BOOK OF MORMON NAMES FOUND IN DOCUMENTS RECOVERED FROM MESOPOTAMIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
OGATH to ONIDAH
INTRODUCTION
In biblical and ancient thought a name is not only a mere label of identification, it is an expression of the essential nature of its bearer. The name of a God or man reveals his character and attributes. Adam was able to give names to beasts and birds (Genesis 2:20) because as Milton says, he understood their nature (Paradise Lost, Bk. V111, 11, 352-53). This was a concept shared by the peoples of the ancient world. Hence to know the name or names of GOD is to KNOW GOD as he has revealed Himself (Ps. 9:10). The full disclosure of Father’s nature and character is given in the nature and character of Jesus Christ who has manifested Father’s name, (John 17:6, 26) and by the references to deity provided by Joseph Smith in the restoration scriptures; a subject worthwhile considering.
OGATH
OGATH is a Jaredite place name of plains near the HILL RAMAH (later called the HILL CUMORAH; Largey p. 672) and south of the waters of RIPLIANCUM, to which the Jaredite armies of Shiz fled before the forces of Coriantumr. This was where Shiz spent four years gathering two million of his people for the final conflict with armies of Coriantumr. (Ether 15:8, 14; Largey p. 616) All the people of SHIZ were destroyed and CORIANTUMR beheaded Shiz. They both came to an ignoble end because they refused to obey God.
The presence of the name GATH in the Jaredite record requires confirmation of its antiquity. The ’O’ prefix is for vocalization. In Akkadian GATH is GUNTU, GINTI. A Gittite is someone from GATH. GATH or GETH, the meaning is “wine press.” In the olive pressing the press results in the olive oil literally pressed out of the OLIVE pulp as a blood red liquid. (Buttrick p. 355)
In Western Semitic languages without an “o” you can go to the abundant variants of GATH. “GATH was considered by the Israelites as an old city…a reference to it in the [Egyptian] TELL AMARNA Letters ((No, 290, 8:13) confirms its antiquity.” (Ibid) The Aramaic gat semen means “an oil press,” (Douglas p. 555) or “oil vat.” For a while the Greeks corrupted it to mean Gesamani, ‘oil Plot.’” (Buttrick p. 387)
The site for GATH was fixed upon at the time of the Empress Helena’s visit to Jerusalam A.D. 256. (Hastingss p. 647) The traditional Latin site of GETHSEMANE lies East of the Jericho road-bridge over the Kidron, measuring only 50 yards square containing olives trees dating before the 7th century, where Franciscans in 1848, enclosed the area with a wall. Later scholars expanded the area including more olive trees, some perhaps date as early as the time of Christ. But note that during the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, about 70 AD, by Titus, a future Emperor of Rome, with his Roman 10th Legion cut down all the trees, some trunks and roots may have survived. The Tenth Legion cut down the trees on the temple side of the valley and had gone up the slopes of the Mount of Olives where the Garden of Gethsemane is located. ”‘The JERUSALAM that CHRIST knew was a charred town. Even the hillsides within a radius of twelve miles of the town were bare.” Titus “had been forced to kill over a million…and turn miles of beautiful Judea into a desert. And he wept.” (Desmond p. 145) Today the site includes the Latin area as well as surrounding areas. The Greeks had expanded the area so more suitable gardens could be put at the disposal of Pilgrims. The last time I was in Israel we had a devotion in one of these enclosures. Certainly somewhere within the present area among the lonely olive trees the AGONY TOOK PLACE. There the greater part of the suffering required by the Atonement was accomplished…you go there for the feelings you get. Here, or near here, is where it happened! And when you are there…you weep! “Nothing in the entire Plan of Salvation compares in any way in importance with that most transcendent of all events, the atoning sacrifice of our LORD.” (McConkie p. 59)
According to Luke, Christ’s actions in Gethsemane gave rise to the Christian custom of kneeling for prayer. (Luke 22:41) But, writes Mathew, ”then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called, Gethsemane…sit ye here…and he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed…”(Math. 26:36-46) CHRIST did this three times. I think the correct order of prayer was passed down from the time of Adam, He and Eve knelt at the first altar they built, to sacrifice on, to pray! The Latin site is where the Early Christian historians, Eusebius and Jerome agreed was the place. It was beyond the Kidron valley and near the Mount of Olives. Called by John a garden. (John 18:1) It was just east of JERUSALEM, a favorite retreat frequented by Christ and his disciples, which became the scene of the Agony, Judas’ Betrayal and the Arrest. (Mark 14:32-52; Douglas p. 555)
“GETHSEMANE signifies “olive press”…symbolic of the Savior’s suffering, [there] He experienced perhaps the greatest pain of his Atonement.” (Bigelow p. 130; Mark 14:33-41; Luke 22:43-44) “Which suffering caused myself even God, the greatest of all to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit…and I finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (D&C 19:18-19) This was the AGONY. “He learned obedience by the things which he suffered.” (Hastings p. 370) This is how He Himself says he felt…
GATH was one of the five principle Philistine cities at the time of Samuel the prophet. The actual site is not as yet identified but it appears to be about half way between Hebron and the Mediterranean Sea, just north of GAZA. Early in its history it was inhabited by the “Large People,” the Anakims. (Jos. 11:1. 16; 13:3) GATH was famous as the home of GOLIATH, whom David killed. (Sam. 17) When the Philistines captured the ark it brought ill fortune to Ashdod so it was moved to GATH, where the people were struck with bubonic plague, so it was moved on to Ekron. ( 1 Sam. 5:7; 19:, 16:17) They finally returned it to Israel to get rid of it. Gath figured prominently in the life of David, then disappears from history after it was conquered about 711 BC.” (Buttrick p. 355) “by the Assyrians.” (Douglas pp. 542-543) ”GATH and Ekron were taken by Israel during the time of Samuel.” (Buttrick p. 355) Members of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim taken captive by the Assyrians when Gath was later conquered, became part of the “Lost Ten Tribes.” When David delayed in taking the ARK to Jerusalem he entrusted it to a man from GATH, Obed-edom. (Ibid) In the latter years of David’s life, his loyal bodyguard were all men from GATH, under the command of Ittai, also from GATH. (Ibid) Amos 6:2, probably refers to it as a destroyed city, “Tell it not in Gath.” (11 Samuel 1:28; Micah 1:10) GATH is only briefly mentioned in the records of the early church writers. It is not mentioned as a city in the New Testament, only as related to Gethsemane as the place of the “oil press.” Somewhere in the Garden there was an Oil Press. CHRIST refers to it as a symbol of his experience under the Press of God’s Wrath upon Him when he bled at every pore. Oil and “wine presses were common in ancient Palestine…there were various places named GATH. Usually with some [suffix] qualification. Such as GATH-HEPHER, GATH-RIMMON, MORESSHETH-GATH, GITTAIM.” (Buttrick p. 356)
ALPHA AND OMEGA
ALPHA and OMEGA are the first and last letters of the Greeks alphabet. Greek is an Indo-European language that was crystalizing a little before 2000 BC. (Renfrew p. 177) A little later than when most of the Semitic languages were being formalized. OMEGA is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, used symbolically to indicate the end, but it never appears thus apart from its opposite [Alpha].” (Buttrick p. 599)
The basic meaning is indicated by two parallel constructions: “The first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 22:13) Or as in English: A TO Z. In the New Testament the two are always used together and applied to GOD, (Rev. 1:8) or to Christ. (Rev. 22:13) “he who was” and “from whom and to whom are all things,” ”he who is to come.” The focus is not simply on a distant beginning and a distant ending of a time line as indicated by three fold formulations “who is and who was and who is to come, (Rev. 1:8) and “I am the root and the offspring of David. And the bright and morning star.” Meaning early born. Christ was the first born, the eldest. (Rev. 22:16) From him and through him and to him are all things. (Rom. 11:36) The basic formula is in Isa. 44:6: “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no other GOD.” And Isaiah reiterates “I am HE, I am the first, also I am the last.” (Isa. 48:12) And again: “I am the