The
meaning of the Lehite GN ANI-ANTI is somewhat uncertain. However, it is
possible that the name may be based on the Egyptian elements 3ni and ‘n.ty.
Alternatively, it may be related to the Akkadian/Semitic anantu, a
poetic term for “battle, strife.” (“Ani-Anti,” in Dictionary of Proper Names
and Foreign Words in the Book of Mormon, ed. Stephen D. Ricks, Paul Y.
Hoskisson, Robert F. Smith, and John Gee [Orem, Utah: Interpreter Foundation;
Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2022], 47)
Since
there are no Hebrew or Semitic roots that provide a plausible etymology for the
first element of ANTI-NEPHI-LEHI, an Egyptian or Indo-European (Greek)
etymology may need to be considered for ANTI- (which could not appear as
a word of Hebrew origin, since an nt element with no intervening vowel
would not be possible in Hebrew). The Egyptian pronominal element nty,
pronounced “nety,” enty,” may be realized in English as “Anti,” and have the
meaning “he, she of; partisan, adherent of.” (“Anti-Nephi-Lehi,” in ibid.,
48-49)
Though
nty/nety, ‘nty/enty normally function as demonstrative pronouns
with the meaning “this, these,” they may also follow the demonstrative-relative
pattern of the Hebrew zeh in zeh Sinai, “he of Sinai”; see Judges
5:5 and Psalm 68:8. Compare the element ze- in the PNs Zeezrom and
Zenephi as well as the Arabic Dū al-Qarnayn, “he of two horns”
(Alexander), and the signs SU, SE or SI, SA in Paleosyrian at Ebla and Tell
Beydar, in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. See Lipiński, Semitic Languages,
324). (Ibid., 49 n. 122)
