Adon
Adon (
Ugaritic tradition
The pluralization of adon "my lord" is .
In Canaanite/Ugaritic tradition, ʾadn ilm, literally "lord of gods" is an epithet of
Etymology
The name of the Greek god Adonis is 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 specific mythemes connected with his Greek myth.[6][7] Both Greek and Near Eastern scholars have questioned the connection.[7]
Hebrew Bible
In 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, whereas adonai (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 a polytheistic past, with the word only later coming to refer to Yahweh, 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
References
- ^ ISBN 9780802824912.
- ^ ISBN 9780307566041.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-1-84127-243-6.
- ^ "Britannica Library". library.eb.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ^ a b R. S. P. Beekes Etymological 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".
- ^ a b Burkert (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