ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 TU‘APULELULU SEPITEMA 7

Fashion or Hurt? Job's Painful Pun

Ko e Ngaohi pe ko hono Fakamamahi’i? 

JOB 10:8-11

YOUR HANDS FASHIONED AND MADE ME, AND NOW YOU HAVE DESTROYED ME ALTOGETHER. REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE MADE ME LIKE CLAY; AND WILL YOU RETURN ME TO THE DUST? DID YOU NOT POUR ME OUT LIKE MILK AND CURDLE ME LIKE CHEESE?

SIOPE 10:8-11

8 Ko ho nima na na‘e fakafuofua mo ngaohi au, Hoko kotoa, ‘o takatakai: Pea ko eni kuo ke faka‘auha! 9 Manatu mu‘a, kuo ke ngaohi au hangē ko e ‘umea: Pea te ke fakafoki au ke u efu. 10‘Ikai na‘a ke lingi au hangē ko e hu‘akau, ‘O ke fakafatu au hangē ko e ngaohi ‘o e siisi? 11Ko e kili mo e kakano kuo fakakofu ‘aki au ‘e he ‘Afiona, Mo lalanga au ‘aki ‘a e hui mo e uoua.

[LILIU FAKA-TONGA]

‘Oku ‘i ai ‘etau lea Tonga mo e ngaahi paloveape ‘oku mahino’i pe ia mo ‘uhinga lelei ‘i he ‘ataki faka-Tonga. ‘E faingata’a ke mahino kapau ‘e liliu ki ha lea muli. ‘Oku pehe ni pe mo e lea faka-Hepeluu, ‘i he pehee ‘e Siope ki he ‘Otua, Ko ho nima na na‘e ‘atasave au. Ko e veape, ‘atasave, ko e ma’u mei he lea tefito tatau ‘e ua; ko e taha, ‘oku ‘uhinga, ko e “ngaohi” pea ko e taha, ko e “fakatupu mamahi.” Na’e “ngaohi” ‘e he to’ukupu ‘o e ‘Otuaa ‘a Siope, pe na’a ne “fakamamahi’i?” Ko e ongo veape kehe ‘i he veesi, “ngaohi” mo e “faka’auha”, ‘oku na ‘omi ‘a e ‘uhinga taulua ‘o e ‘atasave. ‘Oku na fakamatala’i ‘a e lea faka paloveape ko eni, ‘i he hu’unga ‘e ua ‘oku tuhu ki ai ‘a e e ‘atasave; ko e taha ‘oku positivo (lea ‘io) pea taha ‘oku nekativo (lea ‘ikai).  

Neongo ‘ene tofanga ‘i he faingata’aa, ka na’e kei ma’u pe ‘a e sio faka-punake (fa’u ta’anga) ‘a Siope. ‘Io, ‘oku fakaola loua pe ‘e he ‘Otua ‘a e ongo me’a ni ‘i hono to’ukupu; ‘oku ne ‘afio’i ‘a e taimi ke ngaohi ai kitautolu mo e taimi ke toe fakafo’ou ai kitautolu. Pea ko hono toe takao ke fakafo’ou, ‘oku ‘ikai fai mola. Ko e nima ‘ofa ‘o ‘etau Tamai, ‘oku ne ‘atasave - ngaohi pea ne toe fakamamahi’i kitautolu. Hange pe ko hono ngaohi kitautolu ‘i he ‘imisi ‘o e ‘Atama ‘uluaki, ‘oku toe fakafo’ou kitautolu ke hokosi e ‘imisi ‘o e ‘Atama hono ua, ‘a Kalaisi - ko hotau ‘Eiki ne kalusefai pea toetu’u.

Hange ko ho’o fatu kimautolu ‘i manava, ‘e Tamai, fakafo’ou kimautolu ‘ia Kalaisi ke mau hokosi hono ‘imisi. 

[ENGLISH]

Puns are notoriously difficult to transfer from one language to another. Imagine trying to translate this sentence into another language: "The crows saw a murder." Did they witness another flock (murder) of crows or the killing (murder) of a man? Something similar occurs in the Hebrew when Job says to God, "Your hands atzav and made me." The verb atzav can be from two identical roots, but one means "fashion" and the other "cause pain." Did God's hands make Job or hurt him? The other two verbs in the verse, "made" and "destroyed," unpack the dual meaning of atzav. They explain the pun, as it were, in the two directions that atzav might go: one positive, one negative.

Even in his suffering, Job remained a poet. Indeed, God's hands do both, for he knows that we need to be not only made but remade. And remaking is never a painless process. Our Father's hands atzav - both fashion and pain-us that, just as we have borne the image of Adam, so we might bear the image of Christ, our crucified and

resurrected Lord.

As you formed us in the womb, heavenly Father, reform us in Christ, to bear his image.