Using The Term 'anti' To Describe Someone

[CV75]

My belief is that it's not intended to be seen as the same word. I think that anti- in anti-Nephi-Lehies is a transliteration from the Nephite language and has a meaning of which we latter-day readers are unaware.

 

Of course, I have no way to prove that. But consider the words in the Book of Mormon that have a-n-t-i or something close to it as part of their spelling. Two that come to mind are Manti and onti.

I’ve taken “Anti-Nephi Lehies” to refer to the descendants of Lehi living in the land of Nephi at the time, which land (see Omni 1:12 and Alma 22:28) had mostly been taken over by the wicked (except in the cities named in Alma 23:9-12). Because these converts were now different from their erstwhile peers, I assumed they called themselves “Anti-” to convey that they were Lehites but no longer the kind of Lehites that generally occupied the land of Nephi, and not of the same origin as the Lehites who brought them the Gospel from Zarahemla. Whatever the reason they used "Anti-" to rename themselves, it obviously conveyed this idea of disowning their former identities.

 

 As you pointed out, “Anti” is also a prefix for other names in the Book of Mormon, so it may well carry another meaning: Antiomno, Antionah, Antionum, Antiparah, Antipas, Antipus. The first two listed were Lamantites who had converted to or were friendly to the people of the Lord; a couple are place names... "Oni-" could have conveyed a high elevation (two hills had this as a prefix).

 

Can't help it: Anti-Oakly...

[Scott Lloyd]

Scott Lloyd claims a Meldrumite believes the Book of Mormon is correct? You're promoting them in a good light.

I'm also labeled as a "Christian" and a "Mormon" used as a derogatory label by those opposed to the Faith.

I'm following the text of the Book of Mormon. If you don't want to follow it, that's your choice.

You know very well that there were Nephite dissenters living among the Lamanites. Amalekites and Amulonites, for example.

All the converts due to the missionary efforts of the Sons of Mosiah were Lamanites except for one, an Amalekite. (Alma 23:14)

The converted Lamanites were looking for a NAME to distinguish themselves from their unconverted Lamanite brethren.

Therefore, they choose Anti-Nephi and the added -Lehi at the end of it to distinguish themselves from the Nephite dissenters, the Amalekites and Amulonites, who were considered by Nephites to also be Lamanites.

So an Anti-Nephi-Lehite has several connotations; Anti-Nephi = Lamanite. Lamanite-Lehite which means a Lamanite directly descendant from Lehi. Not a Lamanite-Nephite-dissenter.

Good Luck with your conversion to the Book of Mormon, whom you call Meldrumites!

Ah, so you are a Meldrumite! My suspicion was correct.

It is characteristic of the Meldrumites to question or deny the faith of those who disagree with them, whether or not the Church has taken a position on the point under discussion.

[sethpayne]

Ah, so you are a Meldrumite! My suspicion was correct.

It is characteristic of the Meldrumites to question or deny the faith of those who disagree with them, whether or not the Church has taken a position on the point under discussion.

 

I wonder if this type of behavior can be seen among other Latter-day Saints as well.

[Scott Lloyd]

I’ve taken “Anti-Nephi Lehies” to refer to the descendants of Lehi living in the land of Nephi at the time, which land (see Omni 1:12 and Alma 22:28) had mostly been taken over by the wicked (except in the cities named in Alma 23:9-12). Because these converts were now different from their erstwhile peers, I assumed they called themselves “Anti-” to convey that they were Lehites but no longer the kind of Lehites that generally occupied the land of Nephi, and not of the same origin as the Lehites who brought them the Gospel from Zarahemla. Whatever the reason they used "Anti-" to rename themselves, it obviously conveyed this idea of disowning their former identities.

 

 As you pointed out, “Anti” is also a prefix for other names in the Book of Mormon, so it may well carry another meaning: Antiomno, Antionah, Antionum, Antiparah, Antipas, Antipus. The first two listed were Lamantites who had converted to or were friendly to the people of the Lord; a couple are place names... "Oni-" could have conveyed a high elevation (two hills had this as a prefix).

 

Can't help it: Anti-Oakly...

It is precisely because of all those a-n-t-i names, none of which have any clear connection to being against or opposed to something, that I hold my transliteration theory.

[Scott Lloyd]

I wonder if this type of behavior can be seen among other Latter-day Saints as well.

