Biblical Hebrew Forum

["John W. Leys." <eliyahu5733 AT gmail.com>]

Vadim Cherny wrote:

> Besides YHWH - Jove, there is Zvaoth - Zeus parallel. Too much for a
> coincidence. Since YHWH and Zvaoth are meaningful in Hebrew, the direction
> of borrowing is certain.
Are you implying that "Zeus" isn't meaningful? My Greek and Latin are a
bit rusty, but isn't it commonly held that Ζευζ (Zeus) is related to the
Latin 'deus' and that both likely come from a common Indo-European root.
And besides a similar--not identical--initial consonant sound, which is
made to look more similar than it is by the choice of transliterating
tsade as 'zv,'  I don't see much of a similarity between 'tsvoath' and
'Zeus.'

Am I missing something?

--
Shalom
John W. Leys
Graduate School, Jewish Theological Seminary (Student)

http://eliyahu5733.blogspot.com/

"Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge"
                - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel