something i've been thinking

English is Inadequate

There are so many things about the English language that are just plain silly. For instance, why do we drive on a parkway, but park in the driveway? What kind of language says something like that? Or how about this - we spell tomb, comb, and bomb all with the same 3 last letters, but each word makes a very different sound when spoken! How confusing English is for our kids learning how to spell. When we make a word plural, usually we can just add an “s” at the end. What is the plural of “ox?” Well… not “oxs,” but “oxen.” So, what is the plural of “box?” Let’s see… not “boxen,” but “boxes.” What is the plural of “goose?” Why, that’s “geese,” of course. What is the plural of “moose?” Uh oh… um, “moosen?” “Meese?” “Mooses?”

I stole all of those thoughts from comedians. I love a good stand-up comedian, someone who uses cleverness and irony to change perspective on everyday events. There are many crass and inappropriate comedians in popular culture, but there are a few who use their creativity to point out interesting observations of everyday life, like those indicating the inadequacy of the English language. Now, don’t get me wrong - I’m not advocating that we speak another language instead of English, like Spanish or French… there’s no telling how some of us did with those languages in High School or college… well, maybe I would like to speak another language, in a way… I’ll explain that a bit more later.

When I was in Divinity School at Campbell, I missed the opportunity to take Hebrew (one of the languages in which the Bible is written). I made up for this in a way by taking a class on the Psalms, where we studied the structure and meaning of the Psalms as a whole and as individual works. The concept of ‘parallelism’ in Hebrew poetry doesn’t really translate into English - I learned that lines that sound repetitive or redundant in the English language translation of the Psalms are actually very powerful and meaningful lines in the original Hebrew writing of the Psalms. Maybe we should all learn Hebrew, since English is inadequate! Later in that same class, we came across a word called hesed that doesn’t really translate well into English. The word hesed is translated sometimes as “kindness,” a word that doesn't carry as much weight in English as it does in Hebrew. When I think of “kind” people, it doesn’t make me think of a characteristic of God, necessarily - I just think about being “nice.” It is also translated “lovingkindness” in several places. That’s a word we don’t use everyday! But, this particular word is used over 180 times in the New American Standard translation of the Bible. Hesed can be translated as “steadfast love,” “love,” or “mercy” as well, and “steadfast love” shows up 202 times in the English Standard Version. Hesed is a very potent word, and when it is translated into any single English word, I think it’s losing some if its power.

But what does hesed REALLY mean? It is the aspect of God’s love that is praised over and over in Psalm 136 (look it up!). Hesed is ‘love that manifests itself not in emotion, but in compassionate action.’ That is a love worth praising, indeed! This word, this love, that the English language struggles to translate, is a concept that might even be too big for the Hebrew language, or for the Greek language, or for Latin, or ANY language for that matter. I propose that English is inadequate because this ‘love’ or hesed can only be truly defined when we LIVE it. Hesed is the word for God’s compassionate action toward us, His faithfulness to move and work on our behalf, for His glory. Hesed is the example that God, through Jesus, has set for us. However, we can write about it until we run out of words, we can talk about it until we are out of breath, we can try as hard as we want to define God’s love with our statements and articles, but the example of hesed that we have been given proves to us that our love for God and love for our community can only be defined when we act.

So, the language that I think we all should speak, instead of English, is… Hebrew. No, we should speak to one another in compassionate action, in loving movement. In hugs, smiles, tears, and service. In sacrifice, patience, brokenness, and truth. We should share meals together, invite our neighbors over, and proclaim God’s glory in our loving actions. I think that would be a pretty adequate language, don’t you?