Does שלום have two roots?

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kwrandolph
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Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:51 am

Does שלום have two roots?

Post by kwrandolph »

In Biblical Hebrew, there’s no question that often שלום has the meaning of “fullness” from the root שלם “to make whole, to fulfill (curses, promises ⇒ to give settlement both pleasing and displeasing) ⇒ to repay, pay back”, but now I’m wondering, are we dealing with two different words from different roots when we read the word שלום?

We have the example in Genesis 2:25 ערומים in plural from the root ערה “to make bare, uncovered ⇒ to empty entirely” then the next verse Genesis 3:1 ערום singular from the root ‎ערם “to pile up ⇒ to act with forethought, which can either be pleasing (prudence) or displeasing (craftiness)”.

So do we have a similar situation with שלום having a second root ‎שלה “to be confident, at peace Hiphil give reason for confidence, satisfaction”? If so, we even have the same derivation pattern as found in ערום.

What do you all think?

Karl W. Randolph.
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