'Bountiful' vs other BoM names

[dahlia]

I finally finished reading the BoM, which I promised myself I'd do before getting my endowments.

I suppose I could ask some deep philosophical question, but what is really weighing on my mind is, why is there the very English name 'Bountiful' when the other place names are like 'Zarahemla,' etc.? If it is supposed to be a translation from the original language, then why translate that place name and not the others?

I'd prefer an answer that can reference scholarship on naming conventions in the BoM, as opposed to 'that's just how it is.'

[bytebear]

I think it's a translation thing. If I say "Mexico", what does that translate to in English? But if I say "Ciudad del Lago Salado", I can translate that to the native English based on the meaning of the words, "Ciudad del Lago Salado" becomes Salt Lake City. So Bountiful was named after a meaningful word that can be translated, but Zarahemla was not, or at least nothing that has a meaningful English equivalent.

[volgadon]

Probably because Bountiful is an adjective that in time became a proper noun.

[Matthew0059]

I think it's a translation thing. If I say "Mexico", what does that translate to in English? But if I say "Ciudad del Lago Salado", I can translate that to the native English based on the meaning of the words, "Ciudad del Lago Salado" becomes Salt Lake City. So Bountiful was named after a meaningful word that can be translated, but Zarahemla was not, or at least nothing that has a meaningful English equivalent.

This.

Notice the reasons that places such as 'Bountiful' and 'Desolation' were given their names- they denoted the quality of life and events that had happened in those places. The land of bone heaps became 'Desolation' (Alma 22:30), while the land of fruit and honey became 'Bountiful' (1 Nephi 17:5).

[HiJolly]

Probably because Bountiful is an adjective that in time became a proper noun.

Bounteousness = Heb. Chesed, yes?

HiJolly

[volgadon]

Bounteousness = Heb. Chesed, yes?

HiJolly

Poriyah, or some such variation.

There is a village by that name but it is a modern one.

[rameumptom]

On my most recent blog on the Book of Mormon lessons, I link to some articles on Bountiful. One notes that the Mayan word for "Bountiful" is "Tulan", and yes, there is an ancient city by that name in Central America.

That it is not a Hebrew name, but a Mayan name, may suggest that the translation came out as a description, rather than an official place name. Yes, there is the Arabian Bountiful, so named for its description after they spent years in the desert. And on arriving in America, there probably already existed a city named Tulan, or Bountiful, which would also explain why Joseph Smith would just write it in its English terminology. The English term allowed English readers to see the connection between the location and its bountiful blessings, whether in Arabia or the New World.

Joel's Monastery: Book of Mormon Lesson 5: "Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It" 1 Nephi 16-18

[Just_A_Guy]

The English term allowed English readers to see the connection between the location and its bountiful blessings, whether in Arabia or the New World.

But, in that vein, when Ishmael dies he is buried in a place that the group calls "Nahom". My understanding is that the word is a Hebrew cognate of "consolation" or "mourning". So why does the word "Nahom" remain in the English version of Nephi's record, when the narrative point could have been driven home much more forcefully had "Nahom" been translated directly?

[rameumptom]

Nahom was already named by people living in the area. They are the people of Nahom or Nihm. Recent archaeology discovered the location (3 altars with NHM on them), and it is a location on the Spice trade route where there is a large cemetery for people to bury their dead. And yes, it existed in Lehi's day. I wrote about this on my BoM blogging recently. Nephi just used the name already given to the area.

Joel's Monastery: Book of Mormon Lesson 5: "Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It" 1 Nephi 16-18

[Snow]

Recent archaeology discovered the location (3 altars with NHM on them),

Discovered THE location?

Of discovered A location with a similar place-name that MAY be the same as the BoM?

[jayanna]

B)

Nahom was already named by people living in the area. They are the people of Nahom or Nihm. Recent archaeology discovered the location (3 altars with NHM on them), and it is a location on the Spice trade route where there is a large cemetery for people to bury their dead. And yes, it existed in Lehi's day. I wrote about this on my BoM blogging recently. Nephi just used the name already given to the area.

Joel's Monastery: Book of Mormon Lesson 5: "Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It" 1 Nephi 16-18

okay, rame, that is so cool

you just got the coolguy award today

[rameumptom]

Discovered THE location?

Of discovered A location with a similar place-name that MAY be the same as the BoM?

Okay, so it MAY be the location. However, given the evidence (correct time period, correct location on the Spice Route, large cemetery, NHM not found elsewhere, etc), it seems very probable that it is THE correct location.

Nice to have the old nit-picky Snow back.....

[Snow]

Okay, so it MAY be the location. However, given the evidence (correct time period, correct location on the Spice Route, large cemetery, NHM not found elsewhere, etc), it seems very probable that it is THE correct location.

Nice to have the old nit-picky Snow back.....

How on earth can you say it's "probable?" It's just a possibility that provides a rational basis for belief but it isn't anything even remotely close to proof (of the BoM).

[rameumptom]

I can use the word "probable" because it is a very useful term. There are no other candidates available. Period. So, using Occam's Razor, we can determine the most probable candidate right now, and that is NHM.

Probable does not denote "proof", which is an entirely different thing. In science, you cannot prove things, just show the level of probability. At any point in time, gravity could fail (there are actual scientific theories that suggest this). That it hasn't happened in the past (to our knowledge), shows that most probably it will not fail.

We talk evidence. In Joseph Smith's day, there was virtually no archaeological evidence of anything in the BoM, outside of Jerusalem. That the maps in his day were very inadequate when it came to such wilderness areas, is plainly seen by looking at the maps of his day. That he wrote there is a place in southwest Arabia called Nahom, where people were buried along the Spice Route circa 600 BC, and then to find such a place by the same name, with a large traveler's cemetery that was used in that timeframe is statistically significant as evidence. Not proof. But, yes, evidence. So we look at the probability factor of someone with a 3rd grade education in the frontier of America in 1829 guessing right about such a location and event from millennia before, and we get statistical evidence of probability of such a "guess" occurring.

If you had a true/false test with 6 questions that you did not know any of the answer to, but had to guess, you would have a 1 in 64 chance of getting all right.

SOLUTION: on a true/false test a student has no idea what the answers are to 3 of the questions so he guesses. What is the probability that he will guess correctly on all 3 questions? at le

Or how about a multiple choice test, where you had to guess a,b,c, or d. To get 7 out of 10 right by guessing gives you a 0.0031 (1 in 31,000) chance of getting it right.

Mathwords: Binomial Probability Formula

Now, imagine if it this was a fill-in-the-blank test and you had to get them all right.

Suddenly the odds of "guessing right" drop precipitously. That's a pretty good odds, which is why the word "probable" fits.