Olavarria Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 In Egyptian, Nfr means "good, fine, goodly"(1). If Nephi is an Egyptian name then it would have to be the Hebrew transliteration of Nfr. Was it ever so? A clue to that answer is how K3-nfr.w is transliterated on the Aramaic papyri of Elephantine(2).Aramaic is a sister language of Hebrew, just as Spanish is to Italian. K3-nfr.w, in Aramaic, is transliterated as Knufi(?????). Nufi, Nephi...it's anyone's guess what Nfr would have sounded like if transliterated into Hebrew. In Greek magical papyri, Nfr-htp is transliterated as Nephotes(3). Once again, the final "r" is dropped, showing that Nfr to Nephi is possible. Nephi was an ancient Hebrew; and ancient Hebrew poets made frequent use of puns on the proper names of people and places(4). Many of these puns are based on the etymologies of the names being used. In Hosea 12:2-3, the author plays with Link to comment
handys003 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Alas there it is. That is how JS made up the BoM. Take it and run with it all you Ev's. Link to comment
USU78 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 My vote still leans towards Hebrew: "that men call Nephi." Link to comment
volgadon Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I'm actually less and less certain of that. Looking at Daniel Schwartz's new Hebrew translation of 2nd Maccabees, Nephi is written with a phi and a theta, the theta is how tav's are rendered. Schwartz's translation has it as naftha- oil. Link to comment
Sevenbak Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 On the other hand, wasn't the legendary daughter of Zedekiah, Tephi, a Jewish name? Link to comment
Olavarria Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 I'm actually less and less certain of that. Looking at Daniel Schwartz's new Hebrew translation of 2nd Maccabees, Nephi is written with a phi and a theta, the theta is how tav's are rendered. Schwartz's translation has it as naftha- oil.I agree. I seriously doubt Lehi and Sariah would name their son after petroleum. Egyptian seems like the best candidate. Link to comment
Mars Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Maybe he was just really slick? Link to comment
volgadon Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I agree. I seriously doubt Lehi and Sariah would name their son after petroleum. Egyptian seems like the best candidate.That is not the issue here, the letters are. Link to comment
Olavarria Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 That is not the issue here, the letters are.Right. Naphta=naphta, and that the transliteration of "nephi" is incorrect? Link to comment
volgadon Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Yeah. I can make no judgement calls about petroleum based names (another Arabian connection), but the letters don't fit Nephi. Link to comment
Olavarria Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 Yeah. I can make no judgement calls about petroleum based names (another Arabian connection), but the letters don't fit Nephi.i would prefer a Semetic source for Nephi, but Egyptian's all we got. Link to comment
notHagoth7 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 i would prefer a Semetic source for Nephi, but Egyptian's all we got.Not necessarily.Nafi/Nabi is another possible cognate source. The Semitic term for 'prophet.' Link to comment
notHagoth7 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 On the other hand, wasn't the legendary daughter of Zedekiah, Tephi, a Jewish name?If someone can find a source mentioning her which predates the 1860's, I'd be willing to give the legends surrounding her some semblance of credibility.Any takers? Link to comment
USU78 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Not necessarily.Nafi/Nabi is another possible cognate source. The Semitic term for 'prophet.'At what points in history was the ?????? pronounced Nafi? Are we in the right ballpark with 7th-6th C BCE?BTW . . . I like this possibility, especially for its implications for the last syllable of Nephihah. Link to comment
volgadon Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Not necessarily.Nafi/Nabi is another possible cognate source. The Semitic term for 'prophet.'Perhaps an Arabic speaker would care to comment, but I've never heard them pronounce it as nafi, only nabi or nebi. Hebrew is usually navi. The b/v is too strong to be a f. Link to comment
USU78 Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Perhaps an Arabic speaker would care to comment, but I've never heard them pronounce it as nafi, only nabi or nebi. Hebrew is usually navi. The b/v is too strong to be a f.Yes . . . but what about pre-Exilic pronunciation? Link to comment
volgadon Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 As we have lost some of the sounds present in the past, and as the oldest surviving accent, Yemenite, makes a clear distinction, I think it safe to say not. Link to comment
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