Ancient Greek words from Biblical Hebrew
6 Ancient Greek words with Biblical Hebrew in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
ἀρραβών
It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew עֵרָבוֹן (ʿērāḇōn, “pledge”) or a related Semitic form, which Rosół counts among the accepted Semitic loanwords. The Semitic family includes Akkadian erubbātu…
βάλσαμον
It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew בָּשָׂם (bāśām, “sweet spice, sweet smell”) or a related Semitic form, which Rosół counts among the Semitic loanwords. Wiktionary explains the ⟨λσ⟩ of the Greek…
μάννα
The biblical word is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew מָן (mān, “manna”). The Septuagint has the bare μάν (mán) in Exodus and μάννα elsewhere, a form that matches Aramaic מַנָּא (mannā). BDAG explains…
σάββατον
It is a Semitic loanword, borrowed from Biblical Hebrew שַׁבָּת (šabbāṯ, “Sabbath”), or from Aramaic שַׁבְּתָא (šabbəṯā). The Septuagint's plural may render the Aramaic form.
σάπφειρος
It is certainly related to a Semitic word, probably borrowed from Biblical Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappîr) or a similar West Semitic form. Wiktionary traces this further to Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis…
φῦκος
Its origin is disputed. Beekes, following Frisk, takes it as a Semitic loanword: it is perhaps borrowed from Biblical Hebrew פּוּךְ (pūk, “eye paint”) or a related Semitic word. On this view the…