Meanings of the word patriarch
The word patriarch (πατριάρχης) is composed of the words “πατριά” (patria) and “αρχή” (archè). The meanings of patria vary, but its radical comes from the word “πατέρας” (patéras, the father). Patria translates as: generation, race, family, home (in the sense of family), lineage, filiation, nation, ethnicity. The word archè means: to rule, to govern. Patriarch means the one who governs a family, a generation, its leader, its master, rather its boss, because this word hides behind it the word father (père).
Here, I have to raise some objections. The word patriarch can also indicate the person who is at the origin of a generation, the father who founded a lineage, because the word patria also means father (père) and the word archè means the beginning, the start, the origin, the starting point. In short, it seems that the patriarch is the one from whom a generation develops, but it does not belong to biological nature that this patriarch lives – I don’t know for how long – in order to govern it.
The patriarch as a father is only at the origin of a generation whose guiding thread is logos. This patriarch cannot be anything other than a flesh-and-blood human being. All the patriarchs were men, and this is where the difference between the notions patriarch and genarch comes in.
History and etymology of the words patriarch, patriarchy, patriarchal and matriarchy
To better illustrate this difference, we refer to the history of these words starting with the fact that the word patriarch was not inserted into language until the third century BC. That was done through the translation of the Bible into Greek language by seventy-two bilingual Jewish scholars, known as the Translation of the Seventy (the Septuagint) or the O Translation[1].
Patriarch is a new invented term, coined out of a desire to follow the Jewish tradition. I could not find the meaning of the Hebrew words “rôché aboth”. For “rôché” it is probably the word “rosh”: leader, beginning, governor. “Aboth” may mean dense, bushy, intertwined foliage, or “head of the family”, but it is only in the New Testament that the term refers to the early patriarchs. We can see that the word has its roots in the ecclesiastical tradition and that the use of the word père (father) in the translation is an abuse.
The word patriarchal appears in 1680 and the word patriarchate in 1491, despite the fact that they are first found in 1400 and 1280 respectively – in 1400 the word patriarchal probably had a special, different meaning. It seems that these words permeated everyday life through the Christian tradition and religion which won its ultimate victory almost 500 or 600 years after Jesus Christ. An indisputable proof is the fact that the English word Patriarchy, in the sociological sense of a family based on male kinship and paternal power, and of a social structure or organisation based on the patriarchal family, was coined in 1626 by Sir Francis Bacon, who quotes it only once.
The word matriarchy and the theory around it appeared in 1889 or 1894, and were elucidated by legal theorists concerned with women’s rights, the most famous of them being Johann Jakob Bachofen who also used the word gynecocracy. These discussions about matriarchy inspired Friedrich Engels to develop his ideas on communism.
The inevitable deduction is that the father began to raise issues as early as the third century BC. Was it the invented word or the function of the father that began to disturb humanity at the time?
Genarch
In fact, in the fourth century BC, it was the word genarch which was predominant. It was a real headache to find this word in French language; it is only identified in French on a website, the CNRTL[2]. Nevertheless, it has been part of the Greek language since the fourth century BC. “Γενάρχης” which, according to Hepites, is the first of a generation; the one who rules, who is at the origin of a generation, a race, etc. It is never translated into French as patriarch, but as ancêtre (ancestor), aïeul (from the Latin avus, which is the grandfather and, therefore, the ancestor), géniteur (genitor), fondateur (founder).
From the O Translation onwards, a shift was made and the word genarch could not in any way answer the questions that emerged. It is the kingdom of the father that burst into the world.
From there, we return to the difference between patriarch and genarch, since the latter does not come from the word père (father). In antiquity, the existence of a concrete father, with a body, was never mentioned. Even if all people had parents, their origins are lost in times when ancestors were mythical persons.
References from the autor.
This research was based on:
- Bible de Jérusalem, Rome, Éditions du Cerf, 2011.
- Hésiode, The Theogony, Translation Patin H. J. G., Paris, Éditions de Typographie Chamerot G., 1872.
- Richepin J., Nouvelle Mythologie illustrée, Paris, Éditions d’art et de vulgarisation des Sant’Andrea F. et Marcerou L., 1920.
- Bloch O., Von Wartburg W., Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, Paris, Éditions Quadrige-Dicos Poche, Puf, 2008.
- Babiniotis K., Etymological Dictionary of the New Greek Language and Word History, Athens, E.P.E. Centre for Lexicology, 2010.
- Koumanoudis S., Latin-Greek Dictionary, First edited in 1843 by Heinrich N. U., Athens, Heliotes Publishing, 1854.
- Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Windows Application, 2009.
- Hépitès A. Th., French-Greek and Greek-French Dictionaries, Athens, Petrakos Printing P.A., 1912 et 1909.
- Bacon F., Three Conferences, London, printed by Richard Badger for Samuel Broun, 1641, p. 7.
- CNRTL website, National Center of Textual and Lexical Resources.
- Wordreference, French-Greek/Greek-French dictionary, available on the internet.
- Google Wiktionnaire and Google Wikipedia.
[1] O is the letter of the Greek alphabet corresponding to number 70.
[2] Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales, the National Center of Textual and Lexical Resources.
Translation: Polina Agapaki
Proofreading: Cédric Grolleau
Picture : © Fabien de Cugnac