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The proper name ''Arab'' or ''Arabian'' (and cognates in other languages) has been used to translate several different but similar-sounding words in ancient and classical texts which do not necessarily have the same meaning or origin. The etymology of the term is closely linked to that of the place name ''
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
''.


Semitic etymology

The root of the word has many meanings in Semitic languages including ''desert'', ''nomad'', ''merchant'', ''raven'' and ''comprehensible'' with all of these having varying degrees of relevance to the emergence of the name. It is also possible that some forms were metathetical from root "moving around", and hence, it is alleged, "nomadic." The plurality of meanings results partly from the assimilation of the
proto-Semitic Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language ancestral to the Semitic languages. There is no consensus regarding the location of the Proto-Semitic '' Urheimat''; scholars hypothesize that it may have originated in the Levant ( ...
'' ghayin'' with in some languages. In Hebrew the word ' thus has the same
triconsonantal root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowels ...
as the root meaning "west" ( ') "setting sun" or "evening" ( ', '). The direct Arabic cognate of this is ' ("west", etc.) rather than '; however, in
Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologist ...
and Sayhadic, languages which normally preserve
proto-Semitic Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language ancestral to the Semitic languages. There is no consensus regarding the location of the Proto-Semitic '' Urheimat''; scholars hypothesize that it may have originated in the Levant ( ...
'' ghayin'', this root is found with '' ʿayin'' adding to the confusion. The first recorded use of the root is in the Hebrew word ''ereb'', Genesis 1:5, and its meaning there is "evening."


In Arabic

The oldest surviving indication of an Arab identity is an inscription made in early Arabic using the Nabatean Aramaic alphabet in 328 CE, which refers to
Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr ( ar, امرؤ القيس بن عمرو) was the second Lakhmid king. His mother was Maria bint 'Amr, the sister of Ka'b al-Azdi. There is debate on his religious affinity: while Theodor Nöldeke noted that Imru' al-Qays ...
as "King of all the Arabs". In the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, the word ' does not appear, only the
nisba The Arabic language, Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to: * Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation **c ...
adjective, ': The Qur'an is referring to itself as ' "Arabic" and ' "clear". The two qualities are connected, for example in Quran 43:2-3, "By the ''clear'' Book: We have made it an ''Arabic'' recitation in order that you may understand", and the Qur'an came to be regarded as the prime example of ', the language of the Arabs. The term '' '' is from the same root, referring to a particularly clear and correct mode of speech. Bedouin elders still use this term with the same meaning; those whose speech they comprehend (i.e. Arabic-speakers) they call ''Arab'', and those whose speech is of unknown meaning to them, they call ' (or '). In the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
region, the term ''Ajam'' is often used to refer to the
Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
. The plural noun ' refers to the Bedouin tribes of the desert who rejected Islam, for example in Quran 9:97, : :'
"the Bedouin are the worst in
disbelief Disbelief (sometimes decapitalized to "disbelief") is a German heavy metal band from Hesse. Their music is rooted in death metal, but has melancholic tendencies. History The band was formed in 1990, but did not become one solid line-up fo ...
and hypocrisy". Based on this, in early Islamic terminology, ' referred to sedentary Arabs, living in cities such as Mecca and Medina, and ' referred to the Arab Bedouins, carrying a negative connotation as shown in the prior Qur'anic verse. Following the
Islamic conquest The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...
of the 8th century, however, the language of the nomadic Arabs came to be regarded as preserving the highest purity by the grammarians following
Abi Ishaq ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Abī Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī (Arabic, عَبْدُ اللّهِ بْنُ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ الْحَضْرَمِيُّ), (died AD 735 / AH 117)Kees Versteegh, ''Arabic Grammar and Qur'anic Exegesis in Early Islam' ...
, and the term ' "language of the Arabs" came to denote the uncontaminated language of the Bedouins. :''Cf. the modern toponyms
Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...
and Arava''


In Assyrian

The term ''mâtu arbâi'' describing
Gindibu Gindibu ( Akkadian: ; ) was a king of the Qedarite Arabs. Reign Background Gindibu ruled over an Arab kingdom located around the Wādī Sirḥān. The kingdom of Gindibu bordered on the powerful kingdoms of Aram-Damascus and Israel in the wes ...
is found in
Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
n texts and is translated as ''of Arab land''. Variations of the ethnonym are also found including: ', ', ' and '. The presence of Proto-Arabic names amongst those qualified by the terms arguably justifies the translation "Arab" although it is not certain if they all in fact represent the same group. They may plausibly be borrowings from
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
or Canaanite of words derived from either the proto-Semitic root ' or '. It is in the case of the Assyrian forms that a possible derivation from ' ("west") is most plausible, referring to people or land lying west of Assyria in a similar vein to the later Greek use of the term
Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
meaning in Arabic "Easterners", ' for people living in the east.


