40a 9th line
I have just come across the word "goda" (gimmel - daled - aleph)which was translated as "god". Jastrow (p210) defines this a luck - genius - godhead and gives the alternate spelling without the aleph. This raises a fundamental question about the use of word "god".
1) Is the word "god" in fact derived from this aramaic word?
2) If yes then since it appears to be connected with "luck" does this word connote more strongly an entity other than Hash-m? (I was undere the impression that the word "god" was derived from "good" - an entirely different concept).
3) Therefore should we be more diligent not to use the word "God" at all, rather, at least to english speakers some moreappropriate apellation?
Thank you, Chodesh tov
David Wiseman, Dallas, TX, USA
Greetings David,
You raise some interesting points. To my knowledge (which is limited in areas of English etymology), the English word "God" is not related to the Aramaic word for "luck," but rather to the German word "gott", which comes from the Gothic root "gheu" which implies "to invoke" or "to sacrifice to" and thus means "the One invoked" or "the One sacrificed to." So it seems that it is alright to use that word in English.
All the best,
Y. Shaw
D.A.F.