Lehi

A “Lehi” as a proper noun appears in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. In the former it is given as the name of a place (see Judges 15:9, 14, 19) and in the latter it is of frequent occur­rence as the name of the first prophet of the sacred record, as also of later men of prominence, and of lands and cities. In the eastern part of the State of Pennsylvania. U.S.A., we find Lehigh Valley, Lehigh River. Lehigh Mountain, and, dear to the heart of the writer of these lines. Lehigh University—the great institution at which he spent part of his college days. The difference in spelling—“Lehigh ” and “Lehi”—is of less significance than the identity of pronunciation. "Lehigh” is the form in which the modern white man spells the ancient Indian name. To the be­liever in the Book of Mormon the existing Indians are, broadly speaking, the descendants of the Lamanites, a division of the posterity of Lehi, who was the leader of the colony that left Jerusalem 600 B.C., crossed the Pacific and established a home on the American continent. It is interesting to note a tendency to simplify the modern geographical mime “Lehigh” and revert to “Lehi” the original form.—J.E.T.