MELEK

MELEK

Lehite GN		Land and city, three days south of AMMONIHAH on the west of the River     
			SIDON by the borders of the wilderness, ca. 82 BC (Alma 8:3; 45:18)

Ariel Crowley appears to have been the first scholar to note that MELEK is most likely the biblical mlk, “king” (The escape of MULEK,” Improvement Era, May 1955, p. 326, 
fn. 4; see also Reynolds, Story of the Book of Mormon, p. 298). The name appears in biblical PN’s such as Melech, Melechi, MELCHIZEDEK (also in Book of Mormon), 
Malchiah, Abimelech, Ahimelech, etc. (JAT). The Book of Mormon name may be hypocoristic for mlk-’l or mlk-yh (RFS), though this is odd for a GN (JH).

Cf. Book of Mormon AMALEKI, AMALICKIAH, AMLICI, MULEK, [[AMULEK]], MELCHIZEDEK, MULOKI.