Book of Mormon Evidence: Cumorah Etymology

Proposed Etymologies

Cumorah was the name of a land and hill to which the Nephites gathered for their final battle with the Lamanites (Mormon 6:2, 4). Latter-day Saint scholars have offered several possible meanings for this name. John Tvedtnes proposed the Hebrew rendering of kemôrah, based upon the word kômer (“priest”) used in reference to non-Levitical priests (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5; Zephaniah 1:4). He reasoned that this term would be appropriate for the people of Lehi who were of the tribe of Joseph whose priesthood was non-Levitical. Cumorah would, according to this interpretation, mean “priesthood.”¹

Another etymology has been suggested by Robert F. Smith and David A. Palmer. They proposed that Cumorah is derived from the Hebrew verb qūm “arise/rise (up)” combined with the Hebrew noun in its feminine form ʾôrāh meaning “light, flame, fire.” Cumorah would then mean, “Arise, O Light.”² Other scholars, however, have identified a potential drawback to this proposal.³ As noted by Paul Hoskisson, the name element ʾôrāh (the Hebrew feminine noun for “light”) would need to also take a feminine verb form for this to work. Assuming that cum in Cumorah corresponds to the Hebrew qūm, the Hebrew verb would require a feminine imperative form qūmi, rendering the name cumiorah. This would make the proposal “philologically difficult if not impossible to reconcile with Cumorah.”⁴

Revisiting the Issue

Hoskisson, in an article published in 2024, recently revisited the issue of the Cumorah etymology.⁵ He notes that many biblical names are theophoric, meaning that they contain an element which refers to deity. At the same time, a significant number of names in the biblical corpus are hypocoristic, in that they are presented in a diminutive or shortened form. For example, biblical scholar and linguist Martin Noth has argued that the name ʾūri did not mean “my light” but was rather a shortened form of a longer name such as ʾūriyāhû, ʾūriyāh, or ʾūri ēl.⁶

Hoskisson also draws attention to an Ammonite name (ʾwrʾ) discovered on a stamp seal dating to the time of Lehi and Jeremiah. This name is a cognate of the Hebrew term ʾōr and means “light.” With an affix attached to the name, it would have been pronounced as either ʾôrā or ʾūrā.⁷ Hoskisson explains:

I realized from the Ammonite personal name, the suffix transcribed as -ā need not be seen as the transcription of a feminine noun ending. Indeed, the pervasive form of the feminine ending is heh with a long /a/ vowel (_־ָה , -āh), but the Ammonite name ends in an aleph and not a heh. It was that hypocoristic aleph that allowed me to see that a long ā vowel, such as the -ah ending on Cumorah, can be a hypocoristic element and not always a feminine noun marker. A further quick search revealed that both an aleph and a heh can function as hypocoristic elements often with a vocative aspect. Thus, the aleph and the heh on the end of the names mentioned above (bʾrʾ/bʾrh, ʾzrʾ/ʾzrh, šmʾʾ/šmʾh), and the aleph at the end of the Ammonite personal name ʾōrā, can represent a hypocoristic element. 

When a hypocoristic element appears in a name in the position where a theophoric element normally would be, the hypocoristic element is said to represent a shortened version of the theophoric element.⁸

Based on this new information and the evidence from various attested hypocoristic names, Hoskisson reasoned that the -ah in the name Cumorah is probably not a feminine ending, as some had previously argued, but is “most likely a hypocoristic ending with a vocative aspect.” This explanation avoids the grammatical problem in the etymology proposed by Smith and Palmer. “I can now concur with Palmer and Smith,” writes Hoskisson, “that the Book of Mormon geographic name Cumorah, with my slight addition to their etymology, may be interpreted as ‘Rise up, O Light of the Lord.’”⁹

Thematic Significance

In light of Hoskisson’s analysis, one may wonder whether this proposed etymology has any relevant contextual meaning within the text of the Book of Mormon. It should first be noted that the Hill Cumorah is narratively associated with the death and destruction of not just one but two ancient civilizations.¹⁰ The proposed aspect of “Rise up” in the name Cumorah is especially poignant in this context, as it brings to mind Christ’s ability to raise the dead. And, indeed, Mormon specifically referenced the resurrection at the conclusion of his discussion about the last struggle of his people at Cumorah: “And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; … and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you” (Mormon 6:21). 

