What are ʾElilim?
The Hebrew word ᵓĕlīlîm is usually explained as the plural of the Hebrew adjective ᵓĕlīl (“useless, vain”), hence a dysphemism describing idols. However, the ancient versions did not understand the word this way. The word more plausibly is a loanword from the Akkadian illilu, itself a borrowing fro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Alberta Library
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
| Online Access: | https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/29554 |
| Summary: | The Hebrew word ᵓĕlīlîm is usually explained as the plural of the Hebrew adjective ᵓĕlīl (“useless, vain”), hence a dysphemism describing idols. However, the ancient versions did not understand the word this way. The word more plausibly is a loanword from the Akkadian illilu, itself a borrowing from Sumerian. The earliest attestations of ᵓĕlīlîm in Hebrew appear in Isaiah often as part of code-switching to signal the foreignness of the word itself.
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| ISSN: | 1203-1542 |