Lord, the first and with the last I am HE.” JESUS declares: “I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning, and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:6) Christ is the Alpha and the Omega! His primacy is ultimately the Resurrection and the Atonement. Rabbinic and mystical thinkers develop most of the above along quite different paths. (Buttrick p. 89) The Father and the Son are one God, two persons, the Creator and the Redeemer… the source and ground of existence. They alone hold supreme power over the heaven and the earth. They alone can make all things new. They alone can tell us what is yet to come, they are the life and therefore alone can give freely of the fountain of the water of life. (Rev. 21:6) Of the Father and the Son their life and work have neither a beginning nor an end. (Heb. 7:3) Because they are the ones through whom, by whom and of whom are all things made. (Buttrick p. 89)
The glorified CHRIST enunciates: ”I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed be they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree if life, and may enter in through the gates into the [celestial] city.” (Rev. 22:12-14; Hastings p.43) The use of these constructions was developed in Jewish and Greek Philosophical Literature discussed in some detail by Hastings. (Hastings pp. 43-44) and (Buttrick pp. 88-89)
Of CHRIST it has been said he is the “Way, the Truth and the Light.” And of truth it is said “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” (D&C 93:223-24) And what is “the content of saving knowledge? [from ancient documents] …[it is] the Knowledge who we were, what we have become, where we are, wherein we have been thrown, whereto we speed, where from we are redeemed, what is birth and what is rebirth?” (Jonas p. 271) However, the constructions are as 0ld as the Garden of Eden, recall: Good and Evil. Pleasure and pain….
OMER
OMER is a Jaredite name, and thus has great antiquity. OMER was listed as Number 13 in the king list prepared by Ether. (Largey p. 431) “And Emer was the son of OMER. (Ether 1:29) OMER was the son of Shule. Shule was the great-grandson of JARED, the founder of the Jaredite nation (Ether 1:30). OMER had a son he called Jared, repeating the family name. This JARED was obsessed with power and greed, so much so he deposed his own father, consigning him to captivity. But OMER was restored to his throne by his younger sons, Exrom and Coriantumr. Jared then conspired with his daughter, (unnamed) and AKISH, a friend of OMER, another evil man, to establish a secret compact to depose OMER once again. Omer was warned by the LORD in a dream, to flee with his family to safety before the usurpers could take his life. Consequently, Jared assumed the throne, but not for long. Akish having been seduced by Jared’s daughter, murdered Jared, and took over the leadership himself. His own sons did not like this, so they rebelled against their father, resulting in a civil war that destroyed virtually the entire nation: “Yea, even all save it were thirty souls and they who fled with house of Omer.” (Ether 9:12) Omer was again restored to power and reigned into his later years, when he bestowed the Kingdom upon his son, Emer. OMER died two years after anointing Emer as king-having seen exceedingly many days which were full of sorrow. (Ether 9:15; Pinegar p. 150)
The consonantal elements in the name OMER are MR, they do not appear in the Akkadian dictionary, but appear in Hebew under two variants OMER and OMAR.
OMER is found as one of the terms used in weights and measures. As a measure it is equal to a tenth of an EPAH so it would be a little more than two dry quarts. [2.09] (Buttrick p. 600) It was used as a measure of capacity in Egyptain, Mesopotamian, Canaanite and Israelite systems. (Buttrick pp. 828-839)
OMAR, can mean ‘speaker’ but in tablets found at Ebla the MAR, used as a prefix, is used to mean ‘LORD,” “the son”, or “sovereign.” (Pagan p.351)
The variant, OMAR, appears in the Bible. (Genesis 36:11) (Mandel p. 415) OMAR is the ancestor of an Edomite clan. He was the son of Eliphaz, son of ADAH. Omar is the grandson of Esau and one of Esau’s wives, ADAH. Thus, he is the great-grandson of Abraham. Adah was a Hitttite woman, daughter of ELON, a Hittite. (Douglas p. 14) Some of the Hittites were descendants of Cain. Therefore the issue of Adah, were not given the priesthood then.
