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Golem
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==Etymology== The word ''golem'' [[Hapax legomenon|occurs once]] in the [[Bible]], in Psalm 139:16,<ref>''Bible'': {{bibleverse|Psalm||139:16|JPS}}</ref> which uses the word {{lang|he|ΧΧΧΧ}} ({{transliteration|he|golmi}}; 'my golem',<ref name="Introduction" /> 'my light form', 'raw material'<ref name="OED">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=golem|encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary|editor=J. Simpson |editor2=E. Weiner|year=1989|edition=2nd| location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0-19-861186-2}}</ref>) to connote the unfinished human being before God's eyes.<ref name="Introduction" /> The [[Mishnah]] uses the term to refer to someone who is unsophisticated: "Seven characteristics are in an uncultivated person, and seven in a learned one" ({{lang|he|Χ©ΧΧ’Χ ΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ}}).<ref>[[Pirkei Avot|Avot]] 5:9 in the Hebrew text; English translations vary.</ref> In [[Modern Hebrew]], {{transliteration|he|golem}} is used to mean 'dumb', 'helpless', or '[[pupa]]'. Similarly, it is often used today as a [[metaphor]] for a stupid man or other entity that serves a man under controlled conditions, but is hostile to him in other circumstances.<ref name="Cooper" /> ''Golem'' passed into [[Yiddish]] as {{transliteration|yi|goylem}}, meaning someone who is lethargic or in a stupor.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqhur2UnvyIC&q=goylem+definition&pg=PA32|title=Anglish/Yinglish: Yiddish in American Life and Literature|last=Bluestein|first=Gene|date=1998|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0803219148|access-date=17 October 2020|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203231028/https://books.google.com/books?id=eqhur2UnvyIC&q=goylem+definition&pg=PA32|url-status=live}}</ref>
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