The Surprising Meanings Behind "Enos" and "Noah": Insights into Book of Mormon Names

Keywords

scriptural wordplay, Hebrew and Egyptian names, theological symbolism

Abstract

Ancient scripture writers often used the literary pattern of paronomasia (word plays and word puns) to convey significant theological messages (see hereand here). Bible and Book of Mormon authors used names of individuals as a means to teach core principles. If we could read the original Hebrew and Egyptian texts of the Book of Mormon, we’d find names repeated thematically throughout the text. Just as a modern persuasive writer today will repeat their thesis statement in multiple ways throughout their writing, so too, ancient prophets used names and derivatives of names to reinforce in meaningful ways the major idea they wished for readers to see in the text.

Such word plays constitute beautiful, significant, even brilliant literary sophistication of Book of Mormon writers. Prophets also employed names to call our attention to other individuals in scripture with the same name. Remember when Helaman named his sons Nephi and Lehi (see Helaman 5:6-7)? He did so to call to their remembrance the good lives of their forefathers. But such naming and remembering goes beyond simply thinking of another similarly named person. Naming and wordplay provide opportunities to compare and contrast scripture stories that might otherwise not be brought together.

Original Publication Citation

The Surprising Meanings Behind “Enos” and “Noah”: Insights into Book of Mormon Names, Taylor Halverson and Brad Wilcox, LDS Living, October 14, 2017.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2017

Publisher

LDS Living

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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