We will now consider a few proper names found in the Book of Mormon, but not in the Bible; for, notwithstanding the changes made by the Nephites in their language, the derivation and significance of many of these names are evident, when considered in connection with the languages of the races with whom the ancient Hebrews were brought most closely in contact.
_Sariah_ is obviously Hebrew. It is a name of extreme beauty and force. Its roots are in Sara, a princess, and Jah or Iah, Jehovah, thus meaning a princess of Jehovah; a most fitting name for the mother of a multitude of nations.
_Nephi_ is another very remarkable name. Its roots are Egyptian; its meaning, good, excellent, benevolent. From very ancient times the Egyptians believed that all who died had to have their acts upon earth scrutinized by a council of inquisitors, before they could be proclaimed fit to enter the eternal abodes of bliss and stand in the presence of the god Osiris, the chief lord of the land of the departed. One of the names given to this god, expressive of his attributes, was Nephi or Dnephi (the D being silent, as Dniester, Dnieper, etc.), or the good, and the chief city dedicated to him was called N-ph, translated into Hebrew as Noph, in which form it appears in Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah. Its modern English name is Memphis. In the Coptic, the language of the modern Egyptians, the word has the form of Menfi or Mnefi. Plutarch, the ancient historian, says that Dnephi was a benevolent person, and an epithet for Osiris, and was also applicable to Memphis, the sepulchre of that god. The word Neph frequently appears in Egyptian proper names before the Christian era, as Amoneph, Amuneph, Me-Nephta. From these facts we conclude that Nephi was a common name in the Egyptian tongue; and, as far as the founder of the Nephite nation was concerned, most applicable to his character, which was pre-eminently good and benevolent.
The English word, Nephites, that is the people or family of Nephi, occurs twice in its Hebrew form in the Old Testament; once in _Ezra_ (ii., 50) as Nephisim, and again in _Nehemiah_ (vii., 52), as Nephishesim, which show that the name was common among the Hebrews of the age of the captivity.
