Common Misconceptions

Jaredite Annihilation: The Jaredites were not all killed of at the time of Coriantumr and Shiz. They had scattered to the four winds for about 1600 years. Only about four million died in the final battles. There were many survivors as evidenced by the rapid Sumerian infusions into the Mulekite language, which became known as Quiché. Also there was infusions into the Nephite (Nahua) and Lamanite/Lehite (Lenca) languages. Destroying a nation does not mean killing every living soul.

Nephite Annihilation: As with the Jaredites, the Nephites had 1000 years to scatter to the four winds and they did. Only those in Mormon’s very restricted part of the world were killed. Those that scattered previously avoided Cumorah, and those that scattered in Mormon’s day by apostasy, changing allegiance, or whatever, also appeared to survive. This is based on their legends and the tribal identities of those that occupy these same lands even today. Again, destroying a nation does not mean killing every living sole. Repeatedly the Bible speaks of the Hebrews being completely destroyed and then goes on to mention those taken into captivity and those that remained.

Nephite and Lamanite Promised Land Un-occupied: When Lehi and his children arrived at the Promised Land, the surrounding lands were still occupied. The evidence is in the language evolution, the rapid growth in numbers, and the many itinerant purveyors of false doctrines. Of which tribes were Sherem in the land of Nephi-2 (Lehi-Nephi/Shilom) and Korihor from the Ammonihah area? Corihor was a Jaredite king, land, and country. The order of the Nehors had Jaredite roots. Nehor was a Jaredite name.

Narrow Neck of Land as an Isthmus: Searching for the “narrow neck of land” as an isthmus has contributed greatly to keeping the Book of Mormon lands hidden for 174 years. The selection of an isthmus has prevented the city names from being located and identified. The successful approach was to identify the cities by name in the ancient writings, legends, maps, and dictionaries and use this information to let us know what Moroni meant by the “narrow neck of land by the place where the sea divides the land” (Ether 10:20) where Lib built his great city.

Meaning of Utah: The state of Utah was not named for the mountains as some have said. It is not found in the tribal languages as a name for mountains. The name actually came with the Spaniards from the Aztec (Nahuatl) language. Uta is a Spanish rendition of the original Nahuatl word otlatl, which means “reed, cane, or stalk.” Thus, Utah, the state, the county, and the lake were named because of the “reeds” in Utah Lake. This word for reeds actually goes back through the “place of the reeds” or tollah in Nahuatl to the tula in Quiché and on to Tul-lum, the place of their legendary embarkation when they came from across the great sea. The two roots words, Tul-lum, are actually Sumerian from the Jaredites and mean “lowland-abundant” and are equivalent to the Hebrew word Canaan, which was the more common name for the Jerusalem area. Thus, it would appear that the native Meso-americans did not refer to their original homeland as Jerusalem, as Mormon used in the Book of Mormon, but rather, Canaan. Thus, it requires no abstraction to equate Utah with Jerusalem in the recorded usage of the natives. Since Utah it is not the “Old”, it must be the “New Jerusalem”.

Meaning of Cumorah: It was not a shock, but rather a satisfying thrill, to find that Cumorah means “rotten bones.” The “rotten” part, qumar in Quiché, actually comes from two Sumerian roots, ku-mar, meaning “to lie down with worms.” The “bones” part comes from the Hebrew word kaneh meaning “reeds, bones, and canes.”