02-25-2013, 03:43 AM
They are actually more doublets than cognates in that they share similar etymology, but they are not necessarily translations of each other, loaning back and forth between Hebrew and Aramaic.
Remember, it was Hebrew that initially adopted the Aramaic form after the Exile to Babylon (where Aramaic was adopted as the lingua franca as a matter of survival), and even in Jesus' day, most people went by either one or the other, but not both (they were, for the most part, treated as two separate names).
Another good example is the Aramaic name Zebedee /zbdy/ ("my gift"; or an even older form, Zebidu /zbydw/ which is more Akkadian), whose Hebrew doublet was Zebidiah /zbdyh/ ("Gift of YHWH"). They share similar etymology (i.e. a gift or endowment), and are often conflated, but have two different origins (one very much pagan, one Hebrew).
Remember, it was Hebrew that initially adopted the Aramaic form after the Exile to Babylon (where Aramaic was adopted as the lingua franca as a matter of survival), and even in Jesus' day, most people went by either one or the other, but not both (they were, for the most part, treated as two separate names).
Another good example is the Aramaic name Zebedee /zbdy/ ("my gift"; or an even older form, Zebidu /zbydw/ which is more Akkadian), whose Hebrew doublet was Zebidiah /zbdyh/ ("Gift of YHWH"). They share similar etymology (i.e. a gift or endowment), and are often conflated, but have two different origins (one very much pagan, one Hebrew).