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Other names in the Book of Mormon have not appeared to come from a Hebrew background at first glance but have proven in the meantime to reflect authentic Israelite origins. Perhaps the best example of this is the prominent Book of Mormon name Alma, which does not appear in any biblical text. For years the name lacked an ostensible Hebrew root and therefore could easily be explained as the feminine form from the Latin root meaning “nurture.” Yet the name Alma does not appear in authentic Hebrew documents of the Bar Kochba period (ca. A. D. 130). There the name appears as a masculine name spelled exactly as might be expected, ’lm’, (Alma) and ’lmh, (Almah) (Yadin, 176). This find unequivocally places the Book of Mormon name Alma within the Israelite tradition of names. Of the 53 names that the Bible and Book of Mormon share in unrelated passages (16 percent of the total), two names appear to be Greek: the personal name Timothy and the geographic name Antipas. This should not be surprising, given that a Greek: presence in the Levant is known form at least the eighth century B.C. and contact between the Levant and Aegean existed at least as early as the end of the Late Bronze Age, 1400 to 1200 B.C.

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