What a Dog

Adam's apple didn't fall far from the tree. Adam was a laborer upon the earth who ate from the produce of the ground with much toil, 

". . . Cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life"Genesis 3:17. 

His first born, Cain, was a slave to the earth as well, i.e., a "tiller," 'obed in Hebrew(in the sense of "laborer, worker, servant, slave," or even "worshiper," form of abad) of the "ground" adamah; a slave of the earth. But the second son Abel/Habel/Hebel was the ruler/keeper/shepherd ro'eh, from ra'ah "to pasture, tend, graze," the one who pastures the flocks, leads the sheep, make them to go or lie down, a "shepherd" roi. Therefore Abel was roi-alty to the son/tsone "flock, sheep and goats." His lording over the flocks could maybe be considered to be easy work compared to slaving away tilling the earth. From this we can see that there might have been some judgment on Cain's part of his brother's profession. Cain worked his ass off in the fields(or his oxen) . . . and his brother, Hebel, sat around "vainly, being useless, worthless" hebel, as the meaning of his name might suggest. Perhaps Cain viewed this behavior as foolish. Since Cain worked hard, of course he was better, more righteous, and would obviously be more pleasing to YHWH.

    The Children's Bible, 1962, Abel taking it easy keeping his flocks, Cain slaving away in the field, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

That is to take a negative angle on the name, Abel, of course, and there is certainly nothing wrong with being a shepherd, or with having things come easily, or enjoying ones occupation. There are things to be learned from both working hard(striving), and also letting things flow to you, as through grace. How hard, or how much you suffer through your work is not the measure of righteousness. However, it seems that Cain equated hard laborious work with righteousness, and therefore was angered when the Lord did not care to regard his offering. 

Cain worked very hard. He toiled in the fields(itstsabon "toil, pain," consequence of the fall of Adam) and thought he deserved a reward, but his offering was not pleasing to the LORD. Abel was a keeper of the flocks, and maybe had a lot of down time, yet his offering was pleasing to the LORD. People generally say this is because Abel gave the firstborn and "fat" cheleb of his flock, i.e, the choice part to God, and that maybe Cain was stingy in his offering. Perhaps this was true, but in any case we do know is that Cain offered the "fruits/produce/reward" peri of the ground to God, 

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, Genesis 4:3

whether they were the first or finest, is not clear. Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that they were the first and finest fruits, might there have been another reason why Cain's offering was not regarded(shaaw "gaze upon, look, respect, pay attention") by the LORD?

    Thank Offering Unto the Lord, Offering of First Fruits, by Providence Lithograph Co., c 1896-1913

How did Cain know in the first place that his offering was not acceptable to the LORD, and that Abel's was? Did the LORD talk to them directly? Or did the LORD maybe "tell" them in some other way? It could have been that Abel prospered and was blessed with many healthy, fat, lambs, but Cain's fields did not produce well. And if you equate prosperity with favor, then this would be a visible sign to all that Abel pleased the LORD and Cain did not. Perhaps this was their "face" to the world, i.e., what they produced through their occupation. Abel could hold his head high because his offering was acceptable to the LORD and he did well. Cain's face, however, was "brought low" kana("humbled, subdued"). This would be reason for Cain's "face/countenance" to fall as well. 

but for Cain and his offering he[YHWH] had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his[face fell / countenance fell / face was downcast / face was gloomy, etc]. Genesis 4:5

The phrase in Hebrew is  panaw[his countenance] wayyip.pelu[and fell], from (panaw)paneh "face" and (pelu)nephal "to fall, fail." The reason that Cain had an angry surface or exterior and began to "look cross," could be because he began to "look bad" by means of his crops ceasing to produce well, i.e., his "face" paneh/panim fell(and in Latin panis/panem(acc.) "bread; (figuratively) food, nourishment," so we might say Cain's "bread failed," or his livelihood was reduced). He was humiliated. Cain looked bad, his crops did not produce well, so he knew that the LORD was not happy with him. But why not after all his hard work? It isn't fair! The LORD then told Cain that he shouldn't be angry that his crops had failed him(i.e., that he was not regarded by the Lord), rather he should just do well/be good and then he too would prosper and things would be well/good with him. 

The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? . . . Genesis 4:6-7

But, but, but… he WAS doing well! How was he not being good? He was working hard! He was doing everything RIGHT! Why was that not acceptable? 

For I desire[take pleasure in/delight in] mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 

So, it was the disposition of Abel's heart that made the sacrifice pleasing to the LORD. He trusted in God to provide. It was not the "sacrifice," i.e., the blood and sweat, hard work suffering of Cain that he desired.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous… Hebrews 11:4

    The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve, William Blake ca. 1826, Tate Gallery, London

Why is this so hard to understand, Cain? If things are not well with you, the problem lies with yourself, not anyone or anything else. We can't say, "I'm doing everything right, but all those sinners(losers like Hebel) are messing up the world and making my life bad." Nope. If things are not well with you, the fault is your own. 

"Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin(i.e., the bad, evil) is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." Genesis 4:6-7

Cain/Qayin was made kana("bring low, humble, subject") because he didn't please the LORD with his offering. So he was qanah "jealous" and killed his brother. How did he kill him? It doesn't say. Possibly it was with a cane, or a "spear" qayin/cain. He may have caned his brother over his head with some sort of agricultural tool. If there had been others around it is easy to imagine Cain inciting a mob to anger against Abel with pitch fork in hand, or being the first to throw a stone.

    Lorenzo Lotto, Stoning of St. Stephen, Oil on Wood, 1513-1516 (men holding qayin/cain, canis in the foreground)

That's really sad. Cain killed his bother in the sadeh "field" in Hebrew. Sadeh in the sense of the open wild area, i.e., the bush, where Cain's deed would go unobserved. This would have made Qayin/Cain the cause of the qinah "lamenting" of his parents. 

I don't think this is what his mother, Eve/Havvah "Life," had in mind when she named him. She didn't know what grief Cain would eventually bring her when he was born. After his birth she said,

"YHWH 'et 'iš qaniti " Genesis 4:1

That is, "With the LORD I have acquired a man/male(iš)." 

Qaniti is a form of qanah meaning "get, acquire, buy." So Eve qanah(acquire) a boy child and then named him Qayin(spear). 

It is interesting that the passage states that "the man"(ha'adam), knew his woman/wife/other half('išša/ishshaw), and she conceived and brought forth Cain. Then Išša(the female), i.e., Havvah(Eve), says "I have gotten(qaniti) an 'iš(man/male) with(or with the help of) YHWH. She does not say she has gotten an 'iš from her'iš(man/husband), i.e., Adam. Eve gives the credit for helping her to acquire a son/male child/'iš, to God, not to man, or her husband. However, then this male child('iš), Cain, grows up to be a man(adam) who thinks that one acquires(qaneh) through man(adam) and not through the LORD. You qanah do it yourself Cain! There are deeper causes at work in the world. It is through favor with the LORD that he will grant you wisdom and you will prosper, 

for even if one is perfect among the sons of men, yet without the wisdom that comes form you he will be regarded as nothing. Wisdom of Solomon 9:6 

Send her forth from the holy heavens, and from the throne of your glory send her, that she may be with me and toil, and I may learn what is pleasing to you. For she knows all things, and she will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory. Then my works will be acceptable . . . Wisdom of Solomon 9:10-12

The man who toils without wisdom toils in vain. 

For creation, serving you who have made it, exerts itself to punish the unrighteous, and in kindness relaxes on behalf of those who trust in you. Therefore at that time also, changed into all forms, it served your all-nourishing bounty, according to the desire of those who had need, so that your sons, whom you loved, O Lord, might learn that it is not the production of crops that feeds a man, but your word preserves those who trust in you. Wisdom of Solomon 16:24-26

Canis is "dog" in Latin, kuon κύων in Greek, keleb in Hebrew. A dog is bound and wears a collare Latin for "chain for the neck." A dog is a servant to man(adam),

And Hazael said, "What is your servant, who is but a dog(keleb), that he should do this great thing?" Elisha answered, "The Lord has shown me that you are to be King over Syria." 2 Kings 8:13

     Canaan Dog

And Cain was a servant of the ground(adamah), so we might say figuratively that he was a dog[...who also became a king].

Canines are known for their canine, dog teeth, or perhaps we might say, cain/qayin "spear" like teeth, or cuspids, from Latin cuspis "point, pointed end."

Cain worked like a canis. He thought he could qanah(acquire) God's good graces because of his own labor. But it didn't work out as it should have according to Cain's wisdom. 

"Behold, you have driven me this day from the face the ground[adamah, i.e., his origin as an adam]; and from your face[paneh, i.e., God's grace, maybe panis "bread of life"?] I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." Genesis 4:14

However, for Cain's evil deed he was not slain, but rather, God put some sort of indicative "sign"oth in Hebrew, upon him so that he would not be harmed. Was this a gift or punishment? Or maybe just an effect? Cain was a driven, arrogant, worldly man. Perhaps he exerted certain quality of leadership, or charisma, from kharisme/charisma χάρισμα "favor, divine gift." So, because of this oth bestowed upon Cain from God, he was not killed by others, but rather chosen to be their leader. Then because he had this power over men, of course he would have been "avenged sevenfold"(Genesis 4:15) by any who might have tried to harm him. Cain was not his bother's "body guard/keeper" shamar, but he would have had his own body guards for his protection, certainly, after he was married, had a son, and built a city naming it after his son, Enoch. Not just any ordinary yokle gets to build a city and name it after his son. Cain must have been canny and become an important man in the eyes of the world after he killed Abel and left his parents. He was marked (maybe "anointed"mashach so that he would "shine" before his fellow man like an "angel"malak) and was "appointed" malak by God to rule. He then found favor and/or was feared by men and became their Cain or melek "king" in Hebrew). 

    Cain Building the City Enoch, Maarten de Vos, 1583 (Cain with cane in hand)

Out of anger and jealousy Cain killed his brother in the ager Latin for "field." It was an act of aggression. Cain dis-[t]roy-ed Abel, i.e. he took out, dissed the "shepherd" roi. Then Cain went on to build a city and become an important man, unlike his simple, vain, naive brother who sat all day in the "pasture" naveh in Hebrew, with the sheep. Cain's business had been agriculture "cultivation of the land" from genitive agri "field, land" + cultura "cultivating, agriculture," from colere "tend, guard, cultivate, till." This is probably why Cain thought himself to be better, i.e., he was more cultured, cultivated, or polished than his brother Abel. Cultus(past participle of colere) "care, labor, cultivation; tended, culture; worship, reverence," cultus also has the meaning of "polish, elegance."

    Polished Gold Jewlery, Late Canaanite Period, 13th century BC

People who live in cities wear fine clothes and jewelry, and are more refined and polished than the wild people(perhaps villains) who live out in the villages, like the civilized people of Canaan, the descendants of Canaan, son of Ham. The land, so called, "flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 3:17

Wild is from Old English wilde "in a natural state, uncultivated, untamed, undomesticated, uncontrolled," from Proto-Germanic *wildia- (also source of Old Saxon wildi, Old Norse villr, Dutch wild), of uncertain origin. Compare to Welsh gwyllt "untamed").

Although dogs can act like dogs and be kind of ewwy, a dog, iwiw in ancient Egyptian(imitative of their bark) is domesticated, civilized, useful and more reasonable, than their wild, loopy, counterpart, Canis lupus, the wolf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from PIE root *wlkwo-, possibly also the root of Greek lykos λύκος, and Latin lupus. However, perhaps the wolf is not really the crazy one, but has been vilified for being wild and untamed. Maybe the lykos "wolf" is really one who is quite "bright, brilliant" leukos λέυκός in Greek, for being free, but it's not the kind of brightness that is allowed in the civilized world, is it? Much like children. Children are wild and uncivilized. 

Girl is from c.1300 gyrle "child, young person"(of either sex most often of female, specific meaning of "female child" late 14c.) of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Germanic *gurwilon(diminutive of gurwjoz), with possible relationship to Low German gaere "boy, girl," Swedish dialectical gurre "small child." It is said the g-r denotes small children, animals(grunt), worthless(grime), and things past their prime(grandma, grandpa?). So children were not respected historically, then the word came to designate the female child in English. 

    Inger Nilsson as Pippi Longstocking, 1969

Children have a lot of energy and act wild. Little girls("gwils" as my daughter used to say) are gwylt "untamed" before they are shoved into a "corset" and cultured. Corset is from Old French cors "body," from Latin corpus. But sometimes the cultivated corset "body-et", i.e., the woman that is shaped from the girl, ends up being no more than a living corpse. 

    Corpse Bride with Corset, from Corpse Bride, Tim Burton, 2005

A girl or woman's place in the world historically has been to serve, and a woman could get in a lot of trouble for not following the civil rules and acting too wild. Thanks to people like Jesus who attempt to change perceptions and make people free again. In this story below, I'm sure Martha was thinking Mary was a bitch for not helping out, but who really was the bitch(dog, servant) in this case? Martha was the one working like a dog, canis (like Cain) and Mary was sitting idly, "vainly" listening to Jesus(more like Abel).

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about mant things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41

    Martha Scolds her Sister Mary, Orazio Gentileschi, Italian painter, oil on canvas, c. 1620

Jesus seemed to have a certain appreciation for the uncultivated, like John the Baptist, and Jesus himself was from Nazareth. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"John 1:46 (uh . . . Hair of the Dog is from Nazareth 🤷‍♀️), and the pastoral "of or pertaining to the shepherds," is from Latin pastoralis, from  pastor "herdsman, shepherd," and even, the pagan, from paganus classical Latin "villager, rustic; civilian, non-combatant," from the adjective pagus "country people; province, rural district." The term pagan came to mean heathen, which is taken from heath, from Old English hæð "untilled land, track of wasteland." The pagans are the ones who were said to be uncivilized, without the knowledge of God, and vilified. But in actually, Jesus had a lot of trouble with the civilized folk(who ended up having him put to death) and spent his time with those who were considered less, and marginalized. 

And behold a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begging him saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord help me." And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their Masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:22-28

It is in the cities like Enoch, built by Cain the cultivator, that the so called civilized and cultivated reside. However, the inhabitants of cities often end up being violent and destructive to their fellow man. Like the inhabitants of Sodom/Sedom, a Canaanite city that was near the dead sea. The Sodomites were city dwellers. They should have been civilized, right? But they were really uncivilized, and thought they were shadday-mites, "almighty" people, who could go around raping everybody they felt like[read it, it's not about homosexuality Genesis 19 *commentary]. Dogs! For their crimes, they were leveled like a sadeh(field) and burned to the ground, incinerated. Civilized, indeed! 

    The Destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah, John Martin, 1852

So, it is clear that there is some bias in the language that indicates a distain for the bumpkins. But really there is not necessarily anything bad or evil about those who live in the country or the wild, as opposed to the city folk. Sometimes they are the best kinds of people.

"Let's have no more argument. I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. You may (possibly) all live to thank me yet. Now Bilbo, my boy, fetch a lamp, and let's have a little light on this!" Gandolf - The Hobbit, ch. 1.104 

Wild is not bad, civilized is not good, wild is not good, and civilized is not bad. As it turns out no certain group of people is either all bad or all good. So we should never judge people based on things such as race, creed, or place of origin, but rather we should look at people individually and see what their fruit is. If the fruit is good, i.e., love, then they must be acceptable to God. 

What God has cleansed, you must not call common." Acts 10:15

This goes for dogs too. I didn't mean to give them a bad rap.

King of the Jungle

   

Jungle Oasis

The word jungle comes from Sanskrit  jangala "arid, sparsely grown with trees", and Hindi jangal "desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated land." So the meaning of the word jungle was originally not just the lush tropical, almost mythical, place we think of now. It had the meaning of any uncultivated place, even a desert, a wilderness, as in the place of testing from the bible, or the deshret, the "red (deshr) land," of the ancient Egyptians, ruled by the god of chaos, Set, the place of burial.  It seems that jungle as we use the word today has a more limited meaning; a tropical overgrown, tangled forest with vines. Like the place where we imagine Tarzan would be found.

    Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, by Edgar Rice Burrows 1928

But maybe a lot of this perception comes from movies. We see Tarzan encountering all kinds of creatures in the jungle, when actually not all of them may be found there. The lion is called "King of the Jungle," however because lions don't actually live in the jungle, it must mean "jungle" in the sense of "uncultivated land." The usual natural habitat of lions is prairies, semi-arid planes and Savannah grasslands on the continent of Africa. There are regions of tropical and sub-tropical rainforest in Africa, but lions aren't usually found there. Other members of the genus Pathera are found in jungle regions, such as tigers, leopards, and jaguars.

In the Gnostic tradition, the solar god is Yaldabaoth, the offspring of Sophia (Greek "Wisdom"). He is also called the lion-faced, Ariel "Ari (lion) +  El (God)." He is thought of as the demiurgic "creator", God, as opposed to the unknowable God. He is sometimes equated with YHWH.

    Yaldabaoth - the Lionfaced

Lion in Greek is leon λέον. If we put this word with  bab, a word meaning "gate" we get  Bab + leon, which sounds a lot like how we say Babylon. So, by this sound association the word Babylon might call to mind the lion. However, Babylon Βαβυλών, comes from the Greek rendition of the Akkadian Bab-ilani, meaning "gate of the god(s)," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary,

the Greek rendition of Akkadian Bab-ilani 'the gate of the gods,' from bab 'gate' + ilani, plural of ilu 'god'."[OE]

This name and its rendering has always been ripe with confusion. 

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. Genesis 11:9

In the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) the name of the city in Genesis 11:9 [Babel], is translated as Synchysi Σύγχυσις "Confusion," from syncheo συγχέω

meaning "confuse, confound" in Greek, rather than Babel or Babylon (which is the Greek rendering used in the Book of Revelation). However in Hebrew the word used in the passage said to mean "confuse," balal "mingle, mix, confuse, confound," is only similar to the name given to the city, i.e., Babel, and not itself the same word, regardless of what the passage seems to imply.

Bet, Bet, Lamed  //  Bet, Lamed, Lamed Genesis 11:9

In the Vulgate (the Bible translated into Latin) the name of the city is transliterated as Babel, however, balal, is translated as confusum "confounded, confused," so the similarity is lost. 

Et idcirco vocatum est nomen ejus Babel, quia ibi confusum est labium . . . Genesis 11:9

This is the same thing we get from the English translations, which gives rise to the impression that the name Babel means confusion.

It is confusing. 

And who knows? Perhaps the Hebrew passage even means that the city was called Babel, due to the confusion, or rather mixing (balal) between the words used for "God" in the name of the city, rather than because of any similarity with the Hebrew word for confusion and the name Babel. The Latin word confusum also has this meaning of "mixed, mingled" as well. What if the passage, instead, read like this?

There the LORD mixed the language of all the earth, therefore its name was called Babel . . . And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth.

In Hebrew the word for God is El and Elohim (the plural is used also for the singular "God"). So instead of the city being called Bab "Gate" +  ilani "God(s)," as in Akkadian, it was called Bab + el "God."  But then that causes balal (confusion) with a Hebrew speaker, because in Hebrew the word for "gate" is shaar, which would make Babilani into Shaarel   translated rather than Babel. Perhaps we might say that it is even particularly in naming and borrowing names (rather than translating meaning), that things get most confused and confounded. What a shame! And in Hebrew the word for "name" is shem (shame). This same thing is illustrated, for example, with the name of many gods, such as Uranus, in English. Uranus is just a name without its original meaning of "sky." And unfortunately, Uranus too has become a name of shame due to the fact that is sounds like Ur (your) + anus. So too, Babel, is just a name in English without its original meaning of "Gate of God," and instead is given the name of shame, i.e., confusion.

And it is sometimes true, that in mixing languages and borrowing / sharing names, ironically, division is created because people forget that they are talking about the same things. They can be communicating and understanding each other but a lot is lost in translation. It's the confusion that isn't seen or noticed that can create division.  

Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/W.W. Keck Observatory/NASA

We might also compare Babilani or Babylon with  Bab + Elyon. Ilani "God(s)" is similar sounding to Elyon a title given to God many times throughout the Old Testament. In Hebrew Elyon has the meaning "The Most High."

The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 2 Samuel 22:14

And El Elyon is "God Most High,"

Then Melchizedek king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, since he was the priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18

God (El) is the one up there, yon-der, you might even say, alien (from Latin alius, an"other"). And really what is higher than the heavens? The gods are the ELevated and ILUmined ones.

In Latin elegantem (nominative elegans) has the meaning "choice, fine, tasteful", but originally a term of reproach, elegans meaning "dainty, fastidious". Maybe it is elegans (pronounced not so much differently from elyon, especially in French), like being of the highest quality, or like the dress of the most high (elyon), a king. This is a good example of how words can be given either positive or negative connotation. For example the dress of a pope could be said to be elegans. Is the manner of dress either good or a bad thing, elegant or over the top? It is a matter of opinion.

    Pope Pius XII, reign 1939-1958 in his dress "Most High" or elegans

How did this word leon, then, which is like elyon, come to be the name of the animal? Lion comes by way of Latin and French, from the Greek leon, which is said to come from "a non-Indo-European language, perhaps Semitic." Lion has the connotation in biblical Greek of being dignified or of high quality, as in Revelation 5:5 when it speaks of "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed . . . " And in Greek the prefix ari- means "very" and is in words like aristos "best, brave one," so ari means "muchiness." However, in Hebrew ari אר׳ means "lion." So, perhaps the Greeks took the word meaning "most high," in Hebrew, i.e., elyon and made it the word to describe the ari (best) or most high (elyon) animal, the lion (ari). In Greek the leon is aristos (the lion is the best), and in Hebrew the ari is elyon (the lion is the most high) . . . And in Spanish El león is "The lion".

We do say that the lion is king, i.e., the most high, elyon, of the animal kingdom. Furthermore, the Ishtar gate of Babylon, which was initially known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was the main entrance to the city of Babylon. If you were walking into the city by this gate you would proceed down the Processional Way which was over a half mile long, and was adorned with flowers and 120 images of lions. The walls stood fifty feet tall on each side, rather impressive! It led to the temple of Marduk (Hebrew Merodach), Ba'al, "the Lord"(East Semetic Bel, Greek Belos, Latin Belus), the chief god of Babylon. [And it should be noted that "bel" is a word with etymological connections to "bright, light, shining one," as in Beltaine / Beltain / Beltine / Bealtaine / Bealltainn / Boaldyn, the Gaelic May Day fire festival that marks the beginning of summer to honor the god Belenus (Gaulish) / Bel / Bile (Irish) / Beli (Welsh),  the god of "light and healing."]

    Leones on the Processional Way of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon

So, imagine a person entering the city of Babylon by the main (or lion mane) gate. It is a gate with lions,  bab + leon. We might think that Babylon means "Lion Gate." And perhaps there is even a certain kind of truth in that incorrect interpretation. * The Problem With Language

Certain gods such as Ba'al "The Lord" and Moloch / Molech /  Molek, etc., from the Hebrew m-l-k root meaning "king" were given sacrifices in the burning furnace. In biblical Hebrew "hearth, altar-hearth" is ariel, so that would be, "lion of God". The opening to the fire might be thought of as representing the face of their god who was also represented at times by the bright fiery disk of the sun, whose face is like a lion with his mane; powerful and fearful. The lion is often used in connection with sun symbolism and sun gods. 


    A Lion. In Hebrew there are a few words for lion, Ari (from arah "to gather, gathered, pick, pluck"), also Arieh/Aryeh [Aramaic],  Layish (from "crusher" luwsh "kneed"), Shachal ("fierce lion" from the roar) and Kephir ("young lion")

Adonay / Adonai a name for God used in the Hebrew bible is translated as "The LORD." Adonay in Hebrew is from adon "lord, master, owner." Sometimes the Tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God, transliterated as YHWH / YHVH, is translated as "The LORD" as well, such as when the text says YHWH Elohim, it is translated as "The LORD God." Other times YHWH is translated as "God," when it is used with Adonay; Adonay YHWH "The LORD  God." 

However, YHWH is called not just, "The LORD," but he is qualified as "The LORD, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac and the God Jacob"(Ex 3:15). And we would say, also, this Lord is the God of Elijah, whose name means "Yah is my El" or "The LORD is my God." As opposed to - their - "Lord", i.e., Ba'al. (1 Kings18:20-40) [so they made a test to determine who's God was idle (didn't preform) and therefore the idol.]

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD [YHWH] is God [Elohim], follow him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people remained silent. 1 Kings 18:21

Moloch / Molek ("king") is the god infamously known for requiring child sacrifice. If it was ever practiced as literal "passing through fire," or putting the child as a burnt offering into the fiery furnace, it is not so much different than what YHWH asked of Abraham to do to his "only begotten son," Issac on Mt. Moriah. (Genesis 22)

   Abraham prepares to Sacrifice Issac, Children's Illustrated Bible, 1994

The Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Issac on an altar as a burnt offering. So, this is maybe what people were doing, what they thought their God wanted, the ultimate most precious sacrifice to prove their love and loyalty to him. Abraham thought his God wanted him to do this, so he was going to do it as a true sacrifice. It was very hard for him, but his LORD had asked him. What was he to do? Who can question God?

Woe to him who strives with his Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say to him who fashions it, "What are you making?" or "Your work has no handles"? 

Woe to him who says to a father, "What are you begetting?" or to a woman, "With what are you suffering labor pains?"

Thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? 

I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that streached out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:9-12

However, we see that after God (elohim) sees the faithfulness of Abraham that the "angel of the LORD" malak YHWH, tells him to not kill his son and provides a ram stuck in a thicket in place of Isaac.

There seems to be a lot of overlapping and possible confusion with words having do with gods and their etymological connections with words for "light, bright, shining", "lion, most high", and even the words for "word" (words being the illuminators, bringers of knowledge and light). The words may not seem connected on the surface, however, we can see how this could happen by association between cultures and languages. 

In Greek leukos is "bright, shining, white," in Latin lucere "to shine," and Welsh llug "gleam glimmer" and llygedyn "glimmer, ray, gleam" (pron. as a palital hlah-ge-den). The Welsh god Lleu (pron. hlah/hlai), is also sometimes called Llew which is Welsh for "lion." He is thought to be the counterpart of the Irish Lugh/Lug (which sounds similar to "Luke" in pron.),  Gaulish Lugus, the god "skilled in many arts," who is sometimes, either correctly or incorrectly called a sun god. Lugh was identified with Mercury / Hermes by the Romans, the god of communication. The etymology of the name is not clear, many have thought that the name was connected to words having to do with light, and therefore sun symbolism, but others say Lugh is not a sun god and therefore that etymlogy is incorrect. In that respect, Lugh would have more in common with the Greek logos "word, speech, discourse", or "reason", and legein "to say, speak " lego "I say", than leukos "bright, shining, white".  

    Apollo and the Satyrs, by Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

Apollo (Greek Apollon) was known as Phoebus (Gk. Phoibos "bright, radiant"), Helios "sun", Phanaios "giving or bringing light," Lukeios Proto-Greek "light", and by the Romans, Sol Latin "sun". However many of the gods are described as being "shinning" even when they are not a sun god. In fact the word deity comes from the proposed PIE root *dyue- "to gleam, shine" which is also the root of words for "sky" and "day."  So the English word deity comes from the idea of the gods being gleaming or shining ones.

The word for "light" in Latin is lux, and lucere means "to shine." In Greek logos is "word, reason, thought, speech." There seems to be certain connection between the two concepts that isn't at first obvious. Jesus is said to be both the "Light of the World," and the "Word of God." 

In Genesis it states that "in the beginning" God made light (Latin lux, Greek phos).

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 

Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Genesis 1:3

At the start of the gospel of John,  Jesus is equated with the "Word," translated from the Greek logos (it is Verbum in the Vulgate), also said of "in the beginning,"

In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the begining with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5

And Jesus says of himself in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world . . ."

Church of St. Brendan the Navigator, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, [detail of third window of north wall]

It is also interesting that the English word "lung"comes from the word "light", but it is light as in, "light in weight." Lung is from Old English lungen, with the meaning of the "light in weight organ" from PIE root *legwh - "not heavy, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" In Latin this became levis but in Old English it is leoht, however, leoht ALSO had the meaning of light, as in "light, daylight; luminous, beautiful".

We might wonder what the connection is between "little in weight" and "bright." In the underworld of the Ancient Egyptians, called the Duat / Tuat, there was a judgment ceremony after death called the "Weighing of the Heart." If the heart was found to balance with the feather of Ma'at "truth, order, justice," upon the scales of ma'at, that is, if it was light as the feather and light like the truth, the individual was able to pass on to the Afterlife, but the one who had a "heavy" heart was devoured by Ammit ("devourer, soul-eater"), who was a female demon, part lion, hippopotamus and crocodile, known as "Devourer of the Dead", "Eater of Hearts, and "The Great Death."

    Anubis and Ammit at the Weighing of a Heart against the Feather of Maat, Papyrus of Hunefer, c. 1375 BC

We see Jesus, "the Light of the world," as making burdens light. "Light" in Greek is phos and elephros "light, easy to bear, not burdensome".

The Greek word elephas / (genitive) elephantos has the meaning of both "elephant" and "ivory." It was used by ancient Greeks, such as Homer, to refer primarily to ivory (being the part go the animal they would most usually be dealing with),

The Greek word elephas, to which certain Western languages (English, French, German) owe the etymology of their word for elephant, when first used by the Greeks themselves primarily referred to ivory, not the animal. This is Homer's use of it (also Hesiod's and Pindar's); and for a considerable time thereafter, tangible experience of the Greeks of the elephant appears to have been restricted to tusks, an item of trade long before the Greek travelers had encountered the animal who carried them.  A Note on the Etymology of "Elephant", by Merlin Peris, JSTOR

Elephas is said to "probably come from a non-Indo-European, likely via Phoenician (compare Hamitic elu 'elephant' . . . or possibly from Sanskrit ibhah 'elephant' [OE]." So the name of the animal seems to have the connotation of (ele )"ivory; elphant" +  words having to do with "light"(phaino, phos, or phantos "visible"). 

However, the Phoenician word for "god / deity," El / Il or Ilu, is itself similar to the word for ivory / elephant, so perhaps the name of the ivory is connected to the idea of deity the "shining"  one(s). The elevated ones. The leukos "bright, shining, white," like ivory.

In ancient Egyptian ab was "elephant," and in Coptic ebu "ivory", which is similar to "ivory" (ab / ebu-ory [maybe like ab + hr.w (Horus) "the distant one"]. Ab in Latin has the meaning "off, away from." Ab is also related to a name for God (El) as well, as in Ab / Abba "Father (God)" the head, and the power, Allah (from al "the" - Ilah "God", cognate with Aramaic elah). Elephant is an animal that is a beast that carries heavy burdens easily, and is a bearer of the white, bright ivory. Like the symbolism of the lion the elephant and its ivory seem to have been connected to the imagery of the shining god / divinity, the most high god.

In Hebrew "to be or become light" is or / ore meaning "shine." To become like that first light, by the Word of God. In Latin Oremus is "Let us pray." So "Be the light" with the notion of  "Be like the light of God, or "Raise yourselves to the Light" ele-phros, the Word of God, and your burdens become light (light as a feather [ma'at]?). Learn from Me!

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (zugos, "yoke; balance, measuring scales," in Hebrew mot) upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy (chrestos) and the burden light (elephros)." Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus the Christ is the "light of God", like the Hindu, Jains, Buddhist god, Ganesha / Ganapti. Some have translated this name as "Lord of Hosts"(that would be YHWH Sabaoth in Hebrew). From Gane ("group, multitude, categorical system") + isha "lord or master" in Sanskrit, or Gana ("group") + pati ("lord, master"). He is also called the "Lord of letters and of learning," so we could connect him to Logos, and he is also said to personify the primordial sound OM or AUM, which is the Word of God.

As Vinayaka "Lord of Obstacles," Ganesha is called the remover of obstacles, or, we might say, the one who makes burdens light (elephros).

  Ganesha, Lord of the Ganas, Lord of Hosts

And in that day, says YHWH, you will call me, "My husband" (Ishi 'my man' [as in a male, not female], thus 'husband'), and no longer will you call me, "My Baal"(Baali 'my Baal', meaning 'Lord, Master')"Hosea 2:16

So it is saying they will call the Lord, their Is / Ish "man", as Eve (isa / isha "wife, woman") called Adam, her husband (man), rather than calling him "Lord, Master" specifically Baal, however Adonay and Yah both have the meaning of "Lord" as well . . .  

Well, I hope this has served to shed some light on a few things. 
Did I tell you? We are all connected.

Namaste!