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ArchivesRe: More about DELILAH
in reply to a message by Andy ;—)
Thanks a lot for this information!
Of course, I would suppose that if the Biblical story has any historicity, perhaps we should be looking for an explanation of the original meaning of Delilah in the Philistine language and not in Hebrew at all. :)
Of course, I would suppose that if the Biblical story has any historicity, perhaps we should be looking for an explanation of the original meaning of Delilah in the Philistine language and not in Hebrew at all. :)
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Unfortunately we know very little about the original Philistine language. According to the Bible, the Philistines originally came from Crete, and their language (we know hardly anything but a few names and vocabulary words) may be Indo-European and related to other languages of the Aegean.
When the Philistines settled on the eastern cost of the Mediterranean (12th century B.C.) they soon adopted the Semitic language of the surrounding peoples.
Whether or not this had an impact on their name giving practice, we don't know. So the name Delilah is as likelikely to be Philistine as Semitic (Hebrew).
Sources:
Das große Bibellexikon, Brockhaus, 1996, Bd. 4
Harald Haarmann: Lexikon der untergegangenen Sprachen, München (Beck) 2002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistines
When the Philistines settled on the eastern cost of the Mediterranean (12th century B.C.) they soon adopted the Semitic language of the surrounding peoples.
Whether or not this had an impact on their name giving practice, we don't know. So the name Delilah is as likelikely to be Philistine as Semitic (Hebrew).
Sources:
Das große Bibellexikon, Brockhaus, 1996, Bd. 4
Harald Haarmann: Lexikon der untergegangenen Sprachen, München (Beck) 2002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistines
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Thanks, this was very interesting
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