Adon(Phoenician:𐤀𐤃𐤍) literally means "lord." Adon has an uncertain etymology, although it is generally believed to be derived from theUgariticad, “father.”[1]: 531
Ugaritic tradition
editThe pluralization of adon "my lord" isadonai"my lords."[2]Otto Eissfeldttheorizes thatadonaiis a post positive element attested to in Ugaritic writing. He points to the myth of the struggle betweenBaalandYamas evidence.[1]: 531 Some theorize thatadonaiwas originally an epithet of the godYahwehdepicted as the chief antagonist of "theBaʿals "in theTanakh.Only later did the epithet come to be used as aeuphemismto avoid invoking the deity's proper name,Yahweh.
In Canaanite/Ugaritic tradition,ʾadn ilm,literally "lord of gods" is an epithet ofEl.[1]: 532 However,ʾadn"lord" could also be an epithet of other gods. WhenYamis described as being at the zenith of his might, he is proclaimedʾadnor "lord" of the gods.[1]: 532 In someUgaritictexts the termʾadn ʾilm rbmmeaning "the Lord of the Great Gods" is used to refer to the lord and father over deceased kings.[1]: 532 [3]Some think that this is a reference to Baal. Other suggest this is a reference to a humannecromancer,who was traveling to the land of the dead.Karel van der Toorndisagrees; he believes that it is a reference toMilku,YaqarorYarikh,or possiblyEl.[1]: 532 Ugaritfamily households were modeled after the structure of the divine world, each headed by anʾadnmeaning in this context "master" or "patron". Generally, this was thepatriarchof the family and there may be some relation betweenʾadnand the Ugarit word for "father",ʾad.[4]
Etymology
editThe name of the Greek godAdonisis similar to a Semitic word—adon(which means "lord").[5]However, there is no trace of a Semitic deity directly connected with Adonis, though there most likely was.[clarification needed][6]There is also no trace in Semitic languages of any specificmythemesconnected with his Greek myth.[6][7]Both Greek and Near Eastern scholars have questioned the connection.[7]
Hebrew Bible
editIn the Hebrew Bible,adoni,with the suffix for the first person possessive, means "my lord", and is a term of respect that may refer to God[8]or to a human superior,[9]or occasionally an angel, whereasadonai(literally "my lords" ) is reserved for God alone. In Jewish tradition, the pluralization can be used to distinguish God from earthly lords and to increase his majesty.[2]However, many modern critical scholars see the use of a plural as a remnant of apolytheisticpast, with the word only later coming to refer toYahweh,the single god of Judaism. It is thought that at least some biblical authors used the word originally in a polytheist sense.[1]: 531
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefgBecking, Bob;van der Horst, Pieter Willem(1999).van der Toorn, Karel(ed.).Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible.William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.ISBN9780802824912.
- ^abLeo Rosten (2010) [1968].The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated.Crown Publishing Group. p. 3.ISBN9780307566041.
- ^Cyrus H. Gordon; Gary A. Rendsburg; Nathan H. Winter, eds. (1987).Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 1.Eisenbrauns. p. 211.
- ^Stephen L. Cook; Jane Morse; Corrine L. Patton; James Washington Watts, eds. (2001).The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse.Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 48–49.ISBN978-1-84127-243-6.
- ^"Britannica Library".library.eb.com.Retrieved2017-02-02.
- ^abR. S. P. BeekesEtymological Dictionary of Greek,Brill, 2009, p. 23 "Supposed to be a loan from Semitic (Hebr. adon 'Lord'). But no cult connected with this name is known in the Semitic world, nor a myth parallel to that in Greece".
- ^abBurkert (1991) p. 177 note 6 bibliography. "For this reason the connection between the cults was called in question both by Greek scholars (P. Kretschmer, Glotta 7 (1916) 39; G. Zuntz, MH 8 (195 1) 34) and also by Near Eastern scholars (H. Frankfort, The Problem of Similarity in Ancient Near Eastern Religions, 1951; C. Colpe in lišan mithurti: Festschrift W. v. Soden, 1969, 23). Cf. O. Eissfeldt, Adonis und Adonaj, SB Leipzig 115.4, 1970. S. Ribichini, Adonis, Aspetti ‘orientali’ di un mito greco, 1981, stresses the Greek re-elaborations of foreign elements."
- ^Psalm 16:2
- ^1 Kings 1:31