𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐍃

Gothic

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἰσρᾱηλῑ́της (Isrāēlī́tēs).

Noun

𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐍃 • (israēleitēs) m

1. an Israelite
   • Romans 9:4:

     𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹, 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐌴𐌴𐌹 𐌹𐍃𐍄 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌳𐌹𐍃 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍉𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌹𐍄𐌰,

     þaiei sind israēleitai, þizēei ist frastisibja jah wulþus jah witōdis garaideins jah triggwōs jah skalkinassus jah gahita,

     Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (KJV)

   • Corinthians II 11:22:

     𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌹𐌺; 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌹𐌺; 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍅 𐌰𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌼𐌹𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌹𐌺;

     haibraieis sind, jah ik; israēleiteis sind, jah ik; fraiw abrahamis sind, jah ik;

     Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. (KJV)

Declension

The noun appears in Romans 9:4 and Romans 11:1 as if it was still a Greek noun, with a nominative plural 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹 (israēleitai) and nominative singular 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐍃 (israēleitēs), but in Corinthians II 11:22 the word is only attested with an apparently Gothic nominative plural 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 (israēleiteis) (see also 𐍀𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍆𐌴𐍄𐌴𐍃 (praufētēs) for a similar declension). Given the paucity of attestations it is difficult to explain this disparity, but some conjectures can be made. The attestations in Romans are from Codex Ambrosianus A, whereas the attestation in Corinthians is from Codex Ambrosianus B. It is possible that different scribes copied from a different source text, or that one scribe was more influenced by the Greek text than the other, or that the spelling inconsistency was already present in an earlier source from which both manuscripts were copied. Whatever the explanation may be, the confusion makes the declension difficult to deduce.

Loanword; irregular/mixed declension
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐍃 israēleitēs	𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹, 𐌹𐍃𐍂𐌰𐌴𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 israēleitai, israēleiteis
Vocative	—	—
Accusative	—	—
Genitive	—	—
Dative	—	—