Jershon: The Land of Inheritance

One piece of interesting evidence confirming the Hebraic influence on the Book of Mormon is the word Jershon.  This was the place that the Nephites gave to people of Ammon when they came as refugees from the Lamanites.  In the very first mention of the place in the Book of Mormon we read these words of the Nephites to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies: “And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance….  And now behold, this will we do unto our brethren, that they may inherit the land Jershon” (Alma 27:22, 24).  Here the Nephites emphasized that Jershon would be a place of inheritance for these former Lamanites, and, according to several scholars, this appears to be a play on words in Hebrew.  One suggested that the name Jershon in Hebrew means “place of inheritance,” and another confirmed that the Hebrew word for inheritance “appears to be a feminine noun close to Book of Mormon Jershon.”  So it seems that in the name itself the people were describing what the place was to be for the people of Ammon. 

                I’ve generally thought that the Nephites gave up land that was already occupied, but as I think about it and given this word play I wonder if they were actually giving up unoccupied land.  Alma 27:22 doesn’t just say that they would get the land of Jershon, but it gives a very precise description of where that land was located, suggesting that the people would not know the land by its name.  This would make sense if they came up with the name itself in order to describe their gift to the people of Ammon.  One source suggested that part of the reason for the Nephites giving the land in the first place was that “in keeping with biblical law, the newly-formed Anti-Nephi-Lehies would have required land in order to live the law of Moses or otherwise be subject to rules of inheritance and other property laws.”  The book of Numbers, for example, is very concerned with rules of inheritance for the Israelites, with laws such as this when a woman marries outside her tribe: “And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance” (Numbers 36:3).  That the Nephites would be concerned about their “lands of inheritance” I think shows their belief in the Law of Moses.  The Lamanites, on the other hand, were much less worried about living in a specific place.  At least according to Enos, the Lamanites were “full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven” (Enos 1:20).  On the other hand the Nephites did “raise all manner of grain,” suggesting a much more stable and permanent place of habitation.  At any rate, the importance of lands to the Nephites underscores the great act of generosity that was theirs to give the land of Jershon to those who had been their enemies.