The meaning of Hagoth

Hagoth is an interesting Book of Mormon character, who is introduced in Alma 63

And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward. (Alma 63:5)

He seems to me to be introduced in a typical Jewish manner, where there is a name and then a characteristic explaining the name. In Israel, all names had a meaning and defined characteristics, attributes or major events in the life of the person bearing that name. In this case, "exceedingly curious" is declared his main characteristic after introducing him by name. This follows a common pattern where I would expect the meaning of his name to relate to this characteristic. 

The etymology of Book of Mormon names is not always easy since they are an English transliteration of a language that is largely unknown except for the fact that it is related to Hebrew and probably spelled with script similar to Hieratic. But the Book of Mormon Onomasticon page has a good candidate for the name, Hagoth: The Hebrew word, haguth, means "meditation" or "musing". Perhaps we imagine Hagoth as an explorer, in which case we would conclude that this possible Hebrew meaning is not a good fit. But verse 7 in the same chapter indicates otherwise

And in the thirty and eighth year, this man [Hagoth] built other ships. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward. (Alma 63:7)

Apparently, Hagoth did not sail with his own ship. He stayed behind and built other ships and then the first ship returned. This indicates that he was really curious about what the land northward was like without having the desire to explore it himself, but instead having others go and report back. In that case, his exceeding curiosity is less of the exploratory type and more of the reflective type and makes a good fit with the possible Hebrew equivalent of the English transliterated name. This would be another addition to a long and growing list of Hebrew wordplays in the Book of Mormon.

The line of Nephite record keepers

How were Nephite records passed from one generation to the next? Who had the responsibility? Easy, you would say: The record keeper gave them to his oldest son before he died (with a few exceptions like Nephi handing the plates to his brother, Jacob). That is the simple and not entirely correct version. Here is the detailed one:

The Small Plates of Nephi

As mentioned, Nephi gave the plates to his brother, Jacob. Why not his son? Her are some possible reasons:

• He did but only the large plates. This the large plates were passed down the line of kings, it would imply that Nephi's son became the king after Nephi died. This explanation seems unlikely, given the wording in Jacob 1:9: "Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people". We would expect "a man" to be replaced with "his son" if that in fact were the case.
• Nephi had only girls. We know he had children (1 Nephi 18:19), but we don't know their gender.
• None of Nephi's sons had proven worthy to be entrusted with the plates
• This was the first time plates were handed over since Nephi created them. There simply was no system or tradition yet for how it was to be done and Nephi saw Jacob, who he had ordained as priest and teacher, as a natural successor.

From Jacob on, we read that the plates are typically handed from father to son, Enos, Jarom, Omni, etc. In one case they are handed to a brother for reasons we can only speculate about. But studying the timeline, it is quite obvious that the plates were not typically handed to the oldest son. I'm not going to include all the details of my study here, but I figured Jacob must have been 70+ when Enos was born, Enos around 70 when Jarom was born and Jarom about 50 when Omni was born. Information is scarce so these are rough estimates, but to make it all work, none of these figures can be much reduced without increasing the other. After Omni, there are about 50 years between the generations of record keepers until the plates are full and given to King Benjamin.

From this we can conclude that it was Nephite tradition to pass the small plates to the youngest son. One may even wonder how Jacob and Enos could have children when they were 70 or more. But in Ether 9:24, we read

24 And it came to pass that his wife died, being an hundred and two years old. And it came to pass that Coriantum took to wife, in his old age, a young maid, and begat sons and daughters; wherefore he lived until he was an hundred and forty and two years old.

This is pretty extreme, at least for our standards, and make even Jacob and Enos look like young fathers. If it happened among the Jaredites, there is no reason why it couldn't happen among the Nephites too.

The Large Plates of Nephi - Period of Kings

We know very little about the Nephite kings. But in the period between Nephi and Mosiah II, the large plates of Nephi were passed from one king to the next, which presumably also would be from father to son. Which son we don't know. I have realized that the Jaredites most likely had a system of conferring the kingdom to the youngest son. I don't think that is the case for Nephite kings. Although we know very little about the kings before Benjamin, we know that Benjamin had three sons, named in order in Mosiah 1:2. Since Mosiah is mentioned first, it is reasonable to assume that he also was the oldest and he became the next king. Based on that information, I assume that it was Nephite tradition to confer the kingdom and the large plates to the oldest son.

