tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 31 11:47:36 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: God words /Elohim
- From: "AdmiralTAG" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: God words /Elohim
- Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 22:21:17 +0000
- Comments: Authenticated sender is <[email protected]>
- Priority: normal
A.Appleyard wrote:
> I thought that Hebrew {'elo~(a)h} (plural {'elo~hi~m}) meant
> directly "a god", and corresponds to Arabic {'ila~h}. (Arabic {'alla~h} <
>{al-'ila~h} = "the god"). Are there any known uses of the Semitic
>root {'-l-h} to mean "powerful" in other references than to God
>or gods?
"Yesh la'el yado" and "ein la'el yado," meaning, respectively,
"he has <or has not> power to achieve." The Hebrew 'el does have
the meaning of power or ability; see the Even Shoshan Dictionary
for further details.
> The only relevant similar non-religious word that I can
>think of now is Hebrew {'el}, Arabic {'ila~} (written {'-l-y}, =
>the preposition "towards", as if the original idea behind
>{'elo~(a)h} / {'ila~h} was "someone that one <turns towards>".
Close, but no cigar. The consonants are the same, the vowels are
different (towards is aleph segol lamed, God is aleph seireh
lamed). In strict pronounciation, toward is "el," God is "ale."
Thad Vickwrote:
> Ok, i am not a Hebrew scholar, and I don't know squat about Sanskrit or
>Arabic, but I have been told by those who are that <elohim> is a plural
>form of <elo> or <eloi> (depending, i think, on what grammar you
>use)
No, it's a single noun, though it can be considered the plural
of elohah in special circumstances. (Again, see Even Shoshan.)
Now, shall we return to a discussion of Klingon instead of
Hebrew? :-)
~Doq