Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Keywords
Nephi, Book of Mormon, Egyptian origin, Hebrew
Abstract
A proposed etymology of the Book of Mormon name Nephi is that it derives from the ancient Egyptian word nfr,1 which as an adjective means “good,” “fine,” or “goodly” and as a noun denotes “kindness” or “goodness.”2 By Lehi’s time, this word was probably pronounced “ne˘fe¯” (NEH-fee).3 Two Book of Mormon passages contain strong evidence for such an etymology.
Recommended Citation
Bowen, Matthew L.
(2002)
"Internal Textual Evidence for the Egyptian Origin of Nephi’s Name,"
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship: Vol. 22:
No.
11, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/insights/vol22/iss11/3