I have an etymological question for you. I believe that in Ivrit the word used to translate 'sympathy' is 'ahadah'. I don't think it is found in the canonical books of the Jewish bible or in mishnaic and midrashic writings. If this is correct, where does 'ahadah' originate from?
ChatGPT said:
You're absolutely right—אהדה (ahadah) is the
modern Hebrew word used to translate “sympathy,” and it is not found in the
classical Biblical, Mishnaic, or Midrashic corpora. Instead, it is a modern
Hebrew coinage.
1. אֲהָדָה (ahadah) — A Modern Invention
- The
term אהדה appears in modern
Hebrew dictionaries like Wiktionary as the standard translation for
“sympathy.” Wiktionary
- Language
learning resources such as LingQ note additional nuances—translations
include "amity," "friendliness," and
"fondness" alongside "sympathy." lingq.com
2. Origins — Devised by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
- Balashon,
a respected blog on Hebrew etymology, explains that אהדה was
not a biblical root or classical Hebrew word. Rather, it was one of the
innovations by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew. He
often took dormant roots or adapted biblical names and gave them fresh
meanings:
“His major source was the Bible, from which he drew dormant
words, often assigning them new meanings… including ones he derived from
biblical personal names…” balashon.com
- The
names Ohad (אוהד) and Ehud (אהוד)—biblical names found in Genesis
and Judges—were reinterpreted in modern Hebrew to evoke notions of
“friend,” “fan,” or “follower,” which reinforces how ahadah (in
sympathy) was creatively fashioned. balashon.com
- As
further evidence, another source (cited on the blog via a Facebook post)
states:
“From the modern Hebrew, AHADA means SYMPATHY (Alcalay, R. The
Complete Hebrew English Dictionary. Jerusalem: Massada.)” Facebook
3. Why Not Biblical?
- In Biblical
Hebrew, feelings akin to “sympathy,” “compassion,” or “mercy” are
expressed with different roots—like חמל (cheml),
רחם (rachem), נחם (nacham),
and others—with distinct morphological structures and semantics, none
resembling the modern ahadah.
- The
classical term אהדה, as found in modern lexicons, simply
doesn't appear in scripture, the Mishnah, or the Midrash.
Summary: Where Does ahadah Originate?
|
Term |
Source / Era |
Meaning / Context |
|
אהדה (ahadah) |
Modern Hebrew (Ben-Yehuda) |
Sympathy, friendliness, fondness |
|
אהד / אוהד |
Biblical names |
Reinterpreted by Ben-Yehuda to inform ahadah |
|
חמל, רחם etc. |
Biblical Hebrew |
Compassion, mercy, pity (classical terms) |
So, אהדה (ahadah) is a modern Hebrew creation, primarily
attributed to the revitalization efforts by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, which
repurposed biblical-sounding roots and names—like Ohad and Ehud—for
contemporary emotional concepts such as “sympathy.”
If you're curious about how other modern Hebrew emotional
terms were formed, or how classical Hebrew expressed these ideas, just let me
know—I'd be happy to dig in further!
You said:
Thanks so much. This is exactly what I needed to know.
ChatGPT said:
You’re very welcome! I’m glad that helped clear things up. 🙂
It’s always fascinating to see how modern Hebrew coined new words from ancient
roots to fill conceptual gaps.
Would you like me to also trace how other “modern
emotions words” (like empatia → אמפתיה,
simpatiya → סימפתיה, etc.) entered Hebrew—whether they were
coined natively like ahadah or borrowed directly from European
languages?
You said:
Just tell me about empatiya, please!
ChatGPT said:
Great choice — אמפתיה (empatiya) is a fascinating case
because it’s not a native Hebrew coinage like אהדה,
but rather a direct borrowing from European languages.
1. Origin
- The
word comes from English “empathy”, which itself was coined in the
early 20th century (around 1909) as a translation of German Einfühlung
(“in-feeling,” i.e., the ability to feel into another’s experience).
- Hebrew
adopted it more or less phonetically as אמפתיה (empatiya).
2. When It Entered Hebrew
- Empatiya
entered Hebrew in the 20th century, much later than Ben-Yehuda’s
early revival efforts.
- It
reflects a period (especially after the 1920s–30s) when Hebrew speakers
increasingly borrowed international words for psychology, philosophy, and
science rather than trying to coin wholly new terms.
- This
trend paralleled the modernization of psychology and psychiatry in Israel.
3. Contrast with אהדה (ahadah)
- אהדה (ahadah) = native revivalist
coinage, with biblical-sounding roots, used for “sympathy” in everyday
Hebrew.
- אמפתיה (empatiya) = straight loanword
for the modern psychological concept of “empathy,” distinguished from
sympathy.
In other words, ahadah is more general (“sympathy,
fondness, friendliness”), while empatiya is a technical / modern concept
(“the ability to understand and share the feelings of another”).
✅ So, אמפתיה is a borrowed internationalism, while אהדה is a modern Hebrew
innovation.
Sympathy vs. Empathy in Hebrew
1. Before the Borrowing of אמפתיה
- In Biblical
and Rabbinic Hebrew, there was no sharp conceptual division between
“sympathy” and “empathy.”
- Feelings
of compassion, mercy, pity, or identification were expressed with
older words:
- רחמים (rachamim)
— compassion, mercy.
- חמלה (chemlah)
— pity.
- נחמה (nechamah)
— comfort.
- When
Ben-Yehuda and early revivalists created אהדה
(ahadah) for “sympathy,” it served broadly for “warm emotional regard,
friendliness, fellow-feeling.”
So, until the early 20th century, Hebrew really had just
one “bucket” for both sympathy and empathy concepts.
2. Arrival of אמפתיה
- Around
the 1930s–40s, psychology and psychoanalysis began taking root in
the Yishuv (pre-state Jewish community in Palestine).
- These
disciplines needed to distinguish between the English terms sympathy
and empathy, which had already diverged in psychology:
- Sympathy
= feeling for someone.
- Empathy
= feeling with someone (putting oneself in their shoes).
- Hebrew
thus borrowed אמפתיה (empatiya) directly, without
trying to make a native coinage — partly because the scientific community
wanted alignment with international terminology.
3. Modern Distinction
Today in Hebrew:
- אהדה (ahadah) = “sympathy” in the
sense of liking, approval, or general support. Example: יש לי אהדה למאבק שלהם (“I have sympathy
/ support for their struggle”).
- סימפתיה (simpatya) = a loanword
often used in colloquial contexts for “sympathy” as in a soft spot for
someone. Example: יש לי סימפתיה אליו (“I feel sympathy
toward him”).
- אמפתיה (empatiya) = specifically empathy,
the psychological concept of emotionally identifying with another person’s
experience.
✅ Summary:
- Hebrew
did not historically distinguish sympathy vs. empathy.
- The
difference emerged only in the 20th century, under the influence of
European psychology.
- That’s
when אהדה (ahadah), סימפתיה
(simpatya), and אמפתיה (empatiya) each carved out their
distinct semantic niches.