The Large Plates of Nephi - Period of Judges

We know much more about this period, described in detail from the beginning of the Book of Alma until Christ comes in 3 Nephi. The generational gap from one record keeper to the next is much smaller than the one we see on the small plates. In some cases, we also know that the plates were handed to the oldest son. For instance, Helaman-I was the oldest son of Alma-II. The interesting part, however, is that this was not at all obvious from the beginning.

It all starts with Mosiah-II ending the reign of kings and initiating the reign of judges. The large plates had been passed from king to king but also from father to son. Now that there was no king, should Mosiah's oldest son get the plates? He was not around since he had gone on a mission to the Lamanites. We know that Alma-II got the plates. But was it because the sons of Mosiah were not able to take the records or was it because Alma was now the ruler/chief judge? We are not told. Personally, I think Alma would have received the plates anyway. The plates contained time-keeping and a great deal of information about governmental affairs, wars, etc. in addition to prophecies and spiritual matters. The large plates had always been the responsibility of the chief ruler. It used to be a king, now it was a judge.

This helps explain an oddity in Alma 50

37 And it came to pass that in the same year that the people of Nephi had peace restored unto them, that Nephihah, the second chief judge, died, having filled the judgment-seat with perfect uprightness before God.

38 Nevertheless, he had refused Alma to take possession of those records and those things which were esteemed by Alma and his fathers to be most sacred; therefore Alma had conferred them upon his son, Helaman.

We learn that Helaman was Alma's second choice. He first asked Nephihah to take the plates and other sacred relics, but he refused. Since we are used to having the period of kings covered mostly by the small plates and knowing what happens after Alma-II, we are also used to the plates being handed primarily from father to son. This verse indicates that the change from kings to judges had not really settled the question about whose responsibility it was to keep the records. Alma had stepped away from the judgment seat and appointed Nephihah to rule in his place. He apparently thought that the plates, having been passed from one king to the next, now should go from one chief judge to the next. But Nephihah refused. Again we can only speculate. Did he not feel capable of fulfilling the task? Or did he simply think that the plates should go from father to son, not from one ruler to the next? (Ruler and son were not the same person anymore as it had been in the past).

Some have also speculated that Helaman was not up to the task and this is why Alma chose Nephihah first. It might be, but in the context of all this it actually makes sense to me that Alma would want to offer them to the chief judge first. Helaman getting the responsibility for the large plates of Nephi would probably be the first time a non-ruler had that. It marks a turning point in Nephite history. The records are now handed from father to (probably) the eldest son, regardless of who is chief judge. Incidentally, Helaman-II is appointed chief judge later on (see Helaman 2:2), but he is already the record keeper at the time. 

Another oddity: In the period of judges, we also read about a brother getting the responsibility. Alma 63:1

And it came to pass in the commencement of the thirty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Shiblon took possession of those sacred things which had been delivered unto Helaman by Alma.

Shiblon was the brother of Helaman-I and he "took possession" of the plates only 3 years before he conferred them to Helaman-I's son, Helaman-II and then died. Perhaps Helaman-I died suddenly and unexpected and didn't get the time to properly hand over the plates with instructions like for instance Alma did in Alma 37? That could explain the phrase, "took possession".

Conclusion

• The small plates of Nephi seem to typically be handed from father to the youngest son (in some cases a brother)
• The large plates of Nephi are handed from one king to the next, who is assumed to typically also be the oldest son
• After the period of kings, the large plates of Nephi are handed from father to the oldest son (with Shiblon, the brother of Helaman-I being one exception), after an apparent period of uncertainty about who they should be transmitted to

Underlying Hebrew gender of Book of Mormon nouns

In the English language, nouns traditionally have no gender. I guess words like actor/actress, waiter/waitress clearly indicate a gender, but the point is that in many other languages, the article preceding any noun indicates what gender it is. This is not the case in English. In my native language, for example, there are 3 genders: Masculine, feminine and neuter. In Hebrew, there are two, masculine and feminine. Every noun will have a gender. When translated into English, this characteristic is typically lost. But there are some cases in the Book of Mormon, where a gender pronouns refers back to the noun, especially when it is feminine, it seems. (This may also be due to the fact that the feminine nouns are easier to find with searches. I found some searching for "she/her" but couldn't do the same with "he/him/his" because there are way too many results). 

