богъ

Forms

богъ (bogŭ) m, o-stem, Glagolitic ⰱⱁⰳⱏ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *bogъ (“god”), a word of every Slavic language.^[1][2][3] The same word is Russian бог (bog), Ukrainian біг (bih), Bulgarian бог (bog), Serbo-Croatian bȏg, Slovene bọ̑g, Czech bůh, Slovak boh, Polish bóg and Upper Sorbian bóh.^[2][4]

How the Slavic word came to mean "god" is disputed.^[4][2][1] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller and Vasmer take it as a native word, related to Sanskrit भग (bhága), which Vasmer glosses as "the one who allots, lord" (an epithet of gods) and also "property, good fortune", to Old Persian baga- (“lord, god”) and Avestan baga- (“share, lot”), and to Ancient Greek φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”); the first sense would then be "the one who allots".^[5][4] Wiktionary likewise derives a Proto-Slavic noun meaning "share, wealth, luck", which survives mainly in compounds and derivatives, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to divide”).^[1]

The other view is that the sense "god" came from Iranian.^[2][1] Derksen says the word is usually held to be a borrowing from Iranian, and finds support for this in the fact that it shows no trace of Winter's law.^[2] Wiktionary calls the meaning "god" a semantic loan from Scythian by general agreement, one that pushed out an older Proto-Slavic *divъ.^[1] Vasmer rejects both arguments for a loan: the fricative pronunciation of Russian бог can come from Ukrainian influence on the church pronunciation of Moscow, and the agreement in meaning proves nothing, since Slavic and Iranian share other such words.^[4] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller too hold that a loan cannot be shown.^[5]

ESSJa sets out the problem: Slavic has no reliable trace of the Indo-European name of the god, and uses instead *bogъ, which is very close in form and in its new meaning to the Old Persian word, but is tied to old derivatives meaning "wealth" such as *bogatъ and *ubogъ, and through them to the Indo-European words for "share" and "divide"; so the literature still weighs a native origin against a loan from Iranian.^[3] Meillet saw in both the Old Persian and the Slavic word the god as the "rich" one, comparing оубогъ (“poor”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is common from the oldest manuscripts on: the SNSP counts more than 2,200 instances, nearly all for Ancient Greek θεός (theós).^[6] The Psalterium Sinaiticum uses it for the gods of the heathen, ѣко вьсі б‹о›ѕі ѩзꙑкъ демоні • г‹оспод›ь же н‹е›б‹е›са створі "for all the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens" (Ps 95:5), and the Gospels for people in азъ рѣхъ боѕи есте "I said, you are gods" (J 10:34, Zographensis, Marianus, Assemanianus).^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the canonical texts the word mainly renders θεός, but it also stands for Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “idol”) and Ancient Greek σέβασμα (sébasma, “object of worship”), and in places for κύριος, σωτήρ, δεσπότης, πατήρ or the name of Christ.^[7][6] Greek compounds with θεο- were translated by phrases: бога носѧи for Ancient Greek θεόφορος (theophóros, “bearing God”), на бога воюѩи for Ancient Greek θεόμαχος (theómakhos, “fighting against God”) (both in the Euchologium Sinaiticum), and богомь наоученъ for Ancient Greek θεοδίδακτος (theodídaktos, “taught by God”).^[7] Miklosich quotes later texts that call the pagan gods demons, богы своꙗ, рекше бѣсы "their gods, that is, devils".^[8]

Russian Church Slavonic kept both uses: Giltebrandt has separate articles for the one eternal and almighty God and for the false gods of the pagans (J 10:34, Acts 7:40).^[9]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses богъ for θεός and κύριος.^[10]
• 14th century – the Athonite Serbian translation of Gregory of Nyssa renders θεός with богъ.^[10]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists the New Testament uses of the word, for the true God and for pagan gods.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. God, the one God of the Christians; for θεός.^[7][6][1]
2. A god of the pagans, an idol; for θεός, εἴδωλον, σέβασμα.^[7][6][9]
3. (figurative) Of people: боѕи есте "you are gods" (J 10:34).^[6]
4. Occasionally of Christ or the Lord; for κύριος, σωτήρ, Χριστός.^[7][6]

Word family

• безбожьство
• богатѣти
• богатити
• богатьствиѥ
• богатьство
• богатъ
• богꙑни
• божьство
• небогъ
• обогащати
• обогатити
• разбогатѣти

Related words

• оубогъ
• Russian бог (bog)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 50
3. ^ a b c Trubačev, Oleg N.; Žuravlev, Anatolij F.; Varbot, Žanna Ž. (eds.) (1974–2021), Ètimologičeskij slovar' slavjanskix jazykov: praslavjanskij leksičeskij fond, vols. 1–42, Moskva: Nauka, p. 2, 161
4. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 181–182
5. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 217
6. ^ a b c d e f g Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
7. ^ a b c d e Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
8. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller
9. ^ a b c Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
10. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de