Martin Evans on Jacob Being Called "Brother of Nephi" (vs. "son of Lehi") in Second Nephi in Light of Babylonian Legal Documents

 In an interesting paper comparing Second Nephi to ancient legal documents, Martin Evans commented on the term “brother of Nephi”:

 

Another aspect comparable to that found in legal records is the term “brother of Nephi.” Reference to a speaker’s brother never occurs in biblical superscriptions. Biblical superscriptions typically use a patronym. Yet, Jacob is not referred to as “son of Lehi”; instead, he is the “brother of Nephi.” Such titles, though uncommon, are found in Neo-Babylonian legal records. In YOS 7,10 we read,

 

ḫašdaya, brother of Iddinaya, and said thus in the assembly. (Martin Evans, “Second Nephi as a Legal Document,” in Defending the Book of Mormon: Proceedings of the 2023 FAIR Virtual Conference, ed. Scott Gordon, Trevor Holyoak, and Jared Riddick [Redding, Calif.: FAIR, 2025], 239-40)

 

For those curious, here is the background and translation of this Babylonian text:

 

3. Reports about Theft in High Places

Text: YBC 4176

Copy: Tremayne 1925 (YOS 7), No. 10

Translation/Discussion: Dandamaev 1984, 429–30; Joannès 2000a, 29; 2000b, No. 160 (pp. 217–18); Holtz 2009, 103–4

Place of Composition: Uruk

Date: 1.II.1 Cyr (22 April, 538 BCE)

 

Nabû-rēṣua, a slave of Lâbāši-Marduk, reports to the šatammu and the royal official in charge of the Eanna that his master’s son, Iddinaya, stole and hid a gem, apparently from a cultic image that was in Ištar-aḫa-iddin’s care. Nabû-lū-dāri, another slave, confirms Nabû-rēṣua’s testimony. Ḫašdaya, brother of the suspected thief, Iddinaya, also reports finding the stolen object on Lâbāši-Marduk’s property after it had been taken from Ištar-aḫa-iddin’s storehouse.

 

. . .

 

(9–11) And Nabû-lū-dāri, slave of Bāniya son of Taribi testified, and Ḫašdaya, brother of Iddinaya, said thus in the assembly: (Shalom E. Holtz, Neo-Babylonian Trial Records: Translation [Writings from the Ancient World 35; Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014], 20, 21)

 

The following is Holtz’s transliteration of the Babylonian text:

 

9.         ù ^dNA₃-lu-u-da-a-ri lu₂qal-la šá ba-ni-ia A-šú

10.       šá ta-ri-bi uk-ti-in ù ^mḫaš-da-a ŠEŠ šá SUM-na-a

11.       ina UKKIN iq-bi um-ma NA₄ mur-ḫa-ši-tu šá ⸢ul⸣-tu E₂ šu-⸢tu⸣-um-mu (Shalom E. Holtz, Neo-Babylonian Trial Records: Text [Writings from the Ancient World 35; Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014], 21-22)