Semitic triconsonantal root
Shin
-
Lamedh
-
Mem
is a
triconsonantal
root
of many
Semitic
words (many of which are used as names).
[1]
The root meaning translates to "whole, safe, intact, unharmed, to go free, without blemish". Its earliest known form is in the name of
Shalim
, the ancient god of dusk of
Ugarit
. Derived from this are meanings of "to be safe, secure, at peace", hence "well-being, health" and passively "to be secured, pacified, submitted".
Arabic
sal?m
(
??????
), Maltese
sliem
, Hebrew
??l?m
(
???????
),
Ge'ez
salam
(
???
),
Syriac
?lama
(pronounced Shlama, or Shlomo in the Western Syriac dialect) (
????
) are cognate
Semitic
terms for 'peace', deriving from a
Proto-Semitic
*?al?m-
.
Given names related to the same root include
Solomon
(
Suleyman
),
Absalom
,
Selim
,
Salem
,
Salim
, Salma, Salmah, Salman, Selimah, Shelimah, Salome, Szlama (Polish) etc.
Arabic (and by extension Maltese), Hebrew, Ge'ez, and
Aramaic
have cognate expressions meaning 'peace be upon you' used as a greeting:
- Arabic:
As-sal?mu ?alaykum
(
?????? ?????
) is used to greet others and is an Arabic equivalent of 'hello'. The appropriate response to such a greeting is "and upon you be peace" (
wa-?alaykum as-sal?m
).
- Maltese:
Sliem għalikom
.
- Hebrew:
Sh?lom ?ale?em
(
???? ?????
) is the equivalent of the Arabic expression, the response being
????? ????
?Ale?em sh?lom
, 'upon you be peace'.
- Ge'ez:
Selami ?likayimi
(
??? ?????
)
- Neo-Aramaic
:
?lamaloxun
,
?lama 'lokh
(
??? ????
), classically,
?l?m lakh
??? ??
.
East Semitic
[
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]
In the
Amarna letters
, a few of the 382 letters discuss the exchange of "peace gifts",
greeting-gifts (Shulmani)
between the
Pharaoh
and the other ruler involving the letter.
[2]
Examples are
Zita (Hittite prince)
, and
Tushratta
of
Mitanni
. Also,
Kadashman-Enlil
of
Babylon
, (
Kardunia?
of the letters).
?al?m
(
shalamu
) is also used in letter introductions to express the authors' health. An example letter EA19, from Tushratta to Pharaoh, states:
- "...the king of Mittani, your brother. For me all
goes well
.
For you may all
go well."
(lines 2-4)
[3]
In
Akkadian
:
[4]
- Salimatu "alliance"
- Salimu "peace, concord"
- Shalamu "to be(come) whole, safe; to recover; to succeed, prosper"
- Shulmu "health, well-being"; also a common greeting
Arabic
[
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]
The Arabic word
sal?m
is used in a variety of expressions and contexts in Arabic and
Islamic
speech and writing. "Al-Sal?m" is one of the 99
names of God in Islam
, and also a male given name in conjunction with
?abd
. ?Abd al-Sal?m translates to 'Slave of [the embodiment of] Peace', i.e. of
Allah
.
[5]
- ????
sal?m
'Peace'
- ?????? ?????
as-sal?mu ?alaykum
'Peace be upon you'
- ?????
?isl?m
'Submission'
- ????
muslim
'One who submits'
- ?????
tasl?m
? 'Delivering peace ? giving a salutation or a submission'
- ???????
istisl?m
? 'The act of submitting (oneself), surrenderring'
- ??????
mustaslim
? 'One who submits (oneself), surrenders'
- ????
s?lim
? 'subject of
SLM
? its SLM, 'the vase is SLM', 'the vase is whole, unbroken'
- ????????
musallam
? 'undisputed'
- Catholic Church
: in the
rosary
:
?????? ???? ?? ????
as-sal?m ?alayki y? Maryam
'
Hail Mary
'.
In
Maltese
:
- Sliem
? 'peace'
- Sellem ? 'to greet, to salute'
Arabic
Isl?m
[
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]
The word
?????
?isl?m
is a
verbal noun
derived from
s-l-m
, meaning "submission" (i.e. entrusting one's wholeness to a higher force), which may be interpreted as
humility
. "One who submits" is signified by the participle
????
,
Muslim
(fem.
?????
,
muslimah
).
[6]
The word is given a number of meanings in the
Qur'an
. In some verses (
?y?t
), the quality of Islam as an internal conviction is stressed: "Whomsoever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam."
[7]
Other verses connect
isl?m
and
d?n
(usually translated as "religion"): "Today, I have perfected your religion (
d?n
) for you; I have completed My blessing upon you; I have approved Islam for your religion."
[8]
Still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God?more than just a verbal affirmation of faith.
[9]
Given names
[
edit
]
- Salam (
????
Sal?m
)
- Salman
(
?????
Salm?n
)
- Salim
(
????
S?lim
)
- Selim (
????
, originally:
Sal?m
)
- Suleim (
?????
Sulaym
)
- Suleiman
(
??????
Sulaym?n
)
Northwest Semitic
[
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]
The
Koine Greek
New Testament
text uses
eir?n?
(
ε?ρ?νη
) for 'peace',
[10]
which perhaps
[
citation needed
]
represents
Jesus
saying
?lama
; this Greek form became the northern feminine name
Irene
. In the
Epistles
, it often occurs alongside the usual Greek greeting
chairein
(
χα?ρειν
) in the phrase 'grace and peace'. However, comparison of the Greek
Septuagint
and Hebrew
Masoretic
Old Testament
texts shows some instances where
shalom
was translated instead as
soteria
(
σωτηρ?α
, meaning 'salvation').
[11]
In
Hebrew
:
- Shalom
- Mushlam (
?????
) ? perfect
- Shalem (
???
) ? whole, complete
- Lehashlim (
??????
) ? to complete, fill in
- Leshallem (
????
) ? to pay
- Tashlum (
?????
) ? payment
- Shillumim (
???????
) ? reparations
- Lehishtallem (
??????
) ? to be worth it, to "pay"
- Absalom
(
??????
) ? a personal name, literally means 'Father [of] Peace'.
In
Aramaic
:
Given names
[
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]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"?-L-M from the Harvard Semitic Museum"
.
blogs.brandeis.edu
. 2015-08-17
. Retrieved
2023-06-24
.
- ^
Moran, Wiliam L., ed. (1992).
The Amarna letters
. Translated by Moran, Wiliam L. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
ISBN
978-0-8018-6715-6
.
- ^
William L. Moran
(January 2002).
The Amarana letters
. p. 43.
ISBN
0-8018-6715-0
.
- ^
Huehnergard, J. (2005).
A Grammar of Akkadian
. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
- ^
"Seeking the Source of Peace: Allah's Name as-Sal?m"
.
Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research
. Retrieved
2023-06-24
.
- ^
Entry for
?lm
, p. 2067, Appendix B: Semitic Roots,
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
, 4th ed., Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000,
ISBN
0-618-08230-1
.
- ^
Quran
6:125
, Quran
61:7
, Quran
39:22
- ^
Quran
5:3
, Quran
3:19
, Quran
3:83
- ^
See:
- ^
Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19,26;
vide
NA27
per
sy
.
- ^
"Salvation - Soteria: A Greek Word Study | Precept Austin"
.
www.preceptaustin.org
. Retrieved
2023-06-24
.