Subject: Re: Eli Eli Lama Azavtany or Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1999 10:58:55 -0400
At 10:36 AM 6/19/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I know this is an old message but I just now noticed something that I
>think merits attention(please correct me if I am in err).
>
>The Aramaic word for God is NOT "Eloi," but is in fact "Alaha." Correct?
No- the Aramaic word for God is 'Elah, and attached to it is the 1st person
suffix y (= my). The word is aleph, lamed, he, yod. (sometimes with a waw
as matres lectionis inserted between lamed and yod). Take a look at the
back of Kohler/Baumgartner's Lexicon where they list Aramaic. The vowel of
the word is seghol attenutated by the half vowel shewa. This is an e sound
and not an a sound.
>Kind of similar to what the Hawaiins say "Aloha," and very similar to the
>Arabic word for God - 'Allah.'
Not at all. Segholate vowels are never a sounds.
>Is it possible you were speaking of the
>Greek Hellenized version of "Alaha" which gave us "'Eloi," because it
>doesn't seem to be Biblical Aramaic at all.
No. The proper word is 'Eloha. When the suffix is added the ending elides
and the proper pronunciation is eloi.