gengwall

Some light reading to pass the time. I dug this up from an old thread I had started on Christianforums. I find it just as curious in the current discussion……..

I thought it might be fun to give the breakdown of the word that we derive “patriarch” from. It is derived from the Greek word “patriarches”

Strong’s Number: 3966 Patriarches
None Masculine
Definition
patriarch, founder of a tribe, progenitor
of the twelve sons of Jacob, founders of the tribes of Israel
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Although masculine in gender, and a male founder is presumed, this could be applied to any founder including a female if the culture was set up that way.

“Patriarches” comes from two Greek words

patria – meaning family (Strong’s 3965)
archo – meaning “beginning” i.e founder (Strong’s 757)

Curiously, “patria” is a feminine noun. But it, in turn is derived from:

pater – meaning father (Strong’s 3962)

“Pater” can also mean parents in the plural and can have other gender neutral (although male assumed in the culture) meanings such as teacher.

What I find curious in all of this is the relative gender neutrality and the lack of overt hierarchy or authority. It goes to show even more that our current definitions for patriarchy have more to do with historical context than the original meaning of the word. Another interesting point is that there was no corresponding “matriarch” word in Greek. That word did not surface until the 17th century abstracted from patriarch to recognize and differentiate female heads of state. So, in biblical times, “patriarches” could technically refer to a female, although the male dominated culture makes it unlikely it ever found such a practical use. (It would be interesting research to see if any godesses or other females in Greco/Roman mythology, or other female leaders outside of Greek and Roman governement, were ever referred to as “patriarches”)