The name’s full etymology (“Rise up, O Light of the Lord”) may also relate in some way to the Book of Mormon’s status as a sacred artifact, since several scriptural passages describe it as coming forth out of darkness and unto light.¹¹ Moreover, the book itself, which was buried and eventually brought forth out of the earth, can be viewed as a type or symbol of the resurrection.¹² 

These associations would be especially appealing if the modern Hill Cumorah in New York was one and the same as the ancient Nephite Hill Cumorah. However, there are several reasons to strongly doubt this equivalence, including details reported in the text itself. At one point Mormon explained, “I … hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6). In other words, the Nephite Hill Cumorah, according to the text itself, was the final resting place for all the Nephite records in Mormon’s possession except the Book of Mormon. Based on this crucial textual detail, as well as several other factors, it seems most likely that early Church members assigned the name Cumorah to the New York hill based on an understandable misreading of the text.¹³

Yet even if these two hills are indeed in different parts of the world, it doesn’t change the fact that the Nephite Hill Cumorah was still a significant repository of Nephite records (Mormon 6:6). In fact, to Mormon, who buried these records, the hill would likely have been seen as especially important in that regard. It may be that at some future point, the complete cache of Nephite documents at Cumorah will be discovered or revealed by the Lord, and at that point a flood of additional light and truth from this hill will rise out of the earth. Such a discovery may even include the brass plates, which Lehi prophesied would “go forth unto all nations” and wouldn’t be “dimmed any more by time” (1 Nephi 5:18–19). As explained by Alma, the brass plates “must retain their brightness … and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ” (Alma 37:5). 

Thus, the imagery of light associated with the preservation and coming forth of the Book of Mormon would apply equally well to any of the sacred records still deposited at the Nephite Hill Cumorah. This may even explain why Mormon repeatedly mentioned the name of this hill (eight times) in Mormon 6. It was a location not only of mass death and destruction, but also of sacred records that we can assume will one day be brought forth out of the earth and enlighten the world, just as the Book of Mormon itself has done. 

Conclusion

Like many other non-biblical transliterations in the Book of Mormon, Cumorah makes sense as a Semitic name.¹⁴ From a linguistic perspective, its name elements could viably render the meaning in Hebrew of “Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” As stated in the subtitle of Hoskisson’s article, this proposed etymology is both “appropriate” and “defensible.”¹⁵

Both aspects of this proposal—rising up and light—may thematically relate to Mormon’s discussion surrounding the Hill Cumorah in Mormon 6. Mormon described this location as the “last struggle of my people.” He thus knew that it would be a site of massive death and destruction, just as it had been for the Jaredites (Ether 15:11). Yet this was also the location where he deposited “all the records which had been entrusted” to him, except for the Book of Mormon itself (Mormon 6:6). Cumorah thus represents the final resting place of the Nephite people and the bulk of their sacred writings—both of which will one day rise forth out of this burial location through the resurrection and power of God. Whether the hill was originally named Cumorah or given that name by Mormon for rhetorical purposes, it can narratively function as a beacon of hope amidst terrible sorrow.¹⁶ 

At the same time, the meaning “Rise up, O Light of the Lord” appropriately symbolizes the hill near Joseph Smith’s home where Moroni buried the plates of the Book of Mormon. It was from this hill that the Nephite record was “brought out of the earth” to “shine forth out of darkness” (Mormon 8:16). As Moroni declared, “the record thereof is of great worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless” (Mormon 8:14). “Is it then not possible,” writes Hoskisson, “that Cumorah received its name proleptically in anticipation of the fulfillment of prophetic foresight (as quoted above from Mormon 8:14–16) of what would take place there? … What more meaningful and significant name for that hill or area could there be than ‘Rise up, O Light of the Lord.’”¹⁷

It should be acknowledged, though, that this etymology is tentative, and any proposed textual or historical connections to this etymology remain unproven. While this singular piece of linguistic data is not conclusive, it adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that the names in the Book of Mormon are plausibly ancient.¹⁸ When viewed in its entirety, this cumulative linguistic evidence provides remarkably strong support for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.