LEHI

‡LEHI

Lehite PN & GN	1. Jerusalemite prophet who fled to the New World ca. 600 BC (1 Nephi 1:4; Ether 13:5)
			2. Son of Zoram, possibly a Zoramite, ca. 81 BC (Alma 16:5)
			3. Nephite general, ca. 74 BC (Alma 43:35; Helaman 1:28) (possibly the same as No. 2?)
			4. Son of Helaman No. 3, ca. 45 BC (Helaman 3:21; Ether 12:14)
			5. All the land south of the narrow neck of land inhabited by the descendants of Lehi I (Helaman 6:10)
			6. City and land on eastern shore (between Morianton and Moroni?), hence not the same as No. 5, founded ca. 72 BC (Alma 50:15; 62:30)

Jeffrey Chadwick would tie Lehi to ʾblḥy in the Samaria papyri (see Frank Moore Cross, “Personal Names in the Samaria Papyri,” BASOR 344, 2006: 76 (75–90).

Nibley notes the discovery in Elath in 1940 of a potsherd bearing the PN lḥy. He also points out that Nelson Glueck has detected the same root in many compound names 
found inscribed on stones in Arabia. E.g., the PN lḥytn, “Lehi hath given” appears on a *Lihyanite monument (ABM, 239). Lynn M. Hilton has tied the tribal name lḥyān to 
Book of Mormon Lehi, who passed through the Arabian peninsula after his flight from Jerusalem (NPSEHA **). Nibley notes one Minaean and 8 Thamudian examples of the 
PN lḥy, and indicates that it exists as a PN also in Arabic (ABM 58–59, 239, fn. 26 to Chap. 22). There is also a Hadrami example of this PN in ANET, 670 (JAT), and the PN 
lwḥy appears in writings from the Jewish colony at Elephantine (14:3) (EHA). Nibley further notes the existence of a site known in Arabic as bêt-la*hi, “house of Lehi,” in the 
vicinity of Gaza (ABM, 58–59 and ABM, 239). There is also a ḥirbet bêt lahi (spelled in English texts “Lei,” though the local inhabitants pronounce it lahi) near Mareshah which 
has been discussed by Joseph Ginat, who connected a cave in the area with that of 1 Nephi 3 (NPSEHA *) (JAT).

Others have suggested that the name might be derived from the Hebrew word for “jaw, cheek bone,” lḥy, such as in the GN Judges 15:9, 14, 19 (MWJ, JH). The Hebrew word 
for “jaw, cheek bone” is also found in Arabic *( laḥiy), Ugaritic *(lhm, with enclitic m), and Akkadian *( laḫû) (J. Wevers in EASW, p. 108). Some have faulted Nibley for not 
noting this word (RFS), but instead connecting Lehi to the biblical placename Lahairoi (ABM, 239 & fn. 24), thus implying that this is the only occurrence of the name in the 
Bible (RFS). However, Nibley was correct in ignoring this possibility, because a PN based on the word “cheek bone” hardly seems possible given the nature of the PNs 
onomastica of the ancient Near East.

Nibley ties Lehi to the well of Ishmael, known in the Bible as beʿēr la-ḥay roʾī (Genesis 16:14), generally translated “well of the one who sees me,” but believed by Wellhousen 
to mean “spring of the wildox jawbone” or “cheek” as others render it. Nibley believes that the name Lehi can be tied to the well because Lehi, too, had close ties to a man 
named Ishmael, whose daughters married the sons of Lehi. (ABM, 58–59 and 239). Shunary also tied Book of Mormon Lehi to biblical Hebrew la-ḥay, “belonging to the Living 
One (= God)” (YS). If Lehi means “belonging to the living one,” as the story in Genesis 16 implies, then it should be compared with the Book of Mormon name Paanchi, an 
Egyptian name meaning “the living one.” Also note Amorite *la ḥwi, *lu la ḥya and *la ḥa, a local deity or angel subordinate to El (Cazelles, Ugaritica VI:33-5).  The 
la-ḥay roʾī,  “LHY sees me,” of Beer-Sheba parallels the YHWH yirʾeh, “YHWH sees,” of Mamre in Gen. 22:14 (RFS).

Cf. Book of Mormon Lehi-Nephi, Anti-Nephi-Lehi