re: God, Good, and Gada

[RCK]

Thank you to everyone who replied to me initial inquiry regarding the correlation between the words God and Good and the possible Semitic source for them. I apologize for not thanking you all earlier.

In the interim, I discovered a fascinating passage in which R. Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenberg (1785-1865) who basically rejects my theory as well. In short, he offers a lengthy excursus about the meaning of the word אלהים (see ha-Ksav ve-ha-Kabbalah to Gen. 1:1). At the end, he notes his objections to those who translate the word Elohim as “god” because he feels that the word “god” is not faithful to the literal meaning of Elohim. He further notes that the word “god” is similar to the word “good”, so that if translated thusly one might mistakenly identify the name Elohim with Hashem’s trait of mercy, which is, in fact, the exact opposite connotation of the name Elohim which is characteristic of His judgement. Lastly, he notes that the word “god” bears a similarity to the idol Gad (גד). R. Mecklenberg would rather translate the word Elohim as Almighty to denote that God possesses all the might possible. 

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this discussion/

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

Check out my book Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew

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