COMPLETELY off topic! (shalom)

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "naamagatus" <naama_gat at h...> wrote:

> Sorry, but 'shalom' translates quite closely to 'peace',

Thanks for the info. Of course, there is disagreement about what 
'peace' means: is it simply the (temporary) absence of war, or is it 
harmony, co-operation, cordiality, serenity, and happiness? The word 
'peace' comes from Roman 'pax' which is the (temporary) absence of 
war, as in Pax Romana or Pax Americana (which SHOULD have been called 
Pax Cold War), the (temporary) non-violence imposed by the conqueror. 
That meaning of 'peace' COULD related to the concept of 'submission'.

The Romans would not have seen any irony in calling a super-weapon 
Peacemaker (Pacificus). They had a different word for the other idea 
of peace: 'concordia'. When an frp character of my acquaintance got a 
super-duper sword and wanted to name it Peacemaker in Latin, we chose 
Concordiator.

>  although it is etymologicaly related to 'shalem', meaning 'whole'.

The word 'whole' comes from the same root as 'hale', which means 
'healthy' (another related word); the meaning 'entire' comes by way 
of the concept 'unwounded'.

I wonder if that would make Solomon's and Shulamittu's titles mean 
'Healer' or 'Unifier'?
 
> BTW, there is a certain brand of academics who go for the sexual 
> angle, almost at all costs. 

With Ishtar, the sexual angle is most likely to be the correct angle. 
You may know her as Ashtaroth or Astarte, and she became Aphrodite 
to the Greeks (who gave her war attributes to Athena, possibly via 
Anath and Neith, and gave her wealth, weather, and sovereignty 
attributes to Demeter and Hera).