RICHARD ABANES:
Right, and you know some of those other humorous ones is where this book was supposedly written in reformed Egyptian on the golden plates and translated hundreds and hundreds of years ago and yet we see an anglicanized americanized name Sam in the book, and we also see the ancient inhabitants of America using the word adieu which is a French word that’s a little strange.
The Truth about The Book of Mormon:
- “Adieu”—Jacob 7:27 ends with the phrase, “Brethren, adieu.” Critics claim that because adieu is French, it shows that Joseph Smith composed the Book of Mormon, and not an ancient author. There are at least three problems with the adieu argument against the Book of Mormon. 1) Critics overlook the fact that the word adieu was not on the plates. 2) The translator of a work can use words from any language he chooses in order to convey the meaning of the text to his readers, so that even if “adieu” had been a foreign word (e.g., French) to Joseph Smith, there is nothing either unusual or problematic with his choosing that word in his translation. 3) Critics mistakenly think the word “adieu” is not used as an English word. (Link)
- Didn’t Joseph Smith just borrow Book of Mormon names from the Bible or make up similar-sounding names? Questions about Apparent Problems in the Book of Mormon: Has it Withstood the Attacks of Critics? by Jeff Lindsay
- “Why are the words adieu, bible, and baptize in the Book of Mormon? These words weren’t known in Book of Mormon times.” Ensign, 10/20/85
The following is a specific statement on the name “Sam” in The Book of Mormon. It is part of a larger article written on Book of Mormon names. I just lifted this portion for the purpose of answering the claim of Mr. Abanes on this particular name. The entire article is found at this link:
- John Gee, John A. Tvedtnes, and Matthew Roper, “Book of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Volume – 9, Issue – 1, Pages: 40-51
Sam, brother of Nephi, came to the New World with his father Lehi and family (see 1 Nephi 2:5; 2 Nephi 5:6; Alma 3:6). Critics have suggested that Joseph Smith simply used the common English diminutive of Samuel. What these critics failed to realize is that the name Samuel, which appears in the English Bible, is from the Hebrew name (/#mû<.l) comprised of two elements, Shem (“name”) + El (“God”).
The name Sam is attested on a bronze ring mounted seal dated to the seventh century b.c. While others have read this name as Shem, in paleo-Hebrew there is no distinction in writing between 8 and ¡ (the latter written sh in English). (It is the same letter used at the beginning of the name Sariah.) Various dialects of Hebrew pronounced this letter in different ways anciently. From the story in Judges 12:6, we find that some of the tribe of Joseph pronounced it s instead of ¡, reminding us that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph (see 1 Nephi 5:14). (John Tvedtnes, John Gee, Matthew Roper, Book of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol.9, No. 1, 2000, pp. 42-51)
