Editing Silas (section)

==Name and etymologies==
''Silas'' is traditionally assumed to be the same as the ''Silvanus'' mentioned in four epistles. Some translations, including the [[New International Version]], call him "Silas" in the epistles. Paul, Silas, and Timothy are listed as co-authors of the two New Testament letters to the Thessalonians, though [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles|the authorship is disputed]]. The [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]] mentions Silas as having preached with Paul and Timothy to the church in Corinth ({{Bibleverse-nb||2 Corinthians|1:19|NRSV}}), and the [[First Epistle of Peter]] describes Silas as a "faithful brother" ({{Bibleverse-nb||1 Peter|5:12|NRSV}}).

There is some disagreement over the original or "proper" form of his name: "Silas", "Silvanus", "Seila", and "Saul" seem to be treated at the time as equivalent versions of the same name in different languages, and it is not clear which is the original name of "Silas", and which is a translation or equivalent nickname, or whether some references are to different persons with equivalent names. He is consistently called "Silas" in the [[Acts of the Apostles]], but the [[Latin|Roman name]] ''[[Silvanus (name)|Silvanus]]'' (which means "of the [[forest]]") is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter ({{Bibleverse-nb||1 Peter|5:12|NRSV}}); it may be that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas",<ref name="Dunn2003">
{{cite book
 |editor-last=Dunn |editor-first=James D. G. |editor-link=James Dunn (theologian)
 |year=2003
 |title=The Cambridge Companion to St.&nbsp;Paul
 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
 |location=[[Cambridge]], UK
 |isbn=0-521-78155-8
 |page=21
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNXPGiKx-mkC
 |via=Google Books
}}
</ref> or that "Silas" is the [[Greek language|Greek]] nickname for "Silvanus".<ref name="Dunn2003"/> Silas is thus often identified with [[Silvanus of the Seventy]]. Catholic theologian [[Joseph Fitzmyer]] further points out that ''Silas'' is the Greek rendition of the [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] ''Seila'' ({{lang|arc|שְׁאִילָא}}), a version of the Hebrew ''Saul'' ({{Script/Hebrew|שָׁאוּל}}), which is attested in [[Palmyra|Palmyrene]] inscriptions.<ref>
{{cite book
 |editor-first=Joseph J. |editor-last=Fitzmyer
 |year=1998
 |title=The Anchor Bible: The Acts of the Apostles
 |page=[https://archive.org/details/actsofapostlesan00fitz/page/564 564]
 |place=New York
 |publisher=Doubleday
 |isbn=0-385-49020-8
|url=https://archive.org/details/actsofapostlesan00fitz/page/564
 |url-access=registration  |via=Internet Archive
}}
</ref>