Open AccessWhat are ʾElilim?
Author(s) -
Mark W. Hamilton
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of hebrew scriptures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1203-1542
DOI - 10.5508/jhs29554
Subject(s) - akkadian , adjective , hebrew , sumerian , linguistics , word (group theory) , plural , biblical hebrew , loanword , hebrew bible , history , philosophy , literature , biblical studies , art , noun
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.