# How did "وَالْإِنْجِيلَ" come from "εὐαγγέλιον"?



## Leott

Hello,

I am looking for the etymology of Injeel. I know that the popular translation is "gospel" or "euangelion" but do not think that is correct. What is the root of Injeel?

It seems that Injeel, Ingil, En Gel was in use by semitic speakers before Paul coined the phrase "euangelion". The Nasrani Christians immigrated from the Galilee before contact with Pauline Christians.

*Moderator note: See also here.*


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## clevermizo

Leott said:


> The Nasrani Christians immigrated from the Galilee before contact with Pauline Christians.



But Greek had been spoken in Palestine for centuries by then. Who's to say it's necessary a Semitic root? Furthermore, you say that the translation is incorrect, but as far as I knew, إنجيل only refers to the Gospels. It is used in the Qur'an with this meaning (and maybe this meaning only?).

ِAnyway it seems the root ن ج ل in Arabic means to father a child, to beget. So if إنجيل does not come from Greek, then it is related to "posterity" I suppose.


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## Leott

clevermizo said:


> But Greek had been spoken in Palestine for centuries by then. Who's to say it's necessary a Semitic root? Furthermore, you say that the translation is incorrect, but as far as I knew, إنجيل only refers to the Gospels. It is used in the Qur'an with this meaning (and maybe this meaning only?).
> 
> Sorry I am not familiar with this forum yet so I am sure this is posted incorrectly!  Greek was spoken in Palestine by elite and non-semitic. The teachings of Jesus was to Aramaic-speaking peasants. That is why I doubt the translation of euangelion. It makes no sense to use a word describing a Greek victory (against Semites?) for an Aramaic tradition. I contend that Injeel, Ingil, En Gel was in wide use and is why Paul had to chose a similar sounding word.
> 
> ِAnyway it seems the root ن ج ل in Arabic means to father a child, to beget. So if إنجيل does not come from Greek, then it is related to "posterity" I suppose.



What if it were 2 words? "En" and "Gel"?


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## clevermizo

Leott said:


> What if it were 2 words? "En" and "Gel"?



What's your reason for supposing that? At least, there's no real meaning to that in Arabic. I can't speak for Aramaic.


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## Leott

clevermizo said:


> What's your reason for supposing that? At least, there's no real meaning to that in Arabic. I can't speak for Aramaic.



Thank you for that answer. My reasoning is that En Gel in Hebrew could mean "Living waters of the standing stone" which would come closer to describing the teachings of Jesus. A word describing military victory is really the opposite of what Jesus taught. 

It is not plausible that the followers of Jesus did not have a word in general use until a Greek speaker came along and gave them one! Living water of the standing stone would have no meaning to the people of Corinth but a word used to describe a battle victory would (and vice versa)


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## Mahaodeh

I have heard (والعهدة على القائل) that it comes from Aramaic for "to become clear" and it's cognate of Arabic انجلاء (although I'm not sure that there is such a word in Arabic); from the root ج - ل - و.

I don't know how true that is; it makes sense in Arabic, but does such a root and maSdar exist in Aramaic?


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## Leott

Mahaodeh said:


> I have heard (والعهدة على القائل) that it comes from Aramaic for "to become clear" and it's cognate of Arabic انجلاء (although I'm not sure that there is such a word in Arabic); from the root ج - ل - و.
> 
> I don't know how true that is; it makes sense in Arabic, but does such a root and maSdar exist in Aramaic?



Sorry, I don't read Arabic. Can you write "to become clear" in alphabetic characters? What is maSdar?


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## clevermizo

Mahaodeh said:


> I have heard (والعهدة على القائل) that it comes from Aramaic for "to become clear" and it's cognate of Arabic انجلاء (although I'm not sure that there is such a word in Arabic); from the root ج - ل - و.
> 
> I don't know how true that is; it makes sense in Arabic, but does such a root and maSdar exist in Aramaic?



Well, Aramaic doesn't have the conjugation انفعل so it couldn't have an equivalent of the maSdar *انجلاء. I don't know whether there is a root _g-l-w_ in Aramaic.


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## Mahaodeh

It could be folk etymology.

As for the word in Arabic using English letters, it's injilaa'


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## Leott

Does "to become clear" mean "understand"?


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## Mahaodeh

No, it's closer to "to show itself", "to reveal itself", "to be revealed" or something of the sort.


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## Faylasoof

It is ultimately of Greek origin! Here.

الإنجيل كلمة معربة من اليونانية​  ايوانجيليون التي تعني "البشارة السارة"(البشرى السارة εὐαγγέλιον​ 
εὐαγγέλιον _euangélion_ = good news.

Most likely via Syriac. The Middle Persian link is thought to be unlikely as Persian Manichean texts have it as _angalion_ / _angalyun_, i.e they have retained the original Greek -_ion_ ending. Search here for _gospel_. 

It was recognised as a foreign word by both the Arab grammarian and philologist Abu Mansur Mauhub al-Jawaliqi and the historian / commentator Ibn 'Atheer / Athir (or perhaps one of his two brothers), and as having being derived from either Hebrew or Syriac. It seems they may be right about the latter as according to philologists the Hebrew link is thought to be remote.


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## Leott

Faylasoof said:


> It is ultimately of Greek origin! Here.
> 
> الإنجيل كلمة معربة من اليونانية​  ايوانجيليون التي تعني "البشارة السارة"(البشرى السارة εὐαγγέλιον​
> εὐαγγέλιον _euangélion_ = good news.
> 
> Most likely via Syriac. The Middle Persian link is thought to be unlikely as Persian Manichean texts have it as _angalion_ / _angalyun_, i.e they have retained the original Greek -_ion_ ending. Search here for _gospel_.
> 
> It was recognised as a foreign word by both the Arab grammarian and philologist Abu Mansur Mauhub al-Jawaliqi and the historian / commentator Ibn 'Atheer / Athir (or perhaps one of his two brothers), and as having being derived from either Hebrew or Syriac. It seems they may be right about the latter as according to philologists the Hebrew link is thought to be remote.



That was a very interesting link! 

Also, can you tell me what "standing stone" is in Arabic? I noticed in the Sinai there are stacks of stones in the most obscure places obviously placed there by humans. Sometimes just on the side of the road. I was told this is where nomadic people prayed. Do you know what these are called?

It is a good clue that al-Jawaliqi says this word is not from Arabic root.


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## Faylasoof

Leott said:


> That was a very interesting link!
> 
> Can you tell me what "spring" is in Arabic? Or "Living Waters"? Also, can you tell me what "standing stone" is in Arabic? I noticed in the Sinai there are stacks of stones in the most obscure places obviously placed there by humans. Sometimes just on the side of the road. I was told this is where nomadic people prayed. Do you know what these are called?



Hello Leott!

As per forum rules, could you please make separate threads for each of your above queries. We shall then be able to help you.



> It is a good clue that al-Jawaliqi says this word is not from Arabic root.



Yes! Actually, both al-Jawaliqi and Ibn Athir considered it to be non-Arabic but still Semitic. There were some others too in the Arab / Muslim world then who thought the same. Neither knew Greek so they didn't get the Greek connection. That came much later.


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## Moseley

*Moderator note: Start of merged thread.
*
I'm sure Arabs and Greeks had little to no contact prior to the advent of Islam, so how did this term come from Greek into Arabic?


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## WadiH

Moseley said:


> I'm sure Arabs and Greeks had little to no contact prior to the advent of Islam, so how did this term come from Greek into Arabic?



To the contrary, contact between Arabs and Greeks (or at least Greek speakers) was very extensive before Islam.  Greek was the language of the Byzantine Empire.  Many Arabs lived in or traded with territories ruled by the Byzantines (mainly in Syria-Palestine, where Greek was widely spoken) and the Byzantines had many Arab vassals.  There have even been Greek inscriptions found deep in Arabia.  Arabic has many Greek loanwords, many of which (like Injiil) are used in the Quran.  (We had a thread here earlier about Greek loans in Arabic.  You should search for it.)


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## Tracer

Also, according to this source, the true origin of the word is not Greek but an "oriental" language.  It's quite possible that the Arabic term was derived from that source rather than from Greek.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=angel


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## fdb

Your link is talking about “angelos”, not “euangelos”. The latter is unmistakably Greek (“eu” = good). This, and virtually all Greek words in classical Arabic, was borrowed not directly from Greek, by via Syriac or another Aramaic language. The Muslims of the classical period had very little direct contact with (Byzantine) Greeks. Aramaic, on the other hand, is replete with Greek loan words.


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## Perseas

I don't know if _άγγελος_ has oriental origin but already exists in Mycenaean Greek (16-12 centuries BC) as _a-ke-ro_.
Also, ευαγγέλιο(ν) < ευ+άγγελος.


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## إسكندراني

fdb said:


> Your link is talking about “angelos”, not “euangelos”. The latter is unmistakably Greek (“eu” = good). This, and virtually all Greek words in classical Arabic, was borrowed not directly from Greek, by via Syriac or another Aramaic language. The Muslims of the classical period had very little direct contact with (Byzantine) Greeks. Aramaic, on the other hand, is replete with Greek loan words.


Did the traders of Byzantine Syria speak Greek or Aramaic? Or both? Or some creole?


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