OMNER
The name OMNER has the consonant elements MN and MNR, found in inscriptions of Phoenician in Carthage. It is a Mulekite name. The meaning of MN is “from,” most likely recalling and suggesting a reference to MIN, one of more than five hundred GODS in the Pantheon of Gods worshipped in the Middle East, meaning a “deity.” Most of the gods were not individual deities, but the names of the gods were really a description of one of the main god’s attributes. (Benz pp. 349-350) The name is Phoenician. The name is also found in inscriptions at Carthage, MIN also means GOD. In The catalogue of Egyptian GODS he is depicted as a bearded man, ithyphallic, wearing the same head-dress as AMEN. His cult centers were located at Panopolis, (AkhMIN) and Coptos. He is a God of sexual reproduction. Another form of AMEN. (Shorter p. 135)
In all of the scriptures, modern and restored, there are more than 800 DESCRIPTIVE NAMES and TITLES for CHRIST, (Towns pp. 13-14) but most of them are of CHRIST. To become more like CHRIST we have to acquire and develop those attributes. ”To really know GOD you must get to know HIM by name. The sheer number of such names and titles …suggests something of the immensity of GOD.” And the greatness of CHRIST. So a long list of ancient names may not be a multiplicity of Gods, but recognition of all the attributes to emulate. There are also more than 35 names and titles for FATHER, (Towns pp. 170-171) including the name MAN, found in ancient documents, (Jonas p. 270) as discussed below.
An obscure link of MIN and the element MNR is to the Hebrew MENORAH, “lampstand” as in the vision of Zechariah. (Zech. 4:2, 11) It also means “light” and is a technical term for the Jewish seven-branched LAMPSTAND, of the tabernacle and temple. In the KJV it is called a “candlestick.” (Buttrick p. 350)
OMNER was a son of Mosiah (100-74 BC) and was originally numbered among the unbelievers. (Mosiah 27:8) “The very vilest of sinners.” (Mosiah 28:4) But the appearance of an angel changed the direction of their entire lives. OMNER labored to rectify the damage he had caused endeavoring to destroy the Church. (Mosiah 5-10. 32-36) Like his brothers, Ammon, Aaron, and Himni, (Pinegar p. 150) he elected not to succeed his father as king but rather set out with them along with Alma the younger who had his own special experience with the Angel, on what was to be a challenging and ultimately successful fourteen-year LAMANITE mission in the land of Nephi. (MOSIAH 28:1-10; Alma 17:2-18; 22:1-3; 17: 26:29-30) OMNER, along with his brothers, was described as a man of GOD. (Alma 48:18) He was a man who had a sound understanding of the gospel who had the spirit of prophecy, and the Spirit of revelation. And who taught with power. These qualities are credited to his ”much prayer and fasting.” (Alma 17:2-3) OMNER later accompanied the second Alma on a mission to the Zoramites. (Alma 31:6-7; Largey p. 621)
THE CITY OF OMNER
This was a strongly fortified city on the east borders, about 67 BC, by the seashore. (Alma 51:26-27) While Moroni was busy subduing the king-men, Amalickiah and his Lamanite army captured many coastal cities, including OMNER, which temporarily gave them strongholds in Nephite territory. (Alma 51:21-27)
OMNI
OMNI was the son of JAROM who made a brief entry on the small plates of Nephi before passing them on to his son Amaron . (Largey p. 621) Omni received the sacred records from his father Jarom about 361 BC. He faithfully guarded and preserved the records for some forty-four years during a time of considerable turmoil and warfare. He turned the records over to his son Amaron about 317 BC. (Pinegar p. 151) OMNI characterized himself as an unrighteous man and acknowledged that he had not kept the commandments “as I ought to have done.” None-the-less he “fought much with the sword” to preserve the Nephites during “seasons of serious war.” (Omni 1:1-3; about 361-317 BC; Largey 621)
The name OMNI contains the consonant element MN, which in the form of MIN (An EGYPTAIN god) represents DEITY. Found in inscriptions at Carthage in a Phoenician milieu. (Benz p. 349) These two elements have been discussed before under the names starting with M, but some additional detail will be mentioned here. “Anyone with a…knowledge of the Near East will instantly recognize MORONI AS MEANING “belonging to Moron” or “of Moron,” the old -I ending being the most familiar and unchanging suffix from the oldest Egyptian and Babylonian to modern Arabic and always having the same signification of relationship.” (Nibley p.244) So, the simplest meaning of the name is: OMNI, “belonging to God” or “he belongs to GOD.”