So there may be more, but I have found at least the following:

Wisdom

In Mosiah 8:20, we read:

how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

Since nouns have no gender in English, there is no reason why wisdom should be referred to as something feminine. Unless you consider the original Book of Mormon language, based on Hebrew, where wisdom is a feminine noun. In fact, wisdom is associated with the devine feminine, and the way it is even personified in this verse is a strong allusion to that concept.

City

There are two different words for "city" in Hebrew, qiryah and qereth. They are both feminine. 

In Helaman 13:14, we read

wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in her.

Similarly, in Mormon 4:14

And they did also march forward against the city Teancum, and did drive the inhabitants forth out of her

So apparently, cities are regarded as feminine nouns in the Book of Mormon too. 

Vessel/ship

Having little to no knowledge of the Hebrew language, I'm relying on Strong's Hebrew at biblehub.com. This one was a bit tricky but the most common word for "ship" in the Hebrew Old Testament (31 occurrences) is oniyyah, which is a feminine noun. There was another masculine noun, tsiy, but it had only 4 occurrences. In the Book of Mormon, ship is feminine:

And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not. (Alma 63:8)

There is another case in Mormon 5:18, when the word, "vessel", is used, but clearly in the meaning of a ship.

as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they.

The only Hebrew word I found that is translated into "vessel" but defined as "ship" is sephinah. This is also a feminine noun in Hebrew. However, there is only one occurrence of this word (Book of Jonah).

Earth

In Helaman 11:13, we read

O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.

Again, there are several possible candidates for the word, "earth", in Hebrew. I think the best candidate by far is erets, another feminine noun. Other candidates are Aramaic or have very few occurrences but most of these are also feminine. "Aphar" is masculine and can be translated into "earth" but in the sense of "soil/ground", which does not fit the context in Helaman.

Justice

Some of the readers may have had the thought by now: Even though nouns have no genders in the English language, isn't it common to view ships and earth like something feminine? Yes, that is true. "Mother earth" is still a common expression today. The reason why ship and earth are regarded as something feminine in English, is actually the genders they have in other languages like greek and latin, where many of these words come from. For some reason, these "old" genders have stuck to some of the words in the English language. So I admit, at least these two are not the first arguments I would use as evidence of the Hebrew roots of the Book of Mormon. 

Justice, however, does not have a traditionally assigned gender. But if anything, it would probably be viewed as feminine. "Justice" comes from the latin, "iustitia". It is a feminine noun and the origin of the Lady Justice.

But in the Book of Mormon, justice is masculine

For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands (Alma 42:24)

So it is in Hebrew. There are several candidates, like din, tsedeq and meshar but they are all masculine.

Mercy

In the very same verse I quoted about justice, we also find a gender reference to mercy.

and also mercy claimeth all which is her own (Alma 42:24)

I learned a lot by studying the possible Hebrew root of this passage. John W. Welch notes here that

The words mercy and justice in Hebrew have gender. Wisdom and mercy are represented by female concepts, whereas justice is often male.

The underlying Hebrew origin (even though Alma surely didn't speak the same kind of Hebrew that we find in the Old Testament) is likely racham, even though no Hebrew word directly translates to mercy. Racham is better translated into compassion, in which case it actually is a masculine noun. But it also means womb and is then a feminine noun connected to women and often childbirth. The two meanings might seem very unrelated, but the Hebrew idea is that this compassion comes from deep within and is perhaps best illustrated by the feelings of a mother for her child. This actually adds some meaning to "bowels of mercy" that we find several places in the Book of Mormon. It seems likely that this expression originates from the Hebrew "racham". In Alma 34:15, we read

to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice

This is Alma 42 language and the reason why I believe "mercy" in this chapter is somehow related to the Hebrew "racham".

In Hosea 1:6, Hosea's daughter was to be named Lo-Ruchamah, meaning no mercy/compassion. Later in Hosea, the name is changed to "ruchama" as the Lord symbolically turns his anger to mercy. Ruchama is still today a Jewish female name. So even though it technically can be a masculine noun, it is very much a feminine concept in ancient Hebrew.

This is just one of numerous examples of small details in the Book of Mormon that provide evidence of its ancient origins. If Joseph Smith had made it up, we could perhaps explain away one or two of these as lucky guesses and get away with it, but there are 6 nouns in this list. To compare with my native language, earth is feminine, ship is neutral and city is masculine. The rest are words that usually would not be preceded by an article and therefore a bit undefined in terms of gender, but if you were to use an article, they would all be masculine. This is quite different from the noun genders we see in the Book of Mormon that match better with Hebrew than Greek, Latin or other more modern languages assigning gender to nouns.

