ON NEBIS AND NEPHIS Let it be first understood that the author is not a linguist -- though he has benefitted often from the thinking of his son who is a professional linguist, and as a result of thirty-eight years in the diplomatic service (and some very expensive training at the Foreign Service Institute) has acquired some competency in seven languages. But the following should be considered nothing more than interesting speculation on a theme which may be of interest to Latter-day Saints. In the ancient world nothing was more common than for the name of an outstanding leader to become adopted as the name title for subsequent leaders: There is the example of Pharaoh in Egypt -- adopted as rule-title by dozens of successors to the first Pharaoh; Caesar, which was the family name of the famous Julius who was assassinated in the Roman Senate by a group who considered his rule a threat to the Republic, but which was adopted as rule title by his nephew Octavian, who became known to history as Augustus -- as well as by a dozen succeeding family members, and later still by any number of jump-up rulers from the Legions who bore no family linkage to the early Caesars at all. The power of this name title became such in Europe that it was still being used in variant form down to 1918 as the title for the Emperor of all the Russias (Czar ), the ruler of Bulgaria (known as Tsar ), and the rulers of Austria-Hungary and Germany -- both known as Kaisers. And, of not least relevance, the case of Noah's son Shem, who succeeded Noah as head of the post-Diiluvian Dispensation, and who was accorded the title of Melchizedec (King of Righteousness), which name came virtually to eclipse his birth name in history (see B.H. Roberts, The Truth, The Way, The Life. San Francisco: Smith Research Associates, 1994. p. 436). In time, out of respect, and in order to avoid the too frequent repetition of the name of the Son of God, the name-title Melchizedec came to be attached to the Great Priesthood and is thus born by all possessors of this priesthood (D&C 107:4). Book of Mormon history demonstrates a similar phenomenon. The great Nephi was succeeded by at least three recorded successors called Nephi. How many more there may have been who were not righteous leaders and thus did not have control of the metal plates on which the religious history of the people was recorded we do not know. The standard LDS pronunciation of the name Nephi (Neef-eye) has puzzled the writer since he first went abroad at age nineteen as a missionary. In Britain, and thereafter in France, Spain, Scandinavia, Central America, and Eastern Europe has found the name invariably pronounced with a short "e" (i.e. Nef-ee). It is still not clear whether the accepted pronunciation was a matter of revelation, or simply the reflection of Frontier American English. Be this as it may, there has been little written or speculated upon about the derivation of the name Nephi. Hugh Nibley once wrote an article in which he asserted that he'd encountered something approaching the consonantal letters of the names (NPH) in an Egyptian text. But while Nephi's father Lehi was indeed engaged in trade with Egypt and was conversant in the Egyptian language and lore (thus Nephi's early declaration in the Book of Mormon that his writings consisted of "the learning of my father and the language of the Egyptians" (I Nephi 1:2), it would appear highly unlikely that an observant Hebrew of Lehi's day would have given a son an Egyptian name. It so happens however that there is in Hebrew a cognate word which it appears to the author might well be considered the source for the name Nephi, but which to his knowledge no previous author has considered. In Hebrew the word Nebi means nothing more nor less than "prophet". Might it not well be that the character known in Book of Mormon history by the name Nephi started life with a more prosaic name like those of his brothers Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, but by reason of his powerful prophetic calling came over the years consistently to be referred to as "the prophet" (i.e. Nebi )? As linguists are aware, nothing is more common in language than for the "b" sound to drift into either a "v" or "ph" sound. Indeed, in modern Spanish when spelling one's name for a recorder it is usual for one to specify "B majescule " (big B) or "V minescule " (little v) to make clear which consonant is intended. Thus, as Lehi's fourth son proceeded through life, becoming called (often one assumes in derision by his brothers "Nebi " -- because they resented and most often disregarded his prophetic pretensions), in time, this might well have been commuted into "Nephi ", a name with no exact correspondence in either Hebrew or Egyptian. It is also not beyond likelihood that this fourth son, becoming accustomed to being so called by his brothers (and his people), and perhaps out of a sense of pride in his sarcastically bestowed name -- or indeed out of a sense of high responsibility for his God-given calling -- came to think of himself as Nephi . And used this name title in undertaking to write his abridgement of the religious doings of his people. In no sense should it be surprising that the same name "Nephi" was later adopted by -- or bestowed on -- a son of Helaman -- or by this subsequent Nephi's own son, also known as Nephi (III Nephi, introduction to Chapter I). While the author would not to insist on this analysis of the origin and meaning of the name Nephi, he considers it consonant with what is known about linguistic change, in line with what is known of Lehi's attitude to Egypt (the source of his not inconsiderable income from trade, but whose religious beliefs and customs he abhorred), and consistent with what is sketched between the lines in the Book of Mormon with regard to Nephi's brothers attitude towards him. Nor would it surprise the author someday to learn that the name of a related Book of Mormon character of great power and renown known as Abinadi (usually pronounced by Mormons as Ah-bin'-a-die, should more properly be pronounced Abin- nahbi, i.e. "son " (or "father", or indeed "son of and father of" a prophet. In Hebrew Abba means "father" and is often used as a part of the name of a mature authority figure much as "Father Smith" was used in Nauvoo days in addressing Joseph Smith, Sr., the Patriarch of the Church. And "ben" (or "bin") means "son" and is used as a tribal appelation among many Arab tribes even today: as for example the Beni Sadi (sons of Sadi) in Morocco. Like Nephi, Abinadi may well have lived much of his life under a sobriquet rather than his actual given name.