The name is also found as MN and MTN in other inscriptions at Carthage where the meaning is ‘gift.’ (Benz pp. 350, 356) where the meaning may become “gift of God’ or ‘God’s gift’. In the Akkadkian dictionary they have it as MIN where it means or indicates ‘unreality’ in the superlative sense, suggesting a hidden meaning for MAN, a secret name for the Supreme GOD! Man appears in Old Akkadian. (Black p. 210) “The transcendence of the supreme deity is stressed to the utmost degree…he is transmundane, dwelling in his own realm entirely outside the physical universe at immeasurable distance than man’s terrestrial abode… Light, Life, Spirit, FATHER, the good, but not creator , Ruler, Judge. [another GOD has those roles]. Significantly, in some systems, one of his secret names is ‘MAN’.” (Jonas pp. 267-268) ”Man of Holiness is God’s name” (Moses 6:57; 7:35) “MAN of Council is God’s name.” (Moses 7:35) JESUS is called SON OF MAN because his father’s name IS MAN. “And the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of MAN, even JESUS CHRIST, a righteous Judge.” (Moses 6:57) Son of “The supreme and transmundane God, himself often called Man.” (Jonas p. 270) Tucked away in the ancient documents of all the worlds peoples are vistages of the true gospel and, when found, confirm the instrumentality of the Great Joseph in the full restoration of those great truths.
The first five books in the Book of Mormon are written by four men, and cover about 129 pages and include about 239 years. The brief book of Omni is less than three pages covering 231 years and written by five men. These years were filled with overwhelming apostasy and GOD’S judgements as recorded by Abinadom (OMNI 1:10). A sad time without any revelation. But in OMNI 1:12-19 we learn of the great city of Zarahemla and the Mulekites, in OMNI 1:20-22 we learn of the Jaredites and the fate of their last leader. The three great migrations from the eastern Hemisphere, the Jaredites before 2300 BC, the important one of Nephites round 600 BC and the Mulekites before 550 BC are linked together in this tiny book. We learn about the sacred records and who they were preserved by. The last of the nine writers was Amaleki who had no children to leave the records with so he gave them to king Benjamin and we follow the history from him. (Ludlow pp. 168-170) How did the Great Joseph keep all of this straight?
Note that the Book of Mormon history after the migration of Mosiah and his people follows their fortunes with that of the Mulekites with whom they joined as a minority group. The rest of Nephite history in the Book of Mormon is the story of the combined peoples of Mosiah and Mulek. The Nephites Mosiah left behind were apparently totally destroyed by the Lamanites. (Jacob 3:3-4; Sperry p. 276)
While OMNI is clearly in the Phoenician records, it also appears in earlier languages as we have noted. OMNI received his name before the Mulekites were assimilated by the Nephites so would have a different history, but the name does show up in Hebrew, note the Hebrew name LOMNI. Nibley had picked up on this. (Nibley p. 195) Ancient New Eastern scholars also note that the suffix –NI is a Hebrew element frequently found in West Semitic names. It represents the first person singular verbal suffix and is present in eight Book of Mormon names. (Coogan p. 109) The abbreviated –I ending may also signal the abbreviation –IAH for JEHOVAH thus would read as ‘JEHOVAH IS GOD.’ OMNI means GOD, but which GOD? To indicate which GOD you provide an abbreviation for the GOD you wish to identify by the suffix or prefix abbreviated as you wish. In the name LOMNI the ‘L’ prefix is the extreme abbreviation for ELOHIM so the name could be read as ‘you belong to the god ELOHIM’ or ‘you belong to the GODs JEHOVAH and ELOHIM.’ A MORMON would understand this relationship, but no one else would. It does demonstrate that many translators are subjective in their translations and not comprehending ancient doctrines may mistranslate names without knowing they are in error. There is no L in Egyptain, it is represented by an R, so you would get ROMNI.
