Etymology as backstory
When I translate Sarah's story, I can't invent backstories for her or the characters I encounter. But I can discover hints about their origins in the words themselves.
“Be careful of thinking you know a person so well. Like comic books, everyone has an origin story … and oftentimes it ain’t pretty.”
― H.L. Sudler
Hello Dear Reader,
It’s true, everyone has an origin story. You do. I do. And when we write, we need to remember that each of our characters do, too.
And yet, I don’t get the impression that the authors of the Bible were very interested in backstory. Maybe that’s because when you’re writing a book about creation, you maintain that that your characters were, well, just dug up out of the earth, fully formed.
Not to argue with the bestselling book of all time, but as contemporary readers, we crave context.
As a translator, however, I am not free to invent a backstory for the biblical characters I’m re-animating on the page. What I can do is extract hints and references as to their pasts from the words themselves. Because as it turns out, every word has a backstory, too. It’s what we call etymology, the study of word origins and the history of how they came to mean what they mean.
You’ll see how I use etymology and historical context to create backstory in my translation once again today.
But first —
Join me (and Sarah and Hagar) for this upcoming mini-course where you can explore the backstories of two compelling and controversial matriarchs:
Sarah and Hagar: Uncovering Feminine Strength and Wisdom. Four Tuesdays, March 3, 10, 17 & 24, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST. With Tzivia Gover, hosted by Ritualwell. Explore the complex biblical matriarchs, Sarah and Hagar, through text study, discussion, and writing prompts, uncovering new possibilities for understanding female relationships, motherhood, and feminine archetypes.
In today’s translation of two verses, Gen. 23:5-6, from the chapter known as “The Life of Sarah,” Abraham is purchasing a burial plot for his wife, who has recently died at age 127.
In these verses, we hear from the Hittites, the sons (and, in my translation anyway, daughters) of a leader named Chet. Having been mentioned earlier, these citizens are now given voice.
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Men (and women) of steel
Traditional translations of these verses are concise and matter-of-fact, and notably short on description. New characters, “the sons of Chet,” are introduced, but without any context or characterization.
In my version, you will see their dark faces, black as charcoal, and their eyes that glint like silver. Rather than just hearing Abraham’s words, they absorb what he is saying. That’s because I include nouns, adjectives, and verbs that are implied by the history of the people, and the language itself.
Let’s have a look:
The sons of Chet are Hittites, who were dark-skinned Indo-Europeans. Their complexions were often described as black.
Like Sarah and Abraham, the Hittites were originally from Mesopotamia. They settled in Canaan and built an advanced civilization with its own legal code and economy. They had also amassed military might, in part it seems, due to their early use of iron. They were known for steel production, which involved adding charcoal to iron to strengthen the resulting metal. They used iron and steel in the chariots and weapons they produced.
Who is the most humble of them all
Although Sarah and Abraham had also come from a technologically and culturally sophisticated civilization, they had been living as landless nomads for decades since leaving their homeland. They re-established their stature in the new territory they inhabited thanks to their qualities of fairness, generosity, hospitality, and, importantly, their spiritual and religious status as prophetess and prophet.
Now, as Abraham stands face to face with the Hittites to negotiate the purchase of a small plot of land (his first in Canaan), he doesn’t need to flaunt his status. He takes a humble stance, as do the people of Chet, who heap praises on him. In this negotiation, which continues for a few more verses, each side offers to give more than is asked of them. Abraham insists on paying top dollar (or shekel as the case may be) for the land, and the Hittites offer him his choice of burial site, and even initially brush aside his offer of payment.
In light of their deferential exchange, I was interested to learn that the Hebrew verb anu (plural of the verb ana) means to answer, and has a secondary meaning: to be humbled.
Self and others
Abraham’s humble stance is dramatized further when we view him in contrast to the people he is conducting business with.
The Hittites are repeatedly described as “the sons of Chet,” which emphasizes the discrepancy between the assembled crowd, who are related by a network of family bonds, versus Abraham, who is a recent widower who appears before them without either of his sons at his side, let alone any of his attendants or followers.
The unity of the Hittites is also embedded in the word tokh meaning midst in English (23:6). Tokh can refer to the inner person; the heart of who one is. Carl Jung might have called this the unified Self. Which leads us to an associated meaning of tokh: When written with a different vowel (an u sound instead of an o) the word can also mean unity.
Thus, in my translation, the Hittites answer Abraham with a unified voice at the conclusion of verse 5. (The unity of the group is echoed by the grammar, which uses singular verbs to join with the plurality of the Hittites.)
And so, in verse 6, I intensify the emotion, and allow Abraham to give voice to the yearnings of his heart.
That was a deep dive into etymology! I hope you found some nerdy pleasure in digging into the text. I sure did, and if you did too, stay tuned for more about word origins and refreshed perspectives.
Thank you for accompanying me on this journey of translation and transformation.
Until next time, I’m dreaming with you,