In Hebrew

In Hebrew the words ''ʿarav'' and ''ʿaravah'' literally mean "desert" or "steppe". In the Hebrew Bible the latter feminine form is used exclusively for the
Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
, a region associated with the
Nabatean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...
s, who spoke Arabic. The former masculine form is used in
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
21:13 and Ezekiel 27:21 for the region of the settlement of Kedar in the Syrian Desert. 2
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
9:14 contrasts "kings of ''ʿarav''" with "governors of the country" when listing those who brought tribute to King Solomon. The word is typically translated Arabia and is the name for Arabia in Modern Hebrew. The
New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
. The adjectival noun ''ʿaravi'' formed from ''ʿarav'' is used in
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
13:20 and
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...
3:2 for a desert dweller. It is typically translated Arabian or Arab and is the modern Hebrew word for Arab. The New Revised Standard Version uses the translation "nomad" for the verse in
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...
. In the Bible, the word ''ʿarav'' is closely associated with the word ''ʿerev'' meaning a "mix of people" which has identical spelling in unvowelled text.
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...
25:24 parallels "kings of ''ʿarav''" with "kings of the ''ʿerev'' that dwell in the wilderness". The account in 1 Kings 10:15 matching 2
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
9:14 is traditionally vowellized to read "kings of the ''ʿerev'' ". The people in question are understood to be the early
Nabateans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...
who do indeed appear to have been a mix of different tribes. The medieval writer Ibn an-Nadim, in ''
Kitab al-Fihrist The ''Kitāb al-Fihrist'' ( ar, كتاب الفهرست) (''The Book Catalogue'') is a compendium of the knowledge and literature of tenth-century Islam compiled by Ibn Al-Nadim (c.998). It references approx. 10,000 books and 2,000 authors.''The ...
'', derived the word "Arab" from a
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
pun by
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
on the same root: in his account, Abraham addresses Ishmael and calls him ''uʿrub'', from Syriac ''ʿrob'', "mingle". The early Nabateans are also referred to as ''ʿarvim'' in
Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced o ...
4:7 and the singular ''ʿarvi'' is applied to
Geshem Geshem (גשם) is a Hebrew word for "rain," and is the name of a prayer for rain recited on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret. Overview In Israel, rain falls mostly in the fall and winter; this half of the year is called in the Mishnah "yemot ...
a leader who opposed Nehemiah. This term is identical to ''ʿaravi'' in unvowelled text but traditionally vowelized differently. It is usually translated "Arabian" or "Arab" and was used in early 20th century Hebrew to mean Arab. However it is unclear if the term related more to ''ʿarav'' or to ''ʿerev''. On the one hand its vowelization resembles that of the term ''ʿarvati'' (
Arbathite David's Mighty Warriors (also known as David's Mighty Men or the Gibborim; ''hagGībōrīm'', "The Mighty Ones") are a group of 37 men in the Hebrew Bible who fought with King David and are identified in , part of the "supplementary information" ...
) which is understood as an adjective formed from ''ʿaravah''; thus it is plausibly a similarly formed adjective from ''ʿarav'' and thus a variant of ''ʿaravi''. On the other hand, it is used in
2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
21:16 for a seemingly different people located in Africa plausibly the same Africans referred to as an ''ʿerev'' (mix of people) in Ezekiel 30:5. Any of the other meanings of the root are also possible as the origin of the name. The words ''ʿaravim'' (plural of ''ʿaravi '') and ''ʿarvim'' appear the same in unvowelled texts as the word ''ʿorvim'' meaning ravens. The occurrences of the word in
1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the book ...
17:4-6 are traditionally vowellized to read ''ʿorvim''. In the
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
(''Chullin'' 5a) a debate is recorded as to whether the passage refers to birds or to a people so named, noting a Midianite chieftain named Oreb (''ʿorev'': raven) and the place of his death, the Rock of Oreb.
Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
understood the term as the name of a people of a town which he described as being in the confines of the Arabians. (
Genesis Rabba Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...
mentions a town named Orbo near Beth Shean.) One meaning of the root ʿ-r-b in Hebrew is "exchange/trade" (''laʿarov'': "to exchange", ''maʿarav'': "merchandise") whence ''ʿorvim'' can also be understood to mean "exchangers" or "merchants", a usage attested in the construct form in Ezekiel 27:27 which speaks of ''ʿorvei maʿaravekh'': "exchangers of thy merchandise". The Ferrar Fenton Bible translates the term as "Arabians" in
1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the book ...
17:4-6. 2
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
26:17 mentions a people called ''ʿArviyim'' who lived in Gur-baal. Their name differs from those mentioned above in the Bible in that it contains an extra letter yod but is also translated "Arabian". 2
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
17:11 mentions a people called ''Arvi'im'' who brought
Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; el, Ἰωσαφάτ, Iosafát; la, Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his fathe ...
tribute of rams and he-goats. Their name is also generally translated as "Arabians" although it differs noticeably in spelling from the above-mentioned names as it contains the letter aleph at the end of the stem. Nothing else is known about these groups.


Notes


Bibliography

*Edward Lipinski, ''Semitic Languages: Outlines of a Comparative Grammar'', 2nd ed., Orientalia Lovanensia Analecta: Leuven 2001. *The Catholic Encyclopedia, Robert Appleton Company, 1907, Online Edition, K. Night 2003: article Arabia *The Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906, Online Edition, JewishEncyclopedia.com, 2002: article Arabia *The New Revised Standard Version, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 1989, 1995. *Fenton, Ferrar. ''The Holy Bible in modern English : containing the complete Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments'', Destiny Publishers, Merrimac, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 1906, 1966. * Grunebaum, G. E. von (1970). ''Classical Islam: A History 600 A.D. - 1258 A.D.''. Aldine Publishing Company. *


External links

{{wiktionary, Arab
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Arab