Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Idioms in the Bible - Part 1

English is difficult to learn as a second language in part because it is full of idiomatic expressions. These expressions are difficult to understand for a variety of reasons. Some idioms are difficult to understand because words are used in unexpected ways. For example, "all of the above" could easily provoke the question, "What is an above." In the phrase "all of the above," above seems to be a noun preceded by the definite article. Hence the reader, or hearer, wonders what an "above" is. What the person unfamiliar with the expression needs to have explained is that "above," while most commonly used as a preposition or an adverb functions in this phrase as an adjective. As an adjective it modifies an additional term that is not included in the phrase, that is, "all of the above [that is, preceding] answers."

Other idioms cause problems because they have reference to something else that the reader or hearer is unfamiliar with. Those of you who are Star Trek fans may remember an episode of The Next Generation in which they came upon a crashed ship from another culture. The person remaining on the ship was hurt and obviously in need of help, but the crew of the Enterprise could not understand him. His conversation was filled with idioms unique to his culture for which the Enterprise crew had no reference. Ultimately they were able to figure out his message, but by then it was too late. An example of this type of idiom in English is the phrase "an albatross around his neck." One on-line source defines this phrase as "a problem resulting from something you did that stops you from being successful" (http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/). The problem is that the explanation only half explains the phrase. The phrase originated with Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which the title character is condemned to have hung around his neck the body of an albatross that he killed. The original use of the image was as an image of guilt, but it has transformed through usage into the explanation given on the website.

There are idioms in the Bible as there are idioms in any other language. Sometimes these idioms are explained in the process of translation, and the English reader never knows that there is an idiom there. At other times, the translators simply render the idiom literally into English and leave the reader to puzzle out its meaning. As with idioms in most languages, those in the Bible are generally understandable in their context, even though a detailed understanding may escape the reader. Sometimes, however, a specialized knowledge of the Biblical languages and cultures is needed to help the reader grasp the meaning of some idiomatic expression. Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring some of the Biblical idioms that can be clarified by an understanding of Aramaic and Hebrew. In part, this series will serve as an evaluation of, and a response to, George Lamsa's Idioms in the Bible Explained. Though there is some helpful information in that work, there is also much misleading or inaccurate information in it. Thus my aim is to help those who might have been led astray by Lamsa, as well as others who are simply curious about Bible idioms.

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