Role of 'for'

Question

What is the role of 'for' in the following sentence:

/quote
FOR Renan was succeeding to the chair of Hebrew, and his lecture was on the contribution of the Semitic peoples to the history of civilization.
/end quote
Is it For + nominal clause?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What is the role of 'for' in the following sentence: /quote FOR Renan was succeeding to the chair of Hebrew, and his lecture was on the contribution of the Semitic peoples to the history of civilization. /end quote Is it For + nominal clause?[/nq]
"For" is a conjunction here, and means something like "because". It introduces explanations. The sentence you have quoted is intended to explain something in the preceding sentence.
It's very rarely used in modern English, but is understood because it is often used in Biblical quotations:
"After dressing Jacob in Esau?s clothes, she put the skins of the two young goats on his hands and neck, for Esau was a hairy man, and Jacob had smooth skin."
She is trying to trick her blind husband into thinking that Jacob is Esau.
Gary

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is the role of 'for' in the following sentence: /quote FOR Renan was succeeding to the chair of Hebrew, and his lecture was on the contribution of the Semitic peoples to the history of civilization. /end quote[/nq]
Could it stand for Frederick Oscar Rober?

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

Gary Vellenzer (Email Removed) wrote (23 Jul 2003) in / alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]It's very rarely used in modern English, but is understood because it is often used in Biblical quotations: "After dressing ... the two young goats on his hands and neck, for Esau was a hairy man, and Jacob had smooth skin."[/nq]
Saying something is "used in Biblical quotations," followed by a colon and then text in quotation marks suggests strongly that the text in the quotation marks is a Biblical quotation. What text are you quoting. Below is Genesis 27:6-22 from the AV (KJV) to help you in preparing your answer. Note that "Biblical quotation" in English almost always means from the AV; no other translation has contributed anything to the stock of recognized quotations. It never means "some paraphrase I made up."
Gen 27
6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. 13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy *** brought it to me.
21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

Martin Ambuhl
Returning soon to the
Fourth Largest City in America

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Note that "Biblical quotation" in English almost always means from the AV; no other translation has contributed anything to the stock of recognized quotations. It never means "some paraphrase I made up."[/nq]
This may have been the case at one time, but is no longer true. There are many translations of the Bible in English, and none really any more authentic than all the others. Sometimes it's the message that's important, not the identity of the translators.
And for that matter, "some paraphrase I made up" has the possibility to be as good a translation as any of the published ones.

Stefano
http://www.steve-and-pattie.com/esperantujo

Usenet · Answer

(Email Removed) (Stefano MacGregor) wrote (23 Jul 2003) in / alt.usage.english:
[nq:2]Note that "Biblical quotation" in English almost always means from ... recognized quotations. It never means "some paraphrase I made up."[/nq]
[nq:1]This may have been the case at one time, but is no longer true. There are many translations of the Bible in English, and none really any more authentic than all the others. Sometimes it's the message that's important, not the identity of the translators.[/nq]
You obviously have no feel for the use of Biblical quotations in English. This has nothing to do with the quality of translation. Consider, for example, 1 Corinthians 13, the source of many standard phrases in English. The 13 verses of this chapter yield as many stock phrases in English, almost none of which survived in the same form in any post-AV translation. It is the AV language that survives in quotation. The translators have had good reasons for the changes; some verses would seem cryptic to a modern reader. Have you, though, ever heard a more modern translation used rather than the AV (KJV) for verse 12, for example?
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." What reader does not know "through a glass darkly"? What translation other than the AV (KJV) uses the phrase?
[nq:1]And for that matter, "some paraphrase I made up" has the possibility to be as good a translation as any of the published ones.[/nq]
Not even close. It has no parallels at all to the text. You have to conflate a number of verses and reassign things said by Jacob to have been said by Rebekah. If the falsification of text passes as "as good a translation" for you, then you have a very sick mind.

Martin Ambuhl
Returning soon to the
Fourth Largest City in America

Role of 'for'

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