Green Salam...

Arabic Salām ( سلام ), Hebrew Shalom ( שלום), Ge’ez śalām (ሠላም), Syriac šlama ( ܫܠܡܐ) are cognate Semitic terms for “PEACE”, deriving from a Proto-Semitic šalām.

The word salām is used in a variety of expressions and contexts in Arabic and Islamic speech and writing. Al-Salam is one of the 99 names of God in the Qur’an, and also a male given name in conjunction with abd. Abd Al-Salam translates to Slave of Al-Salaam (i.e. Slave of Allah.)

In Hebrew, the equivalent of the word is Shalom. It is also the root word of the names Solomon (Süleyman), Selim, etc.

The Koine Greek New Testament text uses eirēnē (εἰρήνη) for ‘peace’, which perhaps represents Jesus saying ‘šlama’; this Greek form became the Western feminine name Irene. In the Epistles, it often occurs alongside the usual Greek greeting chairein (χαίρειν) in the phrase ‘grace and peace’. However, comparison of the Greek Septuagint and Hebrew Masoretic Old Testament texts shows some instances where shalom was translated instead as soteria (σωτηρια, meaning “salvation”).

Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic have cognate expressions meaning “peace be upon you” used as a greeting:

– Arabic As-Salamu ʿAlaykum (السلام عليكم), this expression is used to greet others and is an Arabic equivalent of “hello”. The appropriate response to such a greeting is “and upon you be peace” (wa `alaykum as-salām).
– Hebrew שלום עליכם shalom aleichem.
– Neo-Aramaic ܫܠܡܐ ܥܠܘܟ šlama ‘loukh, classically ܫܠܡܐ ܥܠܝܟ, šlāmâ ‘laik.