The Linguistic Journey of the Etrog
In Biblical Hebrew, the Torah never names the fruit directly.
Instead, it commands us (Leviticus 23:40):
וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר
“And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree”.
It was Chazal, through careful interpretation, who identified this
mysterious “fruit of a beautiful tree” as the citron. The Targum Onkelos makes
this explicit, translating the phrase as:
פֵּירֵי אִילָנָא אֶתְרוֹגִין
“The fruit of the etrog tree.”
From there, the word etrog
appears throughout the Mishnah and Talmud (e.g., Sukkah 3:4, 34b; Bava Metzia
90b), solidifying its status as the rabbinic Hebrew name for the citron. But
the word itself is not originally Hebrew. Most scholars trace its roots to Persian and Greek:
●
Old
Persian had the word turunga or trunga for citron.
●
From
there it passed into Greek as exōrigos (meaning “foreign/exotic”) or heteroglykos (“different in taste”).
●
Greek
passed it into Aramaic/Hebrew as ethrog (אֶתְרוֹג).
●
Finally,
in Ashkenazi Hebrew/Yiddish, the
pronunciation shifted to esrog.
So the linguistic chain looks like this:
Old Persian (turunga) → Greek (exōrigos / kitrion) → Aramaic/Hebrew
(etrog) → Yiddish (esrog).
Thus, the word we use in shul during Hallel each Sukkot actually
carries echoes of ancient Persia, Greece, Babylonia, and finally the Beit
Midrash.
Etrog in the Sources
The gemara (Sukkah 34b) already
assumes the etrog as the standard:
אֵין מַעֲטִין בְּאֶתְרוֹג כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִפָּסֵל
●
A fruit whose wood and fruit share the
same taste → the etrog.
●
A fruit
that “dwells” (hadar) on its tree from year to year → the
etrog.
●
A fruit
requiring constant water (hydor in Greek) → the etrog.
The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah
30:15) layers on symbolism: the etrog has both taste and fragrance,
representing Jews who combine Torah learning (taste) with good deeds
(fragrance).
The Homiletical Acronym: אתרוג
Beyond its linguistic roots, Jewish tradition often invests Hebrew
words with spiritual layers through acronyms (roshei teivot). One beloved interpretation reads the letters of אתרוג as standing for:
●
א – Emunah
Shelemah (Complete Faith)
●
ת – Teshuvah
Shelemah (Complete Repentance)
●
ר – Refuah
Shelemah (Complete Healing)
●
ג – Geulah
Shelemah (Complete Redemption)
In this reading, holding the etrog on Sukkot is not just about
fulfilling a commandment—it becomes a prayer in our hands: for stronger faith,
for sincere return to Hashem, for healing of body and soul, and for the
ultimate redemption of Am Yisrael.
Other acrostics exist in rabbinic and later literature—for example,
אל תבואני רגל גאוה
(“Do not let the foot of pride come upon me”)—but the above fourfold acronym
has gained wide currency in sermons and teachings. It resonates especially
during the High Holiday season, when we seek faith, teshuvah, health, and
redemption.
Conclusion
And when we hold the etrog,
we are not only fulfilling the mitzvah of the Four Species, but also reminding
ourselves of what the etrog’s letters whisper:
A complete faith. A complete return. A
complete healing. A complete redemption.
