{"id":65553,"date":"2019-11-10T16:35:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T14:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=65553"},"modified":"2023-06-05T16:24:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T13:24:06","slug":"who-are-the-kith-and-kin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-are-the-kith-and-kin\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are The Kith And Kin?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[379,361],"acf":{"old_id":"65553","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"348","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A discussion from ancient to modern Hebrew","content":"

In chapter 14, Isaiah prophesies about the punishment Babylon will ultimately receive. In verse 22, he proclaims:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will rise up against them\u2014declares the LORD of Hosts\u2014and will wipe out from Babylon name and remnant, kith and kin\u2014declares the LORD\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew words translated here as \u201ckith and kin\u201d (a phrase meaning people connected by family relationships) are \u201cnin\u201d and \u201cneched\u201d. Those two words appear only three times in the Bible, always together, and in the same order \u2013 here in Isaiah, and also in Genesis 21:23 and Job 18:19. What do they mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

In modern Hebrew, neched means grandson and nin means great-grandson. However, that was not the sense in biblical Hebrew. Some explain both as synonyms, simply meaning \u201cdescendants\u201d and are coupled together for emphasis.\u00a0 The ancient Aramaic translation to the Torah, Onkelos, says that nin means son, and neched means grandson (probably due to nin coming first), and this is accepted by many later commentators.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not clear how nin became the common term for great-grandson in modern Hebrew. The \u201cVaad Halashon\u201d (the predecessor to today\u2019s Academy of the Hebrew Language) opposed this meaning in a 1943 decision. They preferred the word \u201cshilesh\u201d (found, for example, in Exodus 37:7), and that nin be used for \u201cdescendant.\u201d But in the end, language is determined by those who speak it, and in 2014 the Academy of the Hebrew Language confirmed that nin meant great-grandson.<\/span><\/p>\n

A similar process occurred with the words for grandfather and grandmother. In that same 1943 decision, the Vaad Halashon wrote that the proper word for grandfather was sav, and grandmother was savah. But those were not the popular words used at the time, but rather, as used today saba for grandfather (likely due to the rhyme with abba \u2013 father) and savta for grandmother. Later, those terms were considered proper Hebrew as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is somewhat strange that the words for grandchildren and grandparents were being debated well into the second half of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century. But perhaps this was because in earlier generations, due to shorter life expectancy, it was not as common for grandchildren to know their grandparents. For example, in the Bible, interaction between grandchildren and grandparents was rare. Therefore, it wasn\u2019t as necessary for them to have terms to call one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

So perhaps our generation, where children not only know their grandparents well, but often know their great-grandparents, the happy prophecy of Jeremiah has come to fruition: \u201cThen shall maidens dance gaily, Young men and old alike. I will turn their mourning to joy, I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief\u201d (Jeremiah 31:13).<\/span><\/p>\n

Image by: Ben Schachter, Kith and Kin, Inc., courtesy of the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65554,"id":65554,"title":"IS14-kith and kin","filename":"IS14-kith-and-kin.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS14-kith-and-kin.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-are-the-kith-and-kin\/is14-kith-and-kin\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is14-kith-and-kin","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65553,"date":"2019-11-10 14:34:49","modified":"2019-11-10 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