Undoubtedly it can. But Meldrumites are unusually zealous about it. And PeterPear did not deny or clarify when asked directly about it.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Scott Lloyd

[ttribe]

That strikes me as a stretch. At the time the name was applied to them, they were not opposed either to Nephi or Lehi.

(Note to ttribe: Here is an instance where ERayR and I disagree. So I'm afraid I must shatter your preconception.)

Feel free to let me know when it's you and Russell. That will be noteworthy.

[morgan.deane]

https://onoma.lib.byu.edu/onoma/index.php/ANTI-NEPHI-LEHI

"If anti is a transliteration, it might come from the EGYPTIAN relative marker nty (Coptic ente) meaning "which is," which can be nominalized as "that which is". Since the gentilic of the term is used in the plural, if it were pluralized as EGYPTIAN it should be ntyw. This would mean something like "those who are Nephi-Lehi". In later stages of EGYPTIAN, the relative marker and the genitive marker were confused. If this term derived from such a situation, it would mean something like "those of Nephi-Lehi".

If anti is a translation, the meaning could be “facing Nephi-Lehi,” from the HEBREW word that means approximately “anti,” (neged), i.e., “facing, opposite, etc.” (HWN). It is the HEBREW Vorlage in Genesis 2:18 of “help meet.” (The Greek Vorlage of English “anti” can mean “opposite, against, in exchange, instead, representing, rivaling, simulating.” See OED.) Perhaps from such considerations, it has been suggested that the significance of ANTI-NEPHI-LEHI is “those who imitate the teachings of the descendants of NEPHI and LEHI” (Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, 210).

Hugh Nibley suggested to one of his classes that anti might come from Arabic inda which, like Greek anti, means "opposite". Since this root is not found in other Semitic languages, it may actually be a borrowing from Greek.

Taken as a translation, and separating the group Nephi-Lehi, it might mean "descendants of Lehi opposed to Nephi". (JG)

It has also been suggested, *without attestation, that “Anta-Anti,” is an old Indian word, “a mountain region in the land of Nephi in the land of Lehi” (CBM, III, 366)."

This is what I learned in seminary. I was going to share it but it looks like you beat me to it. My understanding has always been this is anti as in opposite or the mirror image of something else.  

[canard78]

You're not making sense.

-snip-

It's "Peter Pear"... That's kind how I respond to most of his posts.

Every time I or anyone else replies to one of his odd statements a little voice says: "don't feed the troll."

[Scott Lloyd]

It's "Peter Pear"... That's kind how I respond to most of his posts.

Every time I or anyone else replies to one of his odd statements a little voice says: "don't feed the troll."

That is prudent advice.

[filovirus]

"Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon: Volume 4a - Alma 1-27" by Brant A. Gardner

"We understand “anti-” as a prefix meaning “against,” but the term has this meaning in English from its absorption of the Greek word, which would not have affected the plate text of the Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon, “anti” would not have been Greek and would therefore have a different meaning. Hugh Nibley suggested that “anti” is related to a Semitic and Indo-European root that connotes “facing” as one might face a mirror. Thus, it might mean that they “mirrored” the teachings of Nephi and Lehi.2 Anthropologist Gordon C. Thomasson similarly notes: “Given the fact that in the ancient Near East a word equivalent to the word anti could mean just what it means in English today, the name of the Lamanite crown prince, son of Lamoni’s father, [Lamoni’s brother who took the name Anti-Nephi-Lehi, Alma 24:5] Anti-Nephi-Lehi is a perfectly appropriate throne name for what the Lamanites had stood for, prior to their conversion.”

While interesting, these possible etymologies are not persuasive. In Thomasson’s suggestion, the Lamanites take this name after their conversion, making the declaration of a state contrary to the Nephites (“a perfectly appropriate throne name for what the Lamanites had stood for”) rather inappropriate. Alma 21:11 mentions a village named Ani-Anti. That construction is too dissimilar to Nibley’s suggestion to provide support for his interpretation.

The most likely etymology is suggested by Stephen D. Ricks, professor of ancient and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University: The name “Anti” of “Anti-Nephi-Lehi” may be a reflex of the Egyptian nty “he of, the one of.” Thus, rather than having the sense of “against,” it has the meaning “the one of Nephi and Lehi.”4 In other words, Anti-Nephi-Lehies would be the people of Nephi-Lehi. The city of Ani-Anti would be the people of Ani."

[Robert F. Smith]

This is what I learned in seminary. I was going to share it but it looks like you beat me to it. My understanding has always been this is anti as in opposite or the mirror image of something else.  

