Etymology •
& Meaning •
Hebrew •
Greek •
Bible •
Names •
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These six entities...: Sinai  , a mountain also known as Mount Horeb (Exodus 19:1);Sinai , a desert where Israel spent much of the wandering years (Exodus 19:11);The Sinite , a Canaanite people (Genesis 10:17);Sinim  , a Far Eastern people, quite likely the same as the Chinese (Isaiah 49:12);Sin  , a city which Ezekiel calls the stronghold of Egypt (Ezk 30:15);Sin , a wilderness between Elim and Sinai (Exodus 16:1);Sivan  , the name of the third month (Est 8:9),...are named similar, or at least out of or into the same root. All the more a shame that the etymology is lost. In his treatment of the name (Sinai), Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names points at the peculiar and highly reserved word that is used to indicate the burning bush of Exodus 3:  (seneh). HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states, "the botanical identification is uncertain as is the derivation," but lists as one of many suggestions the common shittim tree.BDB Theological Dictionary is more confident and declares the seneh to be typically a thorny bush, like a black berry bush. This confidence apparently stems from a look at equivalents in the cognate languages. In 1 Samuel 14:4 occurs the name Seneh, which is identical to the word for our bush, and BDB Theological Dictionary calls out, "(= thorny...)." Dealing with (Sinite), Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names suggests a relationship with an alternate form of the word shin, the name of the 21st letter, which is derived from  (shanan), to sharpen. This would certainly not oppose BDB Theological Dictionary's find of thorny.Some enthusiastically, most more or less reluctant, relate the name (Sinim) to China. Klein's Etymological dictionary of the Hebrew Language reports that the contemporary name for Chinese is spelled the same as Sinite. But in the Bible the name occurs only in Isaiah 49:12 during an intriguing promise of, what seems, a global restoration in an unspecified time. What's most intriguing is that only the land of Sinim is specifically mentioned. What remains is speculation which is as difficult to prove as to disprove.Europe became the cradle of the Western culture that is presently taking over the world, and which is the most successful culture to date. It emerged from its darkest period, partly due to the rush for the Far East that commenced after Marco Polo returned from China. In more contemporary times many note the rapid growth of China as an economical power. The name of (Sin City, a.k.a. Pelusium, and presently Tell Farama) is according to BDB Theological Dictionary a transliteration of the Egyptian word for dirt or clay. The Aramaic word for clay is just that: The wilderness of Sin has probably to do with the city of Sin. And the wilderness of Sinai maybe has to do with the wilderness of Sin. And the mountain Sinai is of course named after the wilderness in which it sits. The tribe of the Sinite had its habitat probably somewhat more north, but perhaps the name had its origin in the same word as where Sin and Sinai came from. Whether a Hebrew audience would link these names to the Hebrew verb to sharpen, or the Aramaic thorn bush, or leave these names in a self-defining category of their own is impossible to estimate. The name of the month Sivan is an Assyrian slash Babylonian loan-word. |
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