Etymologically
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ἱλάσκομαι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /hiː.lás.ko.mai̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /iˈlas.ko.mɛ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /iˈlas.ko.me/[1]

Forms

ῑ̔λᾰ́σκομαι (hīláskomai) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *si-sl̥h₂-sḱe/o-, a reduplicated present with a ⟨-σκ-⟩ suffix from the root *selh₂- (“to reconcile, become gracious”).[2][3][1] Chantraine calls it an archaic group obscured by analogy.[4] The decisive forms are the Aeolic imperatives ἔλλαθι (éllathi) and ἔλλατε (éllate), “be gracious”, old perfect forms from *σέσλαθι (*séslathi), like τέτλαθι (tétlathi).[2][4][3] The short -α- of the present may be taken from the s-aorist, and the long initial vowel spread to the aorist, the future and the perfect subjunctive ἱλήκῃσι (hīlḗkēisi).[2]

The closest cognate is Old Armenian աղաչեմ (ałačʻem, “to pray, beg”), formed the same way; Latin sōlor (“to comfort”) belongs to the same root.[1][3] The adjective ἵλαος (hílaos, “propitious”) is related.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to appease or win the favour of a god, always a god, with sacrifice, song or prayer: the Greeks appease Apollo with song.[6][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod tells his brother to appease the gods with libations and offerings.[6] Herodotus uses it of the dead honoured as heroes and of men won over with money, and Plato and Plutarch of placating a person or his anger.[6][5][7] The usual form for appeasing a god or expiating a fault is the compound ἐξιλάσκομαι (exiláskomai).[4]

In the Septuagint the subject is God, and the passive means to be merciful or to pardon: in Exodus the Lord relents.[8][6] In the New Testament the tax collector prays “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”, and the Letter to the Hebrews uses the verb for expiating the sins of the people.[6][7][5]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for appeasing Apollo with sacrifice and song.[6][7]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for appeasing the gods with libations.[6][9]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the heroized dead and of men won over with money.[6][7][9]
  • 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of placating a person's anger.[6][5][9]
  • Septuagint – The Septuagint uses the passive of God, “to be merciful”.[8][6]
  • New Testament – The Gospel of Luke has the prayer “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”, and Hebrews uses it for expiating sins.[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To propitiate, appease a god, usually with offerings; also the heroized dead.[6][5]
  2. To conciliate, win over a person, placate anger.[6][5]
  3. (New Testament) To expiate sins.[6][7]
  4. (passive, Septuagint, New Testament) Of God: to be merciful, gracious; to pardon.[6][8][7]

Word family

  • ἀφιλάσκομαι (aphiláskomai)
  • προϊλάσκομαι (proïláskomai)
  • ἀνίλαστος (anílastos)
  • ἵλασμα (hī́lasma)
  • ἱλασμός (hilasmós)
  • ἱλαστής (hīlastḗs)
  • ἱλήκω (hīlḗkō)
  • ἵλαος (hílaos)
  • ἐξιλάσκομαι (exiláskomai)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  5. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  8. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge