You say:
Even Shoshan's transliteration papas ieros seems to perhaps be in error.
Apparently Shoshan uses the later (and Modern) Greek pronunciation of hierós as ierós. We know around the time of the New Testament Greek was pronounced pretty much (but not entirely) like Modern Greek.
Moreover, no etymology of the word afifyor should ignore the Polish word papież or Czech and Slovak pape.
How are the Polish and Czech words pronounced?
I doubt the term had a positive connotation at the time. Just speculation but any chance this could refer to the morning star? Venus is often referred to as the "light bringer." The torchlighter or light bringer would precede the sun's ascension. The early forms of Christianity in Rome bore a great deal of resemblance and competed with Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus. This could be a backhanded way of equating the pope with sun worship.
פסקת הבבלי כוללת את המילה אפיפיורא אבל גם כן הגמון, שמשמעותה בעברית בת זמננו "בישוף".
לא מובן לי מתי אומצה המילה אפיפיור במשמעותה הנוכחית של ראש הכנסיה הקתולית. באילו ספרים מימי הבינים המילה מופיעה עם משמעות זו? ולגבי ההגמון: מתי מילה זו קיבלה את משמעותה הנוכחי של בישוף?
ניקולא
שלום ניקולא - אכתוב את התגובה באנגלית, אבל אם זה לא ברור, אפשר לשלוח לי מייל.
For those that didn't understand, Nikola asked a) when exactly did the term Apifyor begin to be used for the head of the Catholic church, and b) when did the term "hegmon" (which also appears in Avoda Zara 11a) begin to refer to "bishop".
a) Ben Yehuda writes that Berliner thought that the afifyor first referred to the Pope in the 16th century, but Krauss was correct when he said it is already found in the 13th century. (Note that the Wikimilon entry I linked to in my post found a mention in the Sefer HaIkkarim - which was published in the 15th century. It is also found in Teshuvot HaRosh 8:13 )
b) Hegmon also took on the meaning of "bishop" in the Medieval Hebrew. Ben Yehuda quotes that usage in the book Shevet Yehuda by Shlomo Ibn Verga, which was published in 1550.
One question that might be asked is why would Afifyor be a higher position than Hegmon, if in the gemara in Avoda Zara, Hegmon seems to be higher than Afifyor?
I have two possible answers to this. One is that all the terms in that gemara were used in later literature (like the piyutim), and might not have preserved the original hierarchy.
A second possibility is that apifyor originally meant Christian priests in general and only later (at the time of Pope Gregory VII 1015-85) meant the Pope (Krauss as quoted by Ben Yehuda). So maybe before that change, hegmon was higher than afifyor.
Pelishtim: from "polesh"=invade/intrude. [balashon] Also to balashon: sachal with samech/sin: opposite meanings? Also nachash/nachoshet
Off topic, I wonder if the following connections are meaningful:
1) nachash and nachoshet (I can't believe this has not yet been mentioned on this site)
2) palash and Pelishtim
3) sechel (with sin) and sachal (with samech)
Any ideas?
Ignore the first line, it is my note myself that I accidentally copy/pasted in :)
All good words - I'll put them in the queue ...
I just wanted to complement you on your superlative website. I was introduced to you via a comment or two on Harry's Place, discussing the word hag/chag in Hebrew and its Arabic cognate hajj.
Thank you ever so much for providing such an informative resource...and Happy Jerusalem Day! Hag Sameach!
Welcome Tusker!
greek hegemon means "leader" and is cognate with "episkopos", meaning "overseer". Both are greek words for latin "praefectus" which is usually translated נציב in Modern Hebrew historiography. The church appropriated these words for its own hierarchy.
Bishop is a German corruption of "episkopos", and has nothing to do with anything in the Talmud.
(which should teach us that English is a bad example for these things)
Commenting by HaloScan