ONIDAH
ONIDAH is a place name of some highlands where “the most part” of the rebellious Lamanites fled from their king’s command to avoid conscription so as not to have to go to battle against the Nephites about 72 BC. (Alma 47:1-5; Largey p. 623; Sorensen p. 171) The text implies that ONIDAH was not far from the capital city which at that time was called Lehi-Nephi. In ancient Mesoamerica the term “place of arms” surely would have meant a place where obsidian was available a well, [obsidian was used throughout the world since ancient times. It is twenty times shaper than steel]. Some 15-20 miles northeast of Guatemala City [thought to be the location of the City of Nephi] is an extensive obsidian outcrop that served as the primary source of that essential mineral for most of southern and eastern Mesoamerica for millennia. The position of this source in relation [to the site] Kaminaljuyu agrees in general with how the ‘place of arms’ related to the Lamanite Capital, Lehi-Nephi.” (Sorensen p. 571) Books on the Mound builders of the eastern United States make little or no reference to obsidian. I am not aware of any obsidian sources east of the Mississippi River. Obsidian found at Poverty Point an early site came from Alaska. Most came from ample sources throughout western regions especially recent volcani .
The meaning of the name is given in the text. It was called the “the place of arms.” Meaning a place where they made weapons of war. A place where there was a supply of natural material from which they could make ‘arms.’ At least three places in the Book of Mormon, reference is made to arrows that were “cast” or “thrown” (Alma:4, 19, 22; Sorensen p. 425) “ The regular “bow and arrow” would “not fit in this phrasing. But for a larger “arrow” (perhaps a “dart,” Jarom 1:8) or spear, such an expression makes perfectly good sense. “(Sorensen p. 415) ATLATL is “an American term, for spear-thrower, or devise for increasing thrust when throwing a spear or similar projectile.” (Whitehouse p. 37) “The Aztec ATLATL (spear-thrower) consisted of a stick with a hook at one end that was held extended in the hand with a large spear-like arrow placed abut the hook the length of the stick added to the extended arm greatly increased the force with which a heavier projectile could be thrown…Spanish sources said these weapons were so powerful that the point could pierce any (Spanish) armor…and inflict a fatal wound.” (Sorensen p. 415-416; Plog pp. 44-45))
OPOCHTLI, one of the venerated AZTEC Gods, [is said to have] invented the ATLATL and deified the weapon. He is worshipped in Cuitahuac and had a temple on the Island of Aztlan…”Lord of the Atlatl.” (Brundage p. 142) This is another of those internal evidences of authenticity.
It would be more than 50 years before archaeologists would excavate BASKET MAKER CULTURE remains in caves in the southwest, (Cordell 1984 p. 55, 57) dating earlier than 500 BC, (Cordell pp. 108-109) where many ATLATL’S were found as typical grave offerings. Native Americans from Eskimos to Thule and over most of America used the spear-thrower. Hundreds of site and cultures have been identified. (Martin pp. 107; 578-579) The Book of Mormon gives no name for whatever the devise was they were THROUGHING ARROWS with but it describes the action and results that the ATLATL would achieve. See the illustration with this entry.
Compare with the Native American tribe the ONEIDA’S who formed one of the five tribes that included the Onondagas, the Mohawk, the Senecas, and the Cayugas, who united into a federation under the leadership of Hiawatha, for the purpose of abolishing war in the world. (Reynolds p. 333)
ONIDAH
This may also have had the meaning for a ‘place to make weapons,’ and obsidian may have been present there also. The name is the place name of a hill in land of Antionum from which Alma preached one of his greatest sermons to the humbler of the apostate Zoramites about 74 BC. (Alma 32:4; Largey p. 623) “They were lowly in heart and so were blessed. They thought they could not worship god except in a formal church, synagogues, or chapel and that they should worship God only once in a week. They were cast out, reduced to poverty for they were necessarily brought to be humble. They were believers. They were blessed because they were compelled to be humble, but more blessed if they humbled themselves because of the word. Faith is a hope in that which is not seen which is true. If a man knoweth a thing he has no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. Experiment upon my words. Let desire work in you.” (Alma 32:8-27) This was the great sermon of Alma in which he gave the doctrine to liken the word to a seed that can grow to perfect knowledge. By faith, diligence, patience, long-suffering the tree that grew from the seed shall bring forth fruit unto them. One of the great parables. (Alma 32:28-41) Our next entry will start with the name ONIHAH
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