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Believer Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
a case of being definite by an assumption?
Hi,
In the book named 'The Purpose Driven Life' by Rick Warren, its Day 28 reading under the heading of "It Takes Time,' I found this sentence almost at the end of the Day's reading.
God isn't finished with you, either, so keep on moving forward. Even the snail reached the ark by persevering!
Here, I think even a grammarian with a great knowledge in English can answer this one, so allow me to ask this question.
I think the snail here refers to the one that got into the ark made by Noah. Now, if someone who hasn't read the Bible even once saw this sentence for the first time, it wouldn't be unimaginable to think that he would be quite perplexed as to which SPECIFIC snail this is, but if someone who read the Bible would likely to know what snail this one is referred to -- the one that got into Noah's ark. I think people who would be reading this book is knowledgeable about the Bible or at least has inclination to pursue further if he finds the specificity of this case lacking.
So, where does specificity for the words 'the snail' come from?
I will appreciate any help.
In the book named 'The Purpose Driven Life' by Rick Warren, its Day 28 reading under the heading of "It Takes Time,' I found this sentence almost at the end of the Day's reading.
God isn't finished with you, either, so keep on moving forward. Even the snail reached the ark by persevering!
Here, I think even a grammarian with a great knowledge in English can answer this one, so allow me to ask this question.
I think the snail here refers to the one that got into the ark made by Noah. Now, if someone who hasn't read the Bible even once saw this sentence for the first time, it wouldn't be unimaginable to think that he would be quite perplexed as to which SPECIFIC snail this is, but if someone who read the Bible would likely to know what snail this one is referred to -- the one that got into Noah's ark. I think people who would be reading this book is knowledgeable about the Bible or at least has inclination to pursue further if he finds the specificity of this case lacking.
So, where does specificity for the words 'the snail' come from?
I will appreciate any help.
Top answer
" Someone who had not read the book of Genesis, and was unfamiliar with the story of Noah, would probably assume that, in some story, somewhere, a snail had approached an ark; and that the writer of this passage expected the reader to know that story. All the best, MrP
- " Someone who had not read the book of Genesis, and was unfamiliar with the story of Noah, would probably assume that, in some story, somewhere, a snail had approached an ark; and that the writer of this passage expected the reader to know that story.
- All the best, MrP
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1 Answers
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Hello Believer
Someone who had read the book of Genesis would know that "the snail" was "the snail [or presumably, one of the two snails] that Noah took into the Ark."
Someone who had not read the book of Genesis, and was unfamiliar with the story of Noah, would probably assume that, in some story, somewhere, a snail had approached an ark; and that the writer of thi
Someone who had read the book of Genesis would know that "the snail" was "the snail [or presumably, one of the two snails] that Noah took into the Ark."
Someone who had not read the book of Genesis, and was unfamiliar with the story of Noah, would probably assume that, in some story, somewhere, a snail had approached an ark; and that the writer of thi
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