[B-Greek] IHS abbreviation
Jason Hare
jason at hareplay.com
Mon Dec 15 14:37:24 EST 2003
I have always heard that IHS stands for "In Hota Signo" or some sort (with
my terrible Latin!). This was the phrase given to Constantine that caused
his conversion. "In this sign shall you conquer." Has no one else heard
this?
Regards,
Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <mauros at iol.ie>
To: "Jeff Cockrell" <jeffcockrell at hotmail.com>
Cc: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] IHS abbreviation
At 16:15 15/12/2003, Jeff Cockrell wrote:
>I have read that IHS is an abbreviation for Jesus in Greek. However, I
>have also read that this is an abbreviation from Latin meaning "Jesus
>Savior of Men."
>
>Any conclusive evidence to the orgin of this abbreviation?
Well, the Encyclopaedia Britannica appears in two minds on the matter:
Its entry for " monogram " states:
>>The interlaced IHS, also called the sacred monogram, is an abbreviation
of the Latin phrase Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Saviour of Mankind").
This monogram apparently possesses no great antiquity and is said to have
been the creation of St. Bernard of Siena in the mid-15th century.<<
whereas the entry on "symbolic modes of expression" states;
>>The letters received a symbolic character in two ways: first, as
components of a word for which they stood-e.g., the Hebrew tetragram
(four-letter) YHWH (Yahweh) for God, the Latin IOM for Jupiter Optimus
Maximus (Jupiter the Best and Greatest), and the Greek IHS for Jesus-or,
second through their numerical value, as in >alpha< and >omega<, the
beginning and end of the Greek alphabet, signifying Christ. They then
became means of abbreviation-signs possessing a specific content and
meaning.<<
Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie
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