 

Nephite splinter groups and Book of Mormon wars

A few years ago I started making an overview of all the wars in the Book of Mormon: When they occurred, who was involved, how it was initiated, etc. It was a bit difficult since there are so few details sometimes, like Enos just saying that "I saw wars between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days." (Enos 1:24). I don't know exactly what I expected to get out of it, I just thought it could be interesting. Although I didn't really finish it, I made at least one observation that I thought was interesting: Every single war during the reign of the judges until the coming of Christ (Alma, Helaman, 3 Nephi up to chapter 11) is initiated by Nephite dissenters and never the Lamanites. And these are a lot of wars too. Here is an overview:

87 B.C. - Amlici wants to be king, the Nephites vote against him, he gets mad and mixes goes to the Lamanites along with his followers. They go to war against the Nephites. See Alma 2.

81 B.C. - The Sons of Mosiah had been preaching among the Lamanites and had much success. Many Lamanites converted but none of the Nephite dissenters among them (Amalicites and Amulonites) except for one. Instead they stirred up the others that had not converted to anger against the converts and later the Nephites and went to war against them. See Alma 16 and 28.

74 B.C. - In the aftermath of the Zoramite mission, those who believe are cast out and those who don't believe are mad at the Nephites for giving them refuge and land. They mix with the Lamanites and go to war. See Alma 43-44.

73-57 B.C. - Amalickiah is another one who seeks to become king. When it doesn't work he goes to the Lamanites and eventually even becomes their king. But he is not happy with that and goes to war against the Nephites. There is at least one period of peace in-between, but all the wars going on in this period are initiated by Amalickiah and perpetuated by his brother, Ammaron, when he dies. This is a long one and is covered in Alma 46-62.

52 B.C. - We get little information about this one but enough to know that it is caused by Nephite dissenters stirring up the Lamanites to anger. See Alma 63:14-15

50 B.C. - We don't know much about the background for this war, just that the Lamanites came. But we learn that their armies were led by someone called Coriantumr who was a Nephite dissenter and that the king stirred them up. The Lamanite king at the time was Ammaron's son and Amalickiah's nephew, i.e. a Nephite by birth. See Helaman 1:14-34

38-30 B.C. - History repeats itself. Nephite dissenters go to the Lamanites, and manage after some persuation to stir them up to anger against the Nephites and go to war. They capture a lot of Nephite land, but give it back after a lot of them convert through miraculous events. See Helaman 4-5.

15-16 A.D. - This is the longest period without wars between Nephites and Lamanites in the reign of judges. But there has been much unrest at times and the Gadianton robbers have been established and have taken over much of the government and caused murders and plundering. It is hard to pinpoint a war in this period until 15-16 A.D. where more of a battle is described between the Nephites and the Gadianton robbers. Not surprisingly, the Gadianton robbers originate from Nephites. See 3 Nephi 2:17-18.

19-22 A.D. - Another battle with the Gadianton robbers. At this point, the terms "Nephite" and "Lamanite" seem to have little to do with who their forefathers were. "And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites" (3 Nephi 2:14). Considering all the Nephite dissenters who have joined the Lamanites before this, a genetic test would probably fail to determine who is who. See 3 Nephi 4. 

Depending on how we count, we have about 9 distinct wars in this period of judges. Every single one is initiated by people who were Nephites by birth. In fact, at least in two of these accounts, there were Lamanites who refused to go to war and had to be persuaded by Nephite dissenters. See Alma 47:2 and Helaman 4:3.

I guess Mormon was right:

And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things. (Alma 24:30)

Publishing the Engravings

In Alma 63:12, we learn that Helaman-2 distributed (most of) the words that were written on the plates when they came into his possession:

12 Now behold, all those engravings which were in the possession of Helaman were written and sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land, save it were those parts which had been commanded by Alma should not go forth.

This of course requires the people to have had at least one writing system.

The caveat is that some of the engravings had been commanded not to be given to the people. Mormon goes out of his way to mention that in publishing the words, Helaman did not disobey the commands of his grandfather Alma-2, which we can read in Alma 37:

27 And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.

Mormon brings up these "secret oaths" on several other occasions, too.  (See Helaman 6:25 and Helaman 8:3.)