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ArchivesDifferent theory on SILAS
SILAS seems to be fairly popular in the States, so I think it’s worth giving an alternative explanation to what this site says.
In the Epistles he is called by his Roman name SILVANUS. But I don’t believe, SILAS is a short form of this. I think the two are rather like PAUL und SAUL: a Roman name and a Semitic name that sound alike in some way or other, but are not related.
All my biblical dictionaries agree on the following derivation of SILAS:
It is the Greek version of the Aramaic name SHE’ILAH (shin-aleph-yod-lamed-aleph). This again is a variant of the Hebrew SHA’UL (Saul).
The probably most reliable proof for this is:
D. Dr. phil. h.c. Walter Bauer: Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur, (Walter de Gruyter) Berlin, New York 1971
In the Epistles he is called by his Roman name SILVANUS. But I don’t believe, SILAS is a short form of this. I think the two are rather like PAUL und SAUL: a Roman name and a Semitic name that sound alike in some way or other, but are not related.
All my biblical dictionaries agree on the following derivation of SILAS:
It is the Greek version of the Aramaic name SHE’ILAH (shin-aleph-yod-lamed-aleph). This again is a variant of the Hebrew SHA’UL (Saul).
The probably most reliable proof for this is:
D. Dr. phil. h.c. Walter Bauer: Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur, (Walter de Gruyter) Berlin, New York 1971
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Replies
Couldn't it be that Silas was a short form of the Latin Silvanus in first century Greek, and that it was used by Jews of the time as a Greek equivalent of Saul? There is a man mentioned in Acts and Romans in the New Testament called Jason. Jason was obviously a Greek name, but I remember reading somewhere that it was used by Jews during the Roman empire as an equivalent to Joshua.
There are plenty of examples of contact between two cultures speaking different languages where certain names in one language are accepted as the "equivalent" of names in the other language even though there is no etymological connection. Cornelius, for example, was formerly used in Ireland as the "equivalent" of Conchobhar.
Anyway, things do get complicated and hard to interpret when different languages are in frequent contact with each other. :)
There are plenty of examples of contact between two cultures speaking different languages where certain names in one language are accepted as the "equivalent" of names in the other language even though there is no etymological connection. Cornelius, for example, was formerly used in Ireland as the "equivalent" of Conchobhar.
Anyway, things do get complicated and hard to interpret when different languages are in frequent contact with each other. :)
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Yes this is well possible. But I haven't found any evidence for the name SILAS being used as a short form of SILVANUS in a Greek-Roman context. I'd be glad to read about that.
If this is true, the two names would look alike just by incidence. Same as JUTTA in Germany: This is a German form of Judith and a Germanic name of its own right. The latter fact helped a lot to make the biblical name popular in Germany.
The biblical SILAS was a Jew, so I'd rather explain his name from SAUL.
If this is true, the two names would look alike just by incidence. Same as JUTTA in Germany: This is a German form of Judith and a Germanic name of its own right. The latter fact helped a lot to make the biblical name popular in Germany.
The biblical SILAS was a Jew, so I'd rather explain his name from SAUL.
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