съпасениѥ

Forms

съпасениѥ (sŭpasenije) n, o-stem^[1] The Suprasliensis also writes it сьпасениѥ and спасениѥ, and the oldest manuscripts mostly abbreviate it under a titlo.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Old Church Slavonic съпасти (sŭpasti, “to save, rescue”) + -ениѥ (-enije), a noun that ESJS lists among the derivatives of the verb съпасти.^[3] ESJS, following Schumann, takes the noun as a semantic calque of Ancient Greek σωτηρία (sōtēría, “deliverance, salvation”), and Wiktionary too considers its religious sense possibly a semantic loan from the Greek word.^[3][1]

The verb съпасти is probably a prefixed form of пасти (to pasture), as Vasmer, Machek, Skok and the Bulgarian etymological dictionary also hold; its sense of protecting comes from that of tending a flock, and ESJS considers it in its turn a semantic calque of Ancient Greek σῴζω (sṓizō, “to save”), which in the New Testament means saving from eternal death.^[3] Its base Proto-Slavic *pasti (“to pasture, herd”) goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂s-, which ESJS and Derksen compare with Latin pāscō (“to pasture”) and Hittite pahš- (“to protect”).^[4][5] In Church Slavonic, пасти in the sense of keeping or observing is a back-formation from съпасти.^[4]

The words for saving and salvation with the prefix с- in the other Slavic languages, such as Bulgarian спасение (spasenie) and Russian спасение (spasenije), probably spread from Church Slavonic, and it is also the source of Romanian ispăși (“to atone”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels of the Zographensis and the Marianus it renders σωτηρία in the canticle of Zacharias, съпасенье отъ врагъ нашихъ “salvation from our enemies” (L 1:71).^[2][6] It is frequent in the Psalterium Sinaiticum and the Euchologium Sinaiticum, often abbreviated as сп҃ениѥ or сп҃ниѥ, as in богъ мои застѫпьникъ съпасениꙗ моего “God, my protector of my salvation” (Ps 88:27).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides σωτηρία the word renders Ancient Greek σωτήριον (sōtḗrion) and the infinitives of Ancient Greek σῴζω (sṓizō), and in single places μετάνοια and other words.^[6][2] It means rescue from a danger or an enemy, and in religious texts the salvation of the soul, as in съпасениѥ доуши и тѣлоу “salvation for soul and body” (Supr 212:5–6).^[6][2] The Psalter phrase рогъ съпасениꙗ “horn of salvation” is a fixed expression of the canonical texts.^[2][6] Later South Slavic translations kept it for σωτηρία, in the 14th-century Serbian version of Gregory of Nyssa and in a Serbian manuscript of the Rila monastery.^[7]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – съпасениѥ renders σωτηρία in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.^[7]
• 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for σωτηρία.^[7]
• Up to the beginning of the 15th century – a Serbian manuscript of the Rila monastery has it for σωτηρία.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. rescue, deliverance from danger or enemies; for σωτηρία, τὸ σωτήριον.^[6][2]
2. (religion) salvation, redemption; for σωτηρία.^[6][2][1]

Related words

• съпасти
• съпасъ
• съпасьнъ
• съпаситель
• избавлѥниѥ
• Russian спасение (spasenije)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
3. ^ a b c d Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU
4. ^ a b Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 629
5. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
7. ^ a b c d SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de