuel 23:1a; Proverbs 30:1; Psalm 36:2; Ezekiel 36:23; Zechariah 12:1; Malachi 2:1).[2] It is normally restricted to divine speech. However, the Tannaim used it with human speech (TB Yebamot 12:11), and use with human speech was originally a North Israelite feature.[3]
However, as for the supposed name MALACHI “My-messenger,”[4] there may be an erroneous assumption here that a name is meant, when “according to the words of Neum” (1 Nephi 19:10) might be equivalent to HEBREW kidĕbar nēʾūm, or kĕdibrēy nēʾūm “according to the words of prophecy,” which is similar to a frequently used biblical formula (Genesis 44:2; Exodus 8:9; Leviticus 10:7; 2 Kings 2:22; 5:14; Jeremiah 13:2; 32:8; Haggai 2:4).
Or, less likely, the closely collocated HEBREW term, naʿim “bard; priestly meistersinger” (2 Samuel 23:1b; cf. 2 Kings 3:15) = Greek aoidos "bard, oral-poet, composer-singer"; cf. Ugaritic nʿm “bard,” and Arabic nģm "sing," naģmat "melody."[5]
See JENEUM / JONEUM, MALACHI, NAHOM.
Variants
Deseret Alphabet: 𐐤𐐀𐐊𐐣 (niːʌm)
Notes
- ↑ A. Hill, Malachi, Anchor Bible 25D (Yale Univ. Press/Doubleday, 1998), 150.
- ↑ H. Kosmala, in Vetus Testamentum, 14/3 (1964):428,431-432.
- ↑ Gary Rendsburg, “Hebrew Philological Notes (1),” Hebrew Studies, 40 (1999):29-30.
- ↑ A. Hill, Malachi, Anchor Bible 25D (Yale Univ. Press/Doubleday, 1998), 135-136; Hill, “Malachi, book of,” in Freedman, ed., ABD, IV:478.
- ↑ F. M. Cross, From Epic to Canon, 140, citing Ugaritic CTA 3.1.19, and 1 Chronicles 25:7, where the High Priest is the Meistersinger; Cross, “Toward a History of Hebrew Prosody,” in Fortunate the Eyes That See, eds. Beck, Bartelt, Raabe, and Francke, 302-303 (as in CTA 3.1.19); see also D. N. Freedman, Pottery, Poetry, and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry.
Bibliography
Cross, Frank Moore, Jr. “Toward a History of Hebrew Prosody,” in Fortunate the Eyes That See: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Seventieth Birthday, eds. A. Beck, A. Bartelt, P. Raabe, and C. Francke, 298-309. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
Cross, Frank Moore, Jr. From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1998.
Freedman, David Noel. Pottery, Poetry, and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1980.
Kosmala, Hans. “Form and Structure in Ancient Hebrew Poetry (A New Approach),” Vetus Testamentum 14/3 (Oct 1964):423-445.
Rendsburg, Gary, “Hebrew Philological Notes (1),” Hebrew Studies 40 (1999):28-32.
