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May 14, 2007
Canon: from GI.NI to QN to Κανών
This started out as a comment for Claude Mariottini's blog. I wanted to react to a very small point in an otherwise excellent post on the canon of the Hebrew Bible. It grew in size and technical complexity to the point that it didn't seem reasonable to post it as a comment. But before you read further, please go over to Claude's blog and read what he has to say.
The part of his post to which I am reacting here reads,
The word “canon” is a Greek word derived from a Hebrew word which means “reed.” In the ancient Near East reeds were used as measuring sticks. The word also means “rule,” “list,” and “standard.” In Ezekiel 40:3, 5 the Hebrew word is translated as “a measuring reed.”
To be sure, "canon" is a Greek word but I have a minor quibble that in no way distracts from the real points Claude is trying to make. qn(h) is the common Semitic word/root for "reed." It not only appears in Hebrew but also in Ugaritic, Akkadian and Arabic. It is likely a loanword into the Semitic family from Sumerian GI.NA meaning "reed(s)." The fact that the root is common across the spectrum of Semitic languages in itself suggests that there may have been some path into Greek other than from Hebrew.
The Greek word most closely related to the Semitic forms is κάννα meaning "reed" or "reed pin." Greek κανών appears to be a derivative of κάννα or, if not a derivative, closely related. While I haven't tried to do a complete survey, the Greek word κανών (δύω κανόνεσσ' αραρυιαν, "fitted with two rods [or staves])" can be found in the Iliad, 13.407, where it is understood to mean "rods" or the like. Whatever the exact meaning, it is close to the meaning we see for Greek κάννα and qn in the Semitic languages. Euripides, Hecuba, 602, uses the Greek word κανών metaphorically to mean "rule, standard." Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, 1105a3, uses κανονίας, a derived word, to mean "standards" that guide our lives. (But compare the use of μέτρον in Protagoras, DK 80b1, ≈ Plato Theaetetus, 152a.) I doubt very much that Homer, Euripides or Aristotle's usage came into Greek from Hebrew by any path. Obviously, the word "canon" entered Greek before Homer and was adapted to various meanings in the neighborhood of "measure, rule." My guess is that the Greek word is an instantiation of an old East Mediterranean culture word that came into Greek by way of some Semitic usage but not likely by way of Hebrew.
Claude's reference to Ezekiel 40:3 is interesting. He is correct about how to understand קנה. However, if one checks the LXX, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, one finds that the Greek reads σπαρτίον οικοδομων, "builders cord." So for the LXX translators of this passage, σπαρτίον, not κανονίας or κανών, was the better rendering of קנה and in this case, it clearly was. I'm too lazy to check the Greek translation all the passages where קנה occurs in Hebrew.
By Ezekiel's time, קנה certainly had some relationship to measuring but in the very concrete way of a measuring device. Of course, it also still meant "reed." But for Euripides and Aristotle the Greek word κανών was likely thought of as an abstract term for "measure" while still retaining its more concrete meaning of "reed" or "rod." It is of course possible that the usage of the Church Fathers who applied the word "canon" to official lists of scripture (I'm not sure who first used "canon" in this way) was informed to some extent by the use of קנה in the Hebrew Bible. But as I hope I have shown, the metaphorical meaning of κανών was part of Greek usage long before being applied to any of the books of the Hebrew Bible or the Christian New Testament.
Posted by Duane Smith at May 14, 2007 7:53 PM | Read more on Hebrew Bible |
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» Sumerian and the “Greek” Etymology of Canon from Awilum.com
Duane Smith has a great discussion on the Sumerian influence upon the origin of the word “canon” in Greek and Hebrew. It’s definitely worth checking out. And you thought Sumerian wasn’t important for biblical studies!
... [Read More]
Tracked on May 15, 2007 7:26 AM
Comments
Very nice work! Sumerian is often overlooked in etymologies of this sort.
Posted by: Charles Halton at May 15, 2007 7:12 AM
Good point. Also I think Egyptian kn (k with a . under = q) with the basic meaning of a "reed mat" is related..
Posted by: loren Fisher at May 15, 2007 9:12 PM
Good stuff. I wonder if it's possible to get a firmer date on when it would have entered Greek.
For example, I can't find it in Hittite, though I only have Friedrich's old Hethitiches Wörterbuch at hand. Would that indicate a date in the Iron Age, or strengthen Dr. Fischer's Egyptian parallel?
Just wondering out loud....
Posted by: jimgetz at May 16, 2007 6:38 AM
Jim,
Good question? It's hard to tell when it came into Greek. Loren's Egyptian word is interesting because it seems to have already evolved to mean "reed mat" rather than simply "reed." Of course, it may have also meant "reed" in other contexts where we lack evidence. The Egyptians did have several other words for "reed." If I am correct that this is a old East Mediterranean culture term, than it could have come into (proto) Greek usage in the Late Bronze Age (perhaps earlier). I don't think the lack of an example from Hittite means too much in this regard.
Loren,
Thanks for the Egyptian example.
Charles,
Thanks for the comment and the link.
Posted by: Duane at May 16, 2007 8:37 AM
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