Not quite, Morgan.  The straight skinny is somewhat different:

 

What does anti- mean?  Using the normal, common English meaning of anti- as “opposite,” Richard L. Bushman suggests that this name is an outward sign of the need for change in political and religious ideology by the converted Lamanites – indicating that they were changing their old values and embracing polar opposites, i.e., their absolute pacifism was tangible proof of what their name symbolized.^[1]  This is the meaning also of anti- in the Book of Mormon term “Anti-Christ” used to describe Korihor as opposed to Christ (Alma 30:6), whereas the Anti-Christ in First and Second John (antichristos) is used to refer to a counterfeit or phony substitute for the real Christ (1 John 2:18,22, 4:3, 2 John 7).[2]

 

However, with the broader Greek Vorlage of English anti as “opposite, against, in exchange, instead, representing, rivaling, simulating,” etc. (OED), this might refer to “those who imitate the teachings of the descendants of LEHI and NEPHI.”^[3]

 

Along these same lines, Hugh Nibley has compared Latin ante (Greek anti, and Arabic ˁinda) meaning “standing in front of a person and facing him,” a “face-to-face meeting, a joining together with somebody” – just as the New Testament Anti-Christ pretends to be Christ and to take his place.  Thus, the ANTI-NEPHI-LEHIES “were called by this name and were no more called Lamanites” (Alma 23:17).  Instead, they were set apart as “industrious” Anti-Nephi-Lehies, “and the curse of God did no more follow them” (Alma 23:18).  Just as the unnamed brother of Lamoni is converted and receives a new name as ANTI-NEPHI-LEHI (Alma 23:4-5), so, in the spirit of nomen est omen, these former Lamanites “were desirous that they might have a new name” (Alma 23:16), i.e., they also sought to remove the barriers to their new life through this adoption of a new name.^[4]  Moreover, Nibley points out, this was an event which could be called “the bringing together of Nephi and Lehi,” i.e., “Nephi brought face to face or joined together with the other descendants of Lehi. . . . Anti-Nephi-Lehi means Nephi and Lehi brought together again.”  Korihor “was Anti-Christ in the same way: He claimed to replace him.  He was the false Christ.  There are lots of Anti-Christs.  The Anti-Christ comes and says that he is Christ.  That is what Satan does.  Remember in the beginning of Moses, he said, ‘I am the Only Begotten, worship me’” (PGP Moses 1:19).^[5]

^[1] Bushman in Lundquist & Ricks, eds., By Study and Also By Faith, II:68-69.

^[2] This is how the LDS Bible Dictionary describes it.

^[3] So Dan Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, 210.

^[4] Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 1988-1990: Transcripts of Lectures, II:404-405 (semester 2, lecture 53:3).  Punctuation has been altered in the quotations.

^[5] Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 1988-1990: Transcripts of Lectures, II:428 (semester 2, lecture 54:7).  Punctuation has been altered in the quotations.

[Robert F. Smith]

.........................................................................................................................

The most likely etymology is suggested by Stephen D. Ricks, professor of ancient and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University: The name “Anti” of “Anti-Nephi-Lehi” may be a reflex of the Egyptian nty “he of, the one of.” Thus, rather than having the sense of “against,” it has the meaning “the one of Nephi and Lehi.”4 In other words, Anti-Nephi-Lehies would be the people of Nephi-Lehi. The city of Ani-Anti would be the people of Ani."

While it is true that Stephen Ricks^[1] and John Gee have each suggested that ANTI- may have derived from the ancient Egyptian relative adjective nty(w) “who is; those who,”^[2] namely hypothetical Egyptian *nty-nfy-lḥyw “Those-who-are-Nephi-Lehies,” I am first to have come up with that suggestion a generation ago.  Examples of this mostly adverbial construction include nty nb rn.f ḥr wd pn “everyone whose name is on this stela” (Leyden V, 103); nty m ḥwt ntr “which is in the temple” (Siut 1, 290); nty sb(w) r MЗdw “who had been sent to Medamud” (Papyrus Boulaq xviii,6); ^[3] nty r gs.f “those who were with him” (Eloquent Peasant B 1,43); ntyw im ḥnˁ.f  “those who were there with him” (Sinuhe B,33); nty m dpt tn “those who were in this ship” (Shipwrecked Sailor 170); nty ntrw im “which the gods are therein” (Cairo 20485).^[4]  Though most of these examples refer to antecedents, Gardiner notes that there are rare cases “in which the subject is different from the antecedent and in which, accordingly, a noun or pronoun has to be inserted after nty.”^[5]   In Coptic this becomes the relative converter nte-.

