Bab-El

[Dennis Joffe]

Dear Janneke van de Stadt,

the expression
"Bab-EL" is actually an Arabic expression for

"The Gates of Lord".

But, since the Hebrew and Arabic do have common Semitic etymona - the
expression is not entirely senseles in Hebrew:
"El" is a common word for "God".

The "Gates of God" in Hebrew can be "Shaar ha Adonai" or "Shaar ha Elohim".

Whereas, "Bab" is a sacred Persian/Arabic name for the liminal place,
through which the Divine comes.

Compare to Ali-Mukhamed Shirazi the founder of Babi and Bahai movements.
He called himself "Bab" i.e. the "Gates of Lord".



Yours Cordially,
Dennis Joffe
Haifa.










----- Original Message -----
From: Janneke van de Stadt <Janneke.vandeStadt at WILLIAMS.EDU>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 3:22 PM
Subject: [SEELANGS] Bab-El


> Dear Colleagues,
>
> When he first began to publish, Isaak Babel' would often sign his work
> "Bab-El" and I remember reading,though I don't remember where, that this
is
> Hebrew for "The Gates of God."  Since then, I have also been told that the
> Hebrew translation for "The Gates of God" is something else entirely!  Can
> any one shed light on who first made this claim? And what does "Bab-El"
> actually mean?
>
> Thank you in advance!
>
> Janneke van de Stadt
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                   http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------