Skip to main content

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.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Flow Chart for Bible Translation (a Relevance Theory Approach)

One of the current theories behind modern translation work is Relevance Theory. [1] Here is a flow chart that explains the process often used to produce a draft when using such an approach: *Make sure your translation committee makes the decision as to what kind of translation they want. A domesticated translation is one that submits to dominant values in the target language [2] whereas a foreignized translation is one that is happy to import foreign terms and ideas from Hebrew, Greek, or the language of wider communication such as the Greek term baptizo . The chart looks something like this: Text                                   Communicated Ideas                  Context A sower went out to sow  A farmer went out to sow grain   People scattered/threw seed etc. The text has very little information, but behind i...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Problems and Pitfalls of Proof-Texting

Why is it wrong to proof-text when making an argument?  Proof-texting is when someone simply quotes a verse from the Bible, out of context, to make a point. This can be in a book, a conversation, an essay, or a sermon, to give some examples. I just did a quick read of some other blogs on this topic, and none of them wowed me, so I thought I'd write my own. Then I had an even better idea: why not get you to tell me why proof-texting is problematic? In other words, I want to crowd-source the problem, and get lots of input. Since it is my suggestion, and I already did some research, let me get the ball rolling. Proof-texting is problematic because: It ignores the original context of the verse. There are actually two types of context: The literary context of the verse, that is, the verse is situated in a passage (that might be making an entirely different point) of Scripture that has a certain genre. For instance, the book of Acts is narrative, which means it is descriptive of what hap...
3 comments
Read more

Asset Based Bible Translation (ABBT)

Many of you will have heard of asset-based community development (ABCD). How can Bible translation programmes be asset based, rather than deficit based? The best way to look at this is a comparison table: Deficit based Asset based Driven by outsiders Driven by the community Outside funding Community funded Done to meet a need Done to help the community grow Quality control done by a consultant Community checked and approved Control from outside-in Lead by stepping back Products not accepted? Products are accepted Little engagement Engagement with products Scientific Organic Not sustainable Sustainable Of course many translation programmes these days are neither one nor t'other, they are somewhere between these two extremes. Nevertheless, this illustrates a point, and shows that the current ...
Post a Comment
Read more