Day 11 of 75 · The reign foundations
Sh-L-M
shlama: wholeness
שלמא · משתלם
ܫܠܳܡܳܐ · ܡܶܫܬ݁ܠܶܡ
The feel
Shlama means wholeness, the state of being complete and unbroken. The Qala renders it wholeness where most translations say peace, because the word means more than quiet or the end of conflict. The noun appears 41 times in the Gospels. The same root means to complete something, and also to hand someone over.
The root family
| Word | Pattern | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| shlama | noun · 41× | ܫܠܳܡܳܐ | peace; farewell | wholeness |
| shlem | verb, Peal · verb family, 121× | ܫܠܡ | to finish, be fulfilled | to be complete, brought to completion |
| meshtlem | verb, Ethpeel participle | ܡܶܫܬ݁ܠܶܡ | to be betrayed | to be handed over, delivered up |
The verb family, found 121 times in the Gospels, uses four stems, the Peal shlem (to be complete), the Pael shallem (to complete, fulfill, repay), the Aphel ashlem (to hand over), and the Ethpeel eshtlem (to be handed over).
In his voice
Matthew 10:13
If the house is worthy, let your wholeness settle on it. But if it is not worthy, let your wholeness come back to you.
shlamkhon, "your wholeness." The greeting is treated as something real. It can settle on a house, or come back to the one who gave it.
Mark 5:34
And he said to her, "Daughter, your trust has given you life. Go in wholeness, and stay healed of your affliction."
zel ba-shlama, "go in wholeness." She had suffered for twelve years, and the word's full sense, unbroken, describes her healing.
Matthew 26:2
"You know that in two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."
meshtlem, "will be handed over," literally is being handed over. This is the same root as shlama, here used for the betrayal. The handing over is spoken in the language of completion.
Practice
When you greet someone today, wish them wholeness in your mind as you speak. Afterward say shlama aloud slowly, shlah mah.
Connections