bʰeh₂g-
“to apportion, to share”share, distribute
Root for sharing/distributing, yielding Greek phagein (to eat, original: to receive a share).
Discussion
The PIE root *bʰeh₂g- (to apportion, to share, to distribute) produced vocabulary for divine allotment and human enjoyment — connecting the act of distributing portions to concepts of fate, god, and happiness. The root overlaps semantically with *bʰag- (treated separately at a different ID) and may represent the same root with different laryngeal analysis.
Greek phageîn (φαγεῖν, "to eat" — the act of consuming one's allotted portion) connects to this root. The combining form -phage/-phagy in scientific vocabulary (bacteriophage, sarcophagus — "flesh-eater") preserves the Greek form.
The connection between distributing and eating is logical: the feast is the social ritual of distribution, and to eat is to consume your share. The PIE speakers apparently named both activities with the same root — the divine distributor and the human consumer participate in the same cycle.
Old Church Slavonic bogŭ (god — Russian bog) may connect through the concept of "the Distributor, the One who allots fortune," making the Slavic word for God etymologically a derivative of the sharing root. This parallels the Sanskrit Bhaga (a solar deity who distributes fortune).
Notes
Pokorny 107. English sarcophagus, esophagus, -phage.