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Issue 81 Bible Examples Figs-imperative

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Susan Quigley 2019-01-04 20:53:26 +00:00
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@ -10,40 +10,44 @@ Some languages would not use an imperative sentence for some of the functions th
### Examples from the Bible
Speakers often use imperative sentences to tell or ask their listeners to do something. In Genesis 2, God spoke to Isaac and told him not to go to Egypt but to live where God would tell him to live.
####Imperatives are normally used to tell someone to do something.
><u>Do not go down</u> to Egypt; <u>live</u> in the land that I tell you to live in. (Genesis 26:2 ULB)
Sometimes imperative sentences in the Bible have other uses.
In Genesis 2, God told Isaac not to go to Egypt but to live where God would tell him to live.
##### Imperatives that make things happen
#### Imperatives can be used to make things happen.
God can make things happen by commanding that they happen. Jesus healed a man by commanding that the man be healed. The man could not do anything to obey the command, but Jesus caused him to be healed by commanding it. ("Be clean" means "Be healed.")
>Jesus reached out his hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing. <u>Be clean</u>." Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:3 ULB)
God can make things happen by commanding that they happen.
In Genesis 1, God commanded that there should be light, and by commanding it, he caused it to exist. Some languages, such as the Hebrew of the Bible, have commands that are in the third person. English does not do that, and so it must turn the third-person command into a general second-person command, as in the ULB:
>God said, "<u>Let there be</u> light," and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 ULB)
Languages that have third-person commands can follow the original Hebrew, which translates into English as something like, "light must be."
In Genesis 1, God commanded that there should be light, and by commanding it, he caused it to exist.
##### Imperatives that function as blessings
>Jesus reached out his hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing. <u>Be clean</u>." Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:3 ULB)
In the Bible, God blesses people by using imperatives. This indicates what his will is for them.
Jesus healed a man by commanding that the man be healed. The man could not do anything to obey the command, but Jesus caused him to be healed by commanding it. ("Be clean" means "Be healed.")
#### Imperatives can be used as blessings.
>God blessed them and said to them, "<u>Be fruitful</u>, and <u>multiply</u>. <u>Fill</u> the earth, and <u>subdue</u> it. <u>Have dominion</u> over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28 ULB)
##### Imperatives that function as conditions
In the Bible, God blesses people by using imperatives. This indicates what his will is for them.
An imperative sentence can also be used to tell the **condition** under which something will happen. The proverbs mainly tell about life and things that often happen. The purpose of Proverbs 4:6 below is not primarily to give a command, but to teach what people can expect to happen **if** they love wisdom.
#### Imperatives can be used as conditions.
An imperative sentence can also be used to tell the **condition** under which something will happen. The proverbs mainly tell about life and things that often happen.
>... <u>do not abandon</u> wisdom and she will watch over you;
><u>love</u> her and she will keep you safe. (Proverbs 4:6 ULB)
The purpose of Proverbs 22:6 below is teach what people can expect to happen if they teach their children the way they should go.
The purpose of Proverbs 4:6 is to teach what people can expect to happen **if** they love wisdom; it is not primarily to give a command.
><u>Teach</u> a child the way he should go,
>and when he is old he will not turn away from that instruction. (Proverbs 22:6 ULB)
The purpose of Proverbs 22:6 is teach what people can expect to happen **if** they teach their children the way they should go.
### Translation Strategies
1. If people would not use an imperative sentence for one of the functions in the Bible, try using a statement instead.