GILGAL

GILGAL

Jaredite GN 		Valley near the Plains of HESHLON and north of the narrow neck of land    
			(Ether 13:27, 29, 30)
Lehite GN		City which was swallowed by the earth ca. 30 AD (3 Nephi 9:6)
Lehite PN		Commander of 10,000 under MORMON who died in battle ca. 385 AD      
			(Mormon 6:14)

The  KJV GN GILGAL, = Hebrew gilgāl “cairn, heap of stones,” near Jericho (Deuteronomy 11:30 = Nehemiah 12:29 Beth-Gilgal), derives from the root gll, conveying the 
idea of “rolling” or “roundness.” This is the site where the Israelites set up the twelve stones removed from the JORDAN RIVER at their crossing, one for each of the tribes.
58 The Hebrew PN glgl is also found on Arad Ostracon 49 from the late 8th century BC (JAT),59 and in an Ugaritic PN (bn) glgl (Text 2068:13).60 Cf also EGYPTIAN k3rk3r, 
krkr (Qarqar in Wadi Sirhan, and on the Orontes River),61 meaning “stones, boulders.” Cf. glgwl among the Elephantine documents (10:21) (EHA). Note also the NT GN 
Golgatha, from the Hebrew glglt, “skull” (Akkadian gulgullu). 

gal is a common Sumerian vocabel meaning “large, great,” appearing in such common words as lu-gal and é-gal,62 “king” (literally “great man”) and “palace” (literally 
“great house”), respectively. However, it is doubtful if this vocabel has anything to do with these Book of Mormon names. 

See GALILEE, GIMGIMNO.


58 Reynolds and Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, VI, p. 41, “circle.”

59 J. Tvedtnes, John Gee, and M. Roper in JBMS, 9/1 (2000):43.

60 C. H. Gordon, UTB, Glossary #577.

61 J. Hoch, Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts, 333; Albright, VESO, ??

62 This is the source of Hebrew hykl from the Akkadian egallu.