MOSIAH

MOSIAH

Lehite PN	1.	Prophet/king of Zarahemla, b. ca. 174 BC (???—RFS has him king 279–200 BC) (Omni 12, 14–20, 23)
	2.	King ca. 125–91 BC, grandson of No. 1 (Mosiah 1:2; Ether 4:1)

The name Mosiah may derive from the Hebrew for mosi‘yahu, “the Lord delivers, saves.” The name can be parsed as the hiphil participle of the Hebrew root ys‘, “to save, deliver,”93 with the theophoric element yahu, “Jehovah, Lord.” Isaiah, yesa‘yahu, “the Lord is deliverance, salvation,” presents a compelling analogue. The hiphil participle form—mosi‘a—occurs at least 17 times with verbal or nominal force in the Old Testament; cf., e.g., the participle without suffix, mosi‘a “deliverer,” Judges 3:9; and the participle with pronominal suffixes: Judges 3:15; 2 Samuel 22:42; Isaiah 49:26; Jeremiah 14:18; Psalm 7:11; 17:7; 18:42; 106:21.

Alternatively, Mosiah may derive from the Hebrew root MSH, “messiah,” though this does not produce the o vowel of the first syllable (RFS, JAT, JH).

SDR