Wordsmithing #1HDC-RobHDC-Rob202010-04-09T18:10:00Z2010-04-09T18:10:00Z34992846Overflowing Cup236333912Wordsmithing #1By Rob BohningHavingThe concept of ownership is expressed in our English word, “to have.” Here are two examples that show ownership:I have a house.I have $2,000 in my bank account.The idea is that a person has ownership of the house or the money. However, we also use this expression to explain relationships:I have a wife.I have a son.While it is understood that ownership of people is not a real issue in the present age, the grammatical issue still remains. Consider this sentence from the book of Genesis 18:10, “…and Sarah your wife shall have a son…”The original Hebrew reads like this: “V’hiney--ben L’Sarah Ishtach,” which is literally translated as, “And behold--a son toward/to Sarah, woman [of] you.” The New King James Version reads, “and behold, Sarah your wife [shall have] a son.” Here is a translational situation that often happens where one not only has to figure out the meanings of certain words, but also must figure out the cultural-grammatical context of the first language and its nearest equivalent in the cultural-grammatical context of the second language. In this situation, it does not work. So the concept of “having” is imposed into the translation because that is the idiomatic expression which English speakers are familiar with. Notice that in the word order of the Hebrew, son is at the beginning of the sentence, which is the word being emphasized, while in English son is put at the end. This also changes the relationship between the Hebraic concept and the English idiomatic expression. The English is not an equivalent translation. Meaning is lost.Consider the differing cultural implications due to the grammatical and idiomatic usage:In English, it seems fine to say that “I have a son,” whereas grammatically this implies ownership. In Hebrew, “He is to me a son,” implies merely a relationship between two individuals. This expression yields equality.Imagine the concept a Hebrew speaker must have of an English speaker as she goes around declaring all the people that belong to her in her family:English speaker: How are you?Hebrew speaker: I’m fine, and you?English speaker: Great! So tell me about your family. Do you have any brothers or sisters? I have three brothers and two sisters!Imagine what the Hebrew speaker is thinking. “Good heavens! This person asked me if I own my family”Americans are obsessed with “having.” We classify people into categories and social rankings, not based upon family relationships or status, but upon “having”:What kind of house and car do you have?What kind of job do you have and how much money do you have?Do you have a wife or husband?Do you have children?I have an idea! (No, I mean, my brain just developed an idea.) Let’s change the concepts that we think by changing the grammatical words that we use. We could change the “having” concept to the “being/relating” concept:1. Do you own a house or a car?2. What is your work? Is your work fulfilling?3. Is there a wife or husband in your life?4. Are there children in your home?To sum up, when you use the term “have,” the Scriptural context is the context of property, animals, and objects. For describing relationships with people, other verbs that express equality of status are more descriptive to the relationship!