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125 lines
6.0 KiB
Markdown
125 lines
6.0 KiB
Markdown
### Description
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In common English, possession refers to having something, or to something that a person has. In English, that grammatical relationship is shown by using the word **“**of**,”** by using an apostrophe and the letter “s”, or by using a possessive pronoun.
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* the house **of** my grandfather
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* my grandfather**‘s** house
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* **his** house
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Possession is used in Hebrew, Greek, and English for a variety of situations. Here are a few common situations that it is used for.
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* Ownership – Someone owns something.
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* My clothes – The clothes that I own
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* Social relationship – Someone has some kind of social relationship with another.
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* my mother – the woman who gave birth to me, or the woman who cared for me
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* my teacher – the person who teaches me
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* Contents – Something has something in it.
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* a bag of clothes – a bag that has clothes in it, or a bag that is full of clothes
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* Part and whole: One thing is part of another.
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* my head – the head that is part of my body
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* the roof of a house – the roof that is part of a house
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#### Reasons This Is a Translation Issue
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* You (the translator) need to understand the relationship between two ideas represented by the two nouns when one possesses the other.
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* Some languages do not use possession for all of the situations that your source text Bible might use it for.
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### Examples From the Bible
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**Ownership** – In the example below, the son owned the money.
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> The younger son … wasted his wealth by living recklessly. (Luke 15:13b)
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**Social Relationship** – In the example below, the disciples were people who learned from John.
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> Then **the disciples of John** came to him. (Matthew 9:14a ULT)
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**Material** – In the example below, the material used for making the crowns was gold.
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> On their heads were something like **crowns of gold.** (Revelation 9:7b)
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**Contents** – In the example below, the cup has water in it.
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> For whoever gives you **a cup of water** to drink … will not lose his reward. (Mark 9:41 ULT)
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**Part of a whole** – In the example below, the door was a part of the palace.
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> But Uriah slept at **the door of the king’s palace.** (2 Samuel 11:9a ULT)
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**Part of a group** – In the example below, “us” refers to the whole group and “each one” refers to the individual members.
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> Now to **each one of us** grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7 ULT)
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#### Events and Possession
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Sometimes one or both of the nouns is an abstract noun that refers to an event or action. In the examples below, the abstract nouns are in **bold** print. These are just some of the relationships that are possible between two nouns when one of them refers to an event.
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**Subject** – Sometimes the word after “of” tells who would do the action named by the first noun. In the example below, **John baptized people**.
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> The **baptism of John**, was it from heaven or from men? Answer me. (Mark 11:30)
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In the example below, **Christ loves us**.
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> Who will separate us from the **love of Christ**? (Romans 8:35)
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**Object** – Sometimes the word after “of” tells who or what something would happen to. In the example below, **people love money**.
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> For the **love of money** is a root of all kinds of evil. (1 Timothy 6:10a ULT)
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**Instrument** – Sometimes the word after “of” tells how something would happen. In the example below, God would **punish people by sending enemies to attack them with swords**.
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> Then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings **the punishment of the sword**. (Job 19:29a ULT)
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**Representation** – In the example below, John was baptizing people who were repenting of their sins. They were being baptized to show that they were repenting. Their **baptism represented their repentance**.
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> John came, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching **a baptism of repentance** for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4 ULT)
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### Strategies for learning what the relationship is between the two nouns
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(1) Read the surrounding verses to see if they help you to understand the relationship between the two nouns.<br>
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(2) Read the verse in the UST. Sometimes it shows the relationship clearly.<br>
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(3) See what the notes say about it.
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### Translation Strategies
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If possession would be a natural way to show a particular relationship between two nouns, consider using it. If it would be strange or hard to understand, consider these.
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(1) Use an adjective to show that one noun describes the other.<br>
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(2) Use a verb to show how the two are related.<br>
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(3) If one of the nouns refers to an event, translate it as a verb.
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### Examples of Translation Strategies Applied
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(1) Use an adjective to show that one noun describes the other. The adjective below is in bold print.
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> On their heads were something like **crowns of gold.** (Revelation 9:7b)
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>
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> > “On their heads were **gold crowns**”
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(2) Use a verb to show how the two are related. In the example below, the added verb is in bold.
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> Whoever gives you **a cup of water** to drink … will not lose his reward. (Mark 9:41 ULT)
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>
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> > Whoever gives you a **cup that has water in it** to drink … will not lose his reward.
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>
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> Wealth is worthless on **the day of wrath.** (Proverbs 11:4a ULT)
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>
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> > Wealth is worthless on **the day when God shows his wrath**.
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> >
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> > Wealth is worthless on the **day when God punishes people because of his wrath**.
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(3) If one of the nouns refers to an event, translate it as a verb. In the example below, that verb is in bold.
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> Notice that I am not speaking to your children, who have not known or seen **the punishment of Yahweh your God.** (Deuteronomy 11:2a ULT)
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>
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> > Notice that I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen **how Yahweh your God punished the people of Egypt**.
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>
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> You will only observe and see the **punishment of the wicked**. (Psalms 91:8 ULT)
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>
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> > You will only observe and see **how Yahweh punishes the wicked**.
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>
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> You will receive the gift **of the Holy Spirit**. (Acts 2:38b ULT)
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>
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> > You will receive the **Holy Spirit, whom God will give to you**.
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