^[1] S. D. Ricks “Anti-Nephi-Lehi,” in D. Largey, ed., Book of Mormon Reference Companion (SLC: Deseret, 2003), 67.

^[2] A. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 3^rd ed. (Oxford, 1957), §§199-201,328,332-334,468.4, and Addition of §200A on p. 424; G. Englund, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction, 2^nd ed. (Uppsala, 1995), 51-53.

^[3] These three examples from the sections cited in Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 3^rd ed.

^[4] These four examples from Englund, Middle Egyptian, 51-52.

^[5] Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 3^rd ed., §328.2.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Robert F. Smith

[PeterPear]

I’ve taken “Anti-Nephi Lehies” to refer to the descendants of Lehi living in the land of Nephi at the time, which land (see Omni 1:12 and Alma 22:28) had mostly been taken over by the wicked (except in the cities named in Alma 23:9-12). Because these converts were now different from their erstwhile peers, I assumed they called themselves “Anti-” to convey that they were Lehites but no longer the kind of Lehites that generally occupied the land of Nephi, and not of the same origin as the Lehites who brought them the Gospel from Zarahemla. Whatever the reason they used "Anti-" to rename themselves, it obviously conveyed this idea of disowning their former identities.

 

 As you pointed out, “Anti” is also a prefix for other names in the Book of Mormon, so it may well carry another meaning: Antiomno, Antionah, Antionum, Antiparah, Antipas, Antipus. The first two listed were Lamantites who had converted to or were friendly to the people of the Lord; a couple are place names... "Oni-" could have conveyed a high elevation (two hills had this as a prefix).

 

Can't help it: Anti-Oakly...

But they're not hyphenated. Unlike Anti-Christ and Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

So what's your point? That a Nephite prefix "Anti" which sounds similar to the English "Anti-" are the same?

But Scott Lloyd, a writer, relies on scholars to do his thinking, as he admitted.

 

Knock off the personal attacks - Mods

For example, the scholar on Page 29, last paragraph of this article, claims the Book of Mormon contains "standard rhetoric" when his theory doesn't agree with the text. http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/8/1/S00006-50cb9720813af5Clark.pdf

Ho hum! The Book of Mormon is inconsistent and wrong, therefore it contains "standard rhetoric." We now need a transliteration theory.

See, I read scholarly works too.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Ares

[Rivers]

My belief is that it's not intended to be seen as the same word. I think that anti- in anti-Nephi-Lehies is a transliteration from the Nephite language and has a meaning of which we latter-day readers are unaware.

Of course, I have no way to prove that. But consider the words in the Book of Mormon that have a-n-t-i or something close to it as part of their spelling. Two that come to mind are Manti and onti.

I have always assumed that "anti" means "non" in this instance. They were non-nephi Lehites. Lehites but not Nephites. This was apparently the best term they could come up with to distinguish themselves from Lamanites.

[Scott Lloyd]

But they're not hyphenated. Unlike Anti-Christ and Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

So what's your point? That a Nephite prefix "Anti" which sounds similar to the English "Anti-" are the same?

But Scott Lloyd, a writer, relies on scholars to do his thinking, as he admitted.

For example, the scholar on Page 29, last paragraph of this article, claims the Book of Mormon contains "standard rhetoric" when his theory doesn't agree with the text. http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/8/1/S00006-50cb9720813af5Clark.pdf

Ho hum! The Book of Mormon is inconsistent and wrong, therefore it contains "standard rhetoric." We now need a transliteration theory.

See, I read scholarly works too.

must - not - feed- the - trolls.

[longview]

Interesting. Thanks for citing this scholarship.

 

I note that there is no definitive explanation, and I'm glad to see that scholars allow for my transliteration theory.

Could it be possible the term "Anti-Nephi-Lehi" represents their repudiation of the main branch of the rebellious descendents of Laman/Lemuel?  Maybe they desired to go back to "square one" and align themselves with the other main branch consisting of Nephi/Jacob/Mosiah? Could the prefix anti be more closely related to "neo" or "radical" indicating their rebirth as a people?

[Saint Sinner]

I'm so confused and definitely not smart enough to figure this one out. Maybe I should read the Book of Mormon again...it's been a while.