Name and Etymology in the Midrash Genesis Rabbah Name und Etymologie im Midrasch Genesis Rabba MASTERARBEIT zur Erlangung des Mastergrades an der Kultur- und Gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Salzburg Zentrum für jüdische Kulturgeschichte Betreuerin: Univ.-Prof.in Dr.in Susanne Plietzsch eingereicht von CHRISTINA KATSIKADELI (9424798) Salzburg, am 1.6.2019 Abstract The present thesis is conceived of as a contribution to analysing early Rabbinic thought and heuristics in the context of the history of onomastics, the study of names. In particular, it focuses on the “etymology” of (mainly) biblical personal names and toponyms and the treatment of double names, as presented in the Midrash Genesis Rabbah. It is a commonplace that the early Rabbinic texts offer no support for the idea that the determination of lexical meaning also serves to clarify the historical relationship of the biblical word- forms, i.e. the early rabbis were not interested in etymological surveys from a modern point of view, cf. Samely (2002: 376). Nevertheless, the meaning interpretation of a biblical proper name according to the semantic value of its components in a narrative context is one of the most frequently employed metalinguistic structures found within the Hebrew Bible, and plays a prominent role in rabbinic literature as well. In the latter, not only the biblical name interpretation finds a direct continuation in the semantic analysis of names of biblical figures, but also names of earlier sages of the rabbinic tradition are analysed semantically. The thesis intends to sketch out a) a typology of the “etymologizing” devices and their form, i.e. which groups of names of personal names and toponyms are concerned and on which level these etymologies do occur: phonological, morphological, semantical, syntactical, and b) their function within the midrash as narratological elements: This point includes further linguistic devices such as the analysis of the biblical text in its wider semiotic constitution (as opposed to narrowly linguistic, based i.a. on paretymology and word-play) and the reactivating of the concrete meaning of a biblical metaphor in the service of the very same theme to which its figurative meaning points in the biblical text. Finally, the thesis discusses the evidence from the rabbinic tradition in the broader context of the connection of naming and “etymology” from classical Greece until late antiquity and compares the findings with other traditions of canonical texts. 2 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. General outlines of the investigation .............................................................................................. 2 1.1.1. The emergence of Hebrew linguistics ......................................................................................... 2 1.1.2. An overview of the cultural, linguistic, sociolinguistic diffusion in Jewish Palestine during the time of the early midrashim ................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.3. Etymology, folk etymology and linguistic theory ....................................................................... 9 1.1.3.1 Ancient vs. modern etymology .................................................................................................. 9 1.1.3.2. ‘Folk etymology’ vs. ‘intentional paretymology” .................................................................. 12 1.1.4.1. Ancient Biblical onomastics ................................................................................................... 15 1.1.4.2. Further ancient and early Byzantine onomastic works: .......................................................... 18 1.2. Sources and methodology............................................................................................................. 19 2. Etymologies. Typology, Form and Function ........................................................................................... 29 2.1. Groups of proper names ............................................................................................................... 29 2.1.1. Personal Names ......................................................................................................................... 29 2.1.1.1. Noah ....................................................................................................................................... 30 2.1.1.2 Adam ....................................................................................................................................... 33 2.1.1.3. Lamech’s wives and their children ......................................................................................... 34 2.1.1.4. Giants, angels, demons ........................................................................................................... 36 2.1.2. Place names ............................................................................................................................... 39 2.1.2.1. Eretz ........................................................................................................................................ 39 2.1.2.2. Moab ....................................................................................................................................... 39 2.1.2.3. Canaan .................................................................................................................................... 39 2.1.2.4. Rivers ...................................................................................................................................... 40 2.1.2.5. Kingdoms ............................................................................................................................... 41 2.1.2.6. Nations and Regions (Ethnika) ............................................................................................... 44 2.2. Formal Classification.................................................................................................................... 46 2.2.1. Paretymology according to the change of the semantic context ................................................ 46 2.2.1.1. Bilingual Etymologies ............................................................................................................ 49 2.2.1.2. “Morphosemantics” ................................................................................................................ 50 2.2.1.3. Other categories ...................................................................................................................... 52 2.2.2. Double and multi-names............................................................................................................ 54 2.2.3. According to the change of sounds............................................................................................ 60 2.2.3.1. Notarikon ................................................................................................................................ 60 2.2.3.2. Gematria ................................................................................................................................. 61 2.2.4 Étymologie croisée ..................................................................................................................... 62 2.3. Function ........................................................................................................................................ 63 2.3.1. Semantic ontology ..................................................................................................................... 64 2.3.2. Name foresees destiny ............................................................................................................... 65 2.3.3. Gematria foresees destiny .......................................................................................................... 66 2.3.4. Change of identity ..................................................................................................................... 66 2.3.5. Change of state (place names) ................................................................................................... 70 2.3.6. Philo’s evidence ........................................................................................................................ 71 3. Evaluation of the etymological devices ................................................................................................... 82 3.1. Comparison: Greek and rabbinic etymologies ............................................................................. 82 3.1.1. The Greek tradition.................................................................................................................... 82 3.1.2. Jews and Graeco-Roman culture ............................................................................................... 85 3.1.3. Philo and the Rabbis .................................................................................................................. 88 3.2. “Literary onomastics” and “embedded narratives” ...................................................................... 94 3.3. Rabbinic etymologies as ‘exegetical grammar’ .......................................................................... 100 3.4. “Folk etymology” and paretymology revisited .........................................................................