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Inspired by this question: Shulkan Arukh Yoreh De'ah 147 lists the prohibition to mention the name of a foreign deity (see also) Epiphanes means "God Manifest" in Greek. It is unclear to me if Antiochus Epiphanes saw himself or was worshiped as a deity.

Do any halachic sources deal with the permission (or lackthereof) in mentioning this name?

rikitikitembo
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  • Epiphanes, when referring to a person, means notable, distinguished, famous, renowned. Perhaps you want to ask this question in more generality? – magicker72 Dec 13 '17 at 20:23
  • @magicker72 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antiochus-IV-Epiphanes. Not being a linguist or very familiar with Greek myself I would speculate that he was substituting his name for God as in Θεὸς Ἐπιφανής ("God Manifest") – rikitikitembo Dec 13 '17 at 20:37
  • Aha, it appears that the English leaves out some of the Greek. – magicker72 Dec 13 '17 at 20:44
  • Besides talking about a different name, why isn't this the same question as your first linked question? As in, what do you expect out of an answer here that isn't in the answer there? – magicker72 Dec 13 '17 at 20:47
  • @magicker72 besides that question being about a word that means anointed and mine being about a very different nom de guerre? I think that's a pretty big 'besides'. Furthermore I am not asking (as that question does) for a halachic ruling (to which answer can include 'I saw Rabbi 'X' do this) but rather sources which discuss the topic. – rikitikitembo Dec 13 '17 at 21:18
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    The answer there talks about a word that has a meaning (just like epiphanes by itself does not mean "god manifest", but just "manifest"); they are both appellations, not names. I'm not saying that they're duplicates, I'm just wondering why you think this case is special/different from that one. – magicker72 Dec 13 '17 at 23:16
  • The Wiki mentions that it could mean "God Manifest" but also there's the possibility of just meaning "glorious", which is what epiphanes means alone. – ezra Dec 14 '17 at 00:02
  • This question seems too narrow to be useful. Much more useful would be to ask about the general factors at play here, and what different sources say about them. Asking just about Antiocus Epiphanes doesn't make for a very good question, as even rigorously proving that there is no reason for it to be a problem, wouldn't answer the question. – mevaqesh Dec 14 '17 at 00:43
  • Is your question on Antiochus or on Epiphanes? – ertert3terte Dec 14 '17 at 03:21

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Antiochus Epiphanes was never worshiped as a god, as we can see from Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus and I and II Maccabees. He attempted to enforce the worship of Zeus Olympius (II Maccabees 6:1-2). Accordingly, there is no prohibition to pronouncing his name in the Talmud. Ptolemy V Epiphanes, who ruled Egypt from 204-180 BCE, also bore the same title before him.

Bibliography: Jewish Encyclopedia: www.jewishencyclopedia.com/.../1589-antiochus-iv-epipha...; Encyclopedia Judaica : www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/antiochus.

Clifford Durousseau
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