ON TODAY’S SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON: Archaic and Obsolete Words.
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Words, hence language, can be quite interesting especially when dealing with those that are obsolete and/or archaic. The Samoan language is no different.
As a Gospel Doctrine Teacher in my LDS Ward, and in the assigned reading for today’s lesson (Sunday 7/17), I had a similar experience with what seems to be an archaic Samoan word/phrase.
Before I get into the specifics, let me say that the very early/first Samoan translations of the Bible, as in other language translations, I’m sure, translators would often use words and terms that were contemporary and common to the vernacular and usage of the time. It is perhaps one of the reasons that revisions are made through the years as certain words become obsolete - or no longer used. Note also that revisions of the Bible translations are often made in order to suit and conform to a dogma and beliefs of a particular religion, church or denomination. There are several other reasons.
In today’s lesson, we were studying 2 Kings 17-25 in which Israel, the Northern Kingdom, fell to the Assyrians during the reign of king Hoshea. Judah, the Southern Kingdom, coincidingly, is on a decline and would later suffer the same fate as Israel.
One of the kings of Judah at this time was Hezekiah who was generally a good king compared to others like his father Ahaz and Manasseh - who surprisingly repented in his final days.
When Hezekiah was sick and was told by the prophet Isaiah that he was going to die, Hezekiah prayed and implored the Lord to have mercy on him since he had “walked in truth with a perfect heart...and done that which is good....” (2 Kings 20:2-3). The Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and granted him fifteen more years to live. In addition, the Lord, through Isaiah, told Hezekiah (verses 5 & 😎 that “on the third day [he] shalt go up unto the house of the Lord”, — or the temple (a reference to which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can relate).
Now the gist of this post is in the words “the third day”. First of all the metaphorical context and implication of the death and resurrection of Christ can be drawn here, as in other verbatim “third day” scriptural references.
Surprisingly however, to most if not all Samoans, the translation of “the third day” is not what they, at least the younger generations, had expected which would be something like “i le aso tolu”, or “i le lona tolu o aso,” etc. Again, “tolu” for “three/third”, and “aso” for “day” would be expected in the translation, but neither key word is found in the Samoan translation. Instead, this phrase is used:
“i e luā” (20:5;8). Note the faamamafa (macron) above the /a, to be discussed later. Also the same Samoan translation is found in Exodus 19:11 when Jehovah told Moses to prepare the Israelites on the "third day" when He shall visit and speak to them.
Even to most native speakers, like me, the words seem nowhere related — semantically, syntactically, phonetically, morphologically or otherwise — to “the third day” in its usual and contemporary meaning and translation. Etymology still needs to be settled.
And so, like the proverbial cat, my curiosity got the best of me and I unfurled my feelers, antenna .... or whiskers 🦊 🤣
I first started checking other versions/revisions/publications of the Samoan Bible (of which I have a few - 1884, 1887 and 1965) and expectedly, they all have the same “i e luā” translation.
I knew however that the translation was not a mistake just a difference in meaning or context. So my next step was the natural (these days) online search. And as the scriptures attest: “...knock and it shall be opened unto you”..lol!
So lo and behold (no pun intended), I found a document that dates back to the colonial times kept by the Germans who ruled Samoa at one point answered my curiosity: “i e luā” literally means “the day after tomorrow” which, in today’s usage, we Samoans say “talaatu taeao”.
Further analysis on my part seems to find that “luā” (with the macron) is a derivative of “lua” (two). Apparently therefore “i e luā” means “two days from now/today”.
Interestingly enough, however, I have looked up most or all of the occurrences of “third day” in both the Old and New Testaments and they all have “aso tolu” as the standard translation. Ia ga!!
Happy Sabbath, and talk to y’all tomorrow, if not “i e luā”. God bless!!🙏