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The Idiom 'Son of'

Here, just for fun, are some idioms containing the phrase 'son of' in Hebrew:

בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים – ‘sons of the god(s)’ (Gen 6:2) i.e. heavenly beings cf Psa 29:1
וְנֹחַ בֶּן־שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה – ‘Noah was son of six hundred years’ (Gen 7:6) i.e. he was six hundred years old
בְנֵי־קֶדֶם – ‘sons of the East’ (Gen 29:1) i.e. eastern peoples
אֶת־בֶּן הַבָּקָר – ‘son of the herd’ (Lev 1:5) i.e. one [animal] of the herd
וּבְנֵי בְלִיַּעַל – ‘son of worthlessness’ (1Sa 10:27; 1Ki 21:10, 13 cf Dan 11:14) i.e. troublemakers, scoundrels
הָאָדָם בְּנֵי – ‘sons of man’ (1Sa 26:19) i.e. men, humans
לִבְנֵי־חַיִל – ‘sons of strength’ (2Sa 2:7; 13:28; 17:10…) i.e. brave
בְנֵֽי־עַוְלָ֖ה – ‘sons of injustice’ (2Sa 3:34; 7:10 cf Hos 10:9) i.e. criminals
בֶן־מָוֶת – ‘son of death’ (2Sa 12:5) – i.e. someone who deserves to die
אֶחָד מִבְּנֵי הַנְּבִיאִים– ‘one of the sons of the prophets’ (1Ki 20:35) i.e. a member of the prophetic fraternity
הַתַּעֲרֻבוֹת בְּנֵי – ‘sons of the pledges’ (2Ki 14:14) i.e. hostages
הַגּוֹלָה בְנֵי – ‘sons of the exile’ (Ezr 4:1; 6:19,20; 8:35; 10:7,16) i.e. those who had returned from exile
וּבְנֵי־רֶשֶׁף – ‘sons of flame’ (Job 5:7) i.e. sparks
בְנֵי־שָׁחַץ – ‘sons of pride’ (Job 28:8) i.e. proud ones (proud beasts, in this setting)
בְּנֵי־נָבָל גַּם־בְּנֵי בְלִי־שֵׁם– ‘sons of a fool also sons of not a name’ (Job 30:8) i.e. nameless fools
בְּנֵי אֵלִים – ‘sons of the gods’ (Psa 29:1; 89:7) i.e. heavenly beings
גַּם־בְּנֵי אָדָם גַּם־בְּנֵי־אִישׁ – ‘sons of human also sons of man’ (Psa 49:3; 62:10 cf Jer 26:3) i.e. low and high, common and elite
בְּנֵי־עֹנִי – ‘sons of affliction’ (Pro 31:5) i.e. the oppressed
בְּנֵי חֲלוֹף – ‘sons of passing quickly away’ (Pro 31:8) i.e. the destitute
וּבְנֵי־בַיִת – ‘sons of the house’ (Ecc 2:7) i.e. those who were born in [my] house
 וּבְנֵ֣י נֵכָ֔ר – ‘sons of strangeness’ (Isa 61:5 and many other refs.) i.e. foreigners, strangers
בֵית־הָרֵכָבִים בְּנֵי – ‘sons of the house of the Rechabites’ i.e. the Rechabite clan

בְנֵי־הַיִּצְהָר – ‘sons of the fresh oil’ (Zec 4:14) – i.e. people who have been anointed

What phrase could you use in place of 'son(s) of' to make the sentence understandable in your language?

It's interesting to note that even the so-called 'literal' translations (though there is actually no such thing) such as KJV, RSV, ESV replace these idioms with something more idiomatic.


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