# Grant me wings, and I will fly



## Derelict

Hi there. Could anyone translate the phrase "Grant me wings and I will fly" for me? It's part of a song lyric. My sub-par Hebrew knowledge worked it into this:

תעניק לי כנפיים ואעפה

I'm sure it's very crude. Is there a more accurate/elegant way of saying a poetic phrase like this? Are there any words that imply both physical flight and escape, like "ברח" or "נמלט" by chance? I don't understand the nuances of these words.

As a note, I realize the extra yud in "כנפיים" or whatever the proper word for "wings" might be is more or less optional, and indicates a pair of wings. Would it be more natural to a native speaker without it?

As far as the subject of the command "grant" goes, it's mostly along the lines of a prayer or any command to a singular-masculine "you." The speaker for "I will fly" should be singular-masculine.


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## amikama

I would translate:
*.הענק לי כנפיים ואעופה*

The suffix ה in the verb אעופה makes it sound highly poetic and flowery (such suffix exists mostly in the biblical and literary Hebrew). The verb הענק should be in imperative, because the future form (תעניק) sounds too colloquial for a song. אעופה means "I will fly" (fly = what birds and flies do), but in this context it also might imply "I will escape".

If you write without nikkud, כנפיים (a pair of wings) must be spelled with two yudim. כנפים (with one yod) would look unnatural for me. However, if you write with nikkud, it should be: כְּנָפַיִם (one yud).


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## scriptum

amikama said:


> I would translate:
> *.הענק לי כנפיים ואעופה*
> 
> The suffix ה in the verb אעופה makes it sound highly poetic and flowery (such suffix exists mostly in the biblical and literary Hebrew).


אעופה is poetic and flowery all right, but semantically it seems to be rather out of place here. It means not "I will fly" but "let me fly" (see Gesenius Heb. Grammar, 48c). If lengthening of verb be needed, I think one had better lengthen the imperative: תנה לי כנפיים ואעוף. Or maybe תנה לי כנפיים לעוף.


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## Derelict

In that sense, wouldn't "תנה" be "Give" instead of "Grant?"


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## scriptum

Yes. If you insist on using להעניק, the lengthened imperative form will be העניקה (haaniqa).


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## amikama

scriptum said:


> אעופה is poetic and flowery all right, but semantically it seems to be rather out of place here. It means not "I will fly" but "let me fly" (see Gesenius Heb. Grammar, