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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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)
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 45:9-12However, 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."
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
Church of St. Brendan the Navigator, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, [detail of third window of north wall]
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," 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."
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).
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 2:16So 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!
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