Cyberdov

Robert Alter’s translation of Genesis 4:12  “Na va-nad tihyeh ba-aretz”:

“A restless wanderer shall you be on the earth”.

What is a hendiadys? From Wikipedia:

Hendiadys (a Latinized form of the Greek phrase ?? ??? ????? hen dia duoin ‘one through two’) is a figure of speech used for emphasis — “The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination”. The basic idea is to use two words linked by a conjunction to express a single complex idea.

The typical result is to transform a noun-plus-adjective into two nouns joined by a conjunction.

For example, “sound and fury” (from Act V, Scene V of Macbeth) seems to offer a more striking image than “furious sound”. In this example, as typically, the subordinate idea originally present in the adjective is transformed into a noun in and of itself.

Hendiadys is most effective in English when the adjective and noun form of the word are identical. Thus “the cold wind went down the hall” becomes “the cold and the wind went down the hall.”

“The kingdom and the power and the glory” (from the Lord’s Prayer) extends the principle, transforming the idea of a “glorious, powerful kingdom” into a sequence of three nouns joined by conjunctions.

When hendiadys fails in its effects, it can sound merely redundant. For example, cum amicitia atque pace, “with friendship and peace” is often translated instead as “with peaceful friendship.”

English names for hendiadys include two for one and figure of twinnes.

Filed under: Torah, Translation