Behold! Lo!

Let me begin by apologizing for my lack of blogging as of recent. There is truly no excuse for it other than the fact that I am finding other amazingly fun things to do... like Hebrew! Yay! Now, I don't know how many, if any, of you have taken any Hebrew or know anything about Hebrew, or want to know anything about Hebrew... but I figured I would share an fun/interesting fact that I learned in class today.

So, there is this word in Hebrew:           הִנֵה    pronounced "Hin-eh." Now, this word doesn't really have a meaning, unless you want it to. You see, in the Biblical text, it oftentimes is used to draw the readers attention to something. Therefore, I suppose in a sense, it's sort of an emphatic indicator word. The interesting thing is how it can be translated. For instance, in Genesis 22, it is used in two different ways. When the LORD calls out to Abraham, he responds using the correct conjugation of this Hebrew word. In the English, it is translated as the famous words, "Here I am." However, later on in the very same chapter, it is used to draw attention to wood and fire (yes...wood and fire). Here it is translated as, "Behold, [the wood and fire]!" Basically, translation of this word (when it actually is translated) is dependent upon context. Some Bible translations... NIV, NRSV, ESV, etc tend to only translate it when it is "sensible" to do so; others, most notably the KJV, have a problem not translating it, so it will oftentimes just show up  as "Behold!" or "Lo!"

Reading through the KJV can make this sound quite humorous at times. I guess it is just not a word that we use in everyday English. Some of my friends and I started using it a lot following class (even signing it to one another), and it was a good laugh. It just sounds funny in our language, and its a shame that there really is no English equivalent to compare it to. We really don't have any emphatic indicators... well, at least that I can think of off the top of my head. Hebrew can be one funky language. Well, I shall dive back into my Hebrew endeavors!

      הִנֵה    ...this is what studying Hebrew can look like. =) Fun fun fun!

"Lo, Behold!"

All the best dear friends, all the best!