ם ▁), ▁who ▁are ▁the ▁myth ical ▁half - imm ort al ▁" gi ants " ▁described ▁in ▁Gen esis ; ▁the ▁name ▁means ▁" f allen ▁ones ." ▁ ▁a ▁reference ▁to ▁the ▁work ▁Ne phi oma oth , ▁which ▁" was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁magic ▁names ▁of ▁God ▁in ▁early ▁Christian ▁G nost ic ism " ▁ ▁or ▁the ▁term ▁Ne ph es , ▁which ▁is ▁a ▁Kab bal istic ▁term ▁for ▁a ▁g host ▁that ▁wand ers ▁around ▁sep ul ch ers . ▁ ▁Relig ious ▁M orm on ▁sch ol ars ▁generally ▁believe ▁that ▁the ▁Book ▁of ▁M orm on ▁is ▁historical , ▁and ▁therefore ▁have ▁proposed ▁et ym ologies ▁consistent ▁with ▁that ▁view . ▁For ▁example , ▁M orm on ▁scholar ▁John ▁Ge e ▁the or izes ▁that ▁Ne phi ▁is ▁a ▁Heb rew ▁form ▁of ▁the ▁Egypt ian ▁name ▁N fr . ▁In ▁Pho en ician ▁and ▁Ar ama ic ▁ins cri ptions ▁of ▁Egypt ian ▁names ▁containing ▁n fr , ▁the ▁n fr ▁element ▁is ▁rendered ▁n py , ▁and ▁the ▁closely ▁related ▁Heb rew ▁language ▁would ▁pres umably ▁trans cribe ▁the ▁name ▁the ▁same ▁way . ▁Hugh ▁N ible y ▁has ▁suggested ▁that ▁the ▁name ▁Ne phi ▁is ▁related ▁to ▁the ▁Egypt ian ▁Ne h ri . ▁Some ▁M orm on ▁sch ol ars ▁have ▁proposed ▁that ▁the ▁name ▁Ne phi ▁is ▁related ▁to ▁the ▁Heb rew ▁word ▁ne ph esh ▁( נ ֶ פ ֶ ש ), ▁which ▁literally ▁means ▁the ▁" complete ▁life