re: #1285 Cato the Elder

And I’m curious what other Hebrew words from the S-L-M root might mean something akin to “Islam” in Arabic. I think the whole “it comes from the same root” argument is specious as applied to either Hebrew or Arabic when it comes to standard lexical meaning. I’ll look into it further, but my gut tells me that saying “when Arabs say peace, they really mean submission” is a stretch. Maybe even a slur.

In Arabic, the words for “peace” and “submission” do derive from the same root. (A person who submits “accepts peace” in Arabic.)

en.wikipedia.org

The words in Hebrew that derive from this root have to do with wholeness/perfection or payment.

shalom = peace
shalem = whole
mushlam = perfect
leshalem = to pay (“to make whole/good”?)
tashlum = payment, installment
shilumim = restitution payments
lehashlim = to complete
lehishtalem = to “pay” in the meaning of “to be monetarily worthwhile”

The closest Hebrew comes to the Arabic “submission”/”surrender” meaning is “le-hashlim im matzav”, i.e., to mentally ‘make peace’ with a (bad) situation.