Today I learnt that Bethlehem is in fact Bet Lekhem - House of Bread, and Gethsemene is Gat Shmonaim - Oil Press. Also the original name for Jerusalem was Shalem which means whole and is of course the same root (pretty much the same word) as Shalom meaning peace; the implication being that peace comes through wholeness. They didn't teach us that at Sunday School.
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Hi Steven,
You mispronounced, it is not "Shmonaim" but "SHMANNIM" (oils), and "Gethsemene" sounds like: GAT-SHEMEN, GAT is the place for maunly pressing of (usually) grapes, and "semene" is SHEMEN )the singular not the plural. However, in Hebrew it is called GAT-SHemannim (in the plural). All this makes no real difference to the meaning which you correctly explained.
LAst stuiped remark: I suppose that the word "Gethsemene" is greek transliteration of the Aramic word, and in Aramic it is the plural of SHEMEN, so that acn explains why in Hebrew it is called by the plural (SHMAINIM).
מתגעגע
Ofer
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