11-08-2004, 07:36 PM
Shlama Otto,
The word "Barbarian" traces back to Aramaic and Hebrew.
The Hebrew "Bar" -rvb and plural "Barim" myrvb , means "brutish,stupid, beastlike". The Aramaic "Barbaria" - [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0yrbrb[/font] comes from Aramaic "Bar" ("Son") and "Baria" ("Foreigner"), and so means literally "Son of a foreigner" .
The Greek most likely borrowed this from Aramaic. "Bar bar" is not an etymological root word for the Greek. It sounds like guesswork . How many languages sound like "Bar bar bar bar" ? It would not apply to most.
The LXX uses "barbaros" to translate the Hebrew "Barim" I mentioned above, several times. The OT Peshitta uses "Beiria" - [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0yry9B[/font] in a few places to translate the same Hebrew word.
"Beiria" means "beastlike".
The Greek sounds too much like the Hebrew and Aramaic to be uniquely Greek. The Hebrew and Aramaic have a more basic root meaning than the Greek. The Greek has only an application- no Greek etymology per se to show it is original. Strong's says it is "of uncertain derivation".
I seriously doubt both Hebrew and Aramaic borrowed the word from Greek. It is far more likely the Greeks borrowed from the older Aramaic or Hebrew here.
Blessings,
Dave B
The word "Barbarian" traces back to Aramaic and Hebrew.
The Hebrew "Bar" -rvb and plural "Barim" myrvb , means "brutish,stupid, beastlike". The Aramaic "Barbaria" - [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0yrbrb[/font] comes from Aramaic "Bar" ("Son") and "Baria" ("Foreigner"), and so means literally "Son of a foreigner" .
The Greek most likely borrowed this from Aramaic. "Bar bar" is not an etymological root word for the Greek. It sounds like guesswork . How many languages sound like "Bar bar bar bar" ? It would not apply to most.
The LXX uses "barbaros" to translate the Hebrew "Barim" I mentioned above, several times. The OT Peshitta uses "Beiria" - [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0yry9B[/font] in a few places to translate the same Hebrew word.
"Beiria" means "beastlike".
The Greek sounds too much like the Hebrew and Aramaic to be uniquely Greek. The Hebrew and Aramaic have a more basic root meaning than the Greek. The Greek has only an application- no Greek etymology per se to show it is original. Strong's says it is "of uncertain derivation".
I seriously doubt both Hebrew and Aramaic borrowed the word from Greek. It is far more likely the Greeks borrowed from the older Aramaic or Hebrew here.
Blessings,
Dave B