An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/befehlen

by Friedrich Kluge

befehlen, vb., ‘to order, command, commend,’ MidHG. bevëlhen, bevëlen, ‘to hand over, entrust, deliver, command’; OHG. bifëlhan, bifëlahan, ‘to hand over’ (also ‘to hide, bury, entrust, recommend’). The chief meaning of the Goth. str. vb. filhan in compounds with the particles ga-, us-, is also ‘to bury’; anafilhan approximates the ModHG., ‘to command, enjoin’; it means ‘to give, hand over, commend, recommend.’ AS. befeólan (for befeolhan), ‘to entrust, make over, devote oneself.’ Hence the primary meaning of the primit. Teut. str. vb. bifelhan is ‘to entrust, hand over, hide.’ The Teut. root felh- is based upon pre-Teut. pelk; it is a mistake, therefore, to connect the word on account of its earlier meaning, ‘to bury,’ with Lat. sepelire.