It's Grammar Time at mrtl's! Woo!
Today's lesson will underscore the importance of context in language.
Hopefully you're already well aware of how important it is to be fully informed before getting your panties in a bunch, forming opinions, or operating heavy machinery. The recent election showed some pretty flagrant (and at times egregious) examples of how words can be taken completely out of context and used against the speaker.
For today's lesson we're going to focus on a line that came to mind this morning after Susie told me (yet again) to have a blessed day (she does this to annoy me): Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. I found myself incredibly confused. Rephrased: Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
::tangent for some confused pondering and Jesus Dress up::
Jesus didn't have a womb. Right? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but transgender surgeries weren't available then.::tangent to correct terminology::
I mixed up transexual with transgendered earlier today. My apologies.
::end tangent to correct terminology::Then again, being the son of God, I'm sure God would have helped him. Or would he? Is this even addressed in the Bible? Maybe there's some phrase about accepting oneself as you are. OR maybe there's a phrase about improving oneself.
I'm managing to make myself more confused now.
Either way, if Jesus were a woman, what kind of woman would he be? Demure... Modest... Assertive...
Jesus Dress Up doesn't have a whole lot of working choices, so I went with Glinda, the Good Witch. (Note: I've only seen the movie Wizard of Oz.)
Ooooh, Glinda totally works. She encourages people to wish for what they want. That's the same as praying, right?
::end tangent for some confused pondering and Jesus Dress up::
As you can see, my confusion on this line came from taking it out of its context. I read Jesus as a vocative, that Jesus was being addressed by the speaker.
Here are some correct examples of vocatives from the Bible, in which the vocatives are bolded. I took them from Deuteronomy, for no other reason than it starts with "doo," so I like to say it.
Deuteronomy 32:1
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.Deuteronomy 33:11
Bless all his skills, O LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands. Smite the loins of those who rise up against him; strike his foes till they rise no more."::tangent/end tangent to note deliberate nontangent about smiting loins. Even I don't want to go there. ew, and ow::
Now, the initial quote is actually a line from "Hail Mary," a prayer that's commonly repeated as penance for mischief and sins in the Roman Catholic faith of my upbringing:
Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Having the full context, it is obvious that the speaker is talking to Mary, not Jesus. Whew! Put that image of Jesus in Glinda drag out of your mind! That makes Jesus an appositive , renaming the noun fruit.
Here are some more examples of appositives from the Bible. The noun being renamed (called the antecendent) is bolded, while the appositive is in italics.
Deuteronomy 3:14
Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.Deuteronomy 7:2
And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
I now step away from the chalkboard. Any questions?
For my nerdier readers, if you're so inclined, feel free to comment with examples of your own vocatives and appositives.
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Edit to mark more examples.
