Friday, March 15, 2024

Alma 10:7 and Amulek's use of "Very Near Kindred"


As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said: Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house. (Alma 10:7)

 

Commenting on Amulek’s reference to “very near kindred,” Brant Gardner noted that:

 

Culture/Translation: “Very near kindred” is somewhat awkward, suggesting that it translates a term that Joseph might not have known, one that captures a particular relationship known to the Nephites but which would be out of the range of standard English terms. Such a term probably stood in contrast to “distant kindred” yet would not have been part of Amulek’s immediate family, since he could then have used father, brother, etc.

 

A possible model for this relationship term may be found in the Nahuatl (Aztec) language. Pedro Carrasco, an anthropologist, indicates that Nahuatl distinguished between lineal and collateral kin. (Pedro Carrasco, “Sobre algunos términos de parentesco en el nahuatl clásico,” Estudios de Cultural Náhuatl [1966], 6:161) This indicator was a flexible one that might be attached to many specific terms. Possibly Amulek’s language had a similar marker that would indicate “distant” and “very near” kin. (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 4:167)