But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust; and he shall deliver these words unto another;
But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth: for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.—II. Nephi xxvii. 6, 9, 10.
It has been wisely said, It is very evident that pure words of either the Hebrew or Egyptian tongue could hardly be expected in the Book of Mormon, for the reason that the Nephites had altered the Hebrew, and their language was so completely changed that their speech could not be understood by other races. But although the structure of their language had thus changed, it does not follow that all the words had been replaced by others entirely unlike the former language spoken and written by them. It is logical to expect many remnants of the ancient roots, which, however much changed, may retain so much of their original types as to be capable of identification. Thus, in the word Ziff, which the Prophet Joseph tells us was a metal, we find a word of the same sound as the Hebrew word ziph or seph, which means a metal. The metal laid over statues was so called. It is true that the word ziff is not spelled the same, but in its orthography is like the name of the Hebrew month, Ziff. But the word ziff means brightness—metallic brightness. (The word is used in Daniel ii., 31, also in Isaiah xxx., 22, where it means overlaying metal.)
Rameumptom was the name given by the Zoramite apostates to the elevated place in their synagogues, from whence they offered up their vain-glorious and hypocritical prayers. Alma states the word means a holy stand. It resembles, in its roots, Hebrew, and also Egyptian, in a remarkable manner. Ramoth, high (as Ramoth Gilead), elevated, a place where one can see and be seen; or, in a figurative sense, sublime or exalted. Mptom has probably its root in the Hebrew word translated threshold, as we are told that the Philistine god, Dagon, had a threshold in Ashdod (see I. Samuel v., 4, 5). Words with this root are quite numerous in the Bible. Thus we see how Rameumptom means an exalted place to stand upon, a pulpit or holy stand.
Sheum, a kind of grain, is singularly like the Hebrew Shum (garlic), as found in Numbers xi., 5.
Gazelem appears to have its roots in Gaz—a stone, and Aleim, a name of God as a revelator or interposer in the affairs of men. If this suggestion be correct, its roots admirably agree with its apparent meaning—a seer. The text reads: And the Lord said, I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren: yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.
Rabbanah is another wonderful word. It is the title applied by the servants of king Lamoni to Ammon, the son of Mosiah, after his miraculous exploits at the waters of Sebus. It is translated powerful or great king. Whether it was a Nephite or Lamanite word is uncertain, as the Lamanites of that age (B. C. 91) had been taught by royal command in the language of the Nephites. It is, however, of little moment to which of these kindred tongues it belonged, but its Hebrew derivation is most unmistakable. Its origin is evidently in abba, father. Max Muller, the great modern authority on such points, says the word king originally meant father; having doubtless taken this form in the earliest patriarchal days when the king ruled by right of his fatherhood, and represented God, the Great Father of us all. This ancient American word confirms Professor Muller's statement; while it manifests how remarkably the unities of the Book of Mormon are preserved, consistent only with its claim to Divine inspiration. It would be the height of folly to ascribe such a coincidence to chance; a man must be far more credulous to so believe, than it can possibly be claimed such are who place implicit confidence in the realities of Nephite and Lamanite history.
From the few examples of words and names before us, we judge the Lamanite language to have been quite musical. Such names as Rabbanah, Lamoni, Lehonti, Middoni, Antionum, Onidah, etc., are certainly specimens of a soft, flowing, pleasing form of speech.
One practice, that of word building, or adding several words together to form a new word, which combination gave expression to the desired idea, obviously obtained among the Lamanites. As examples we have the city of Lehi-Nephi, the village of Ani-Anti and the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. Such a practice is frequent among many families of their modern representatives. It was found to exist among the Mexicans—the Aztecs—by the early Spanish invaders, and today is practiced by our near neighbors the Shoshones. This habit explains the reasons for the existence of so many words of great length found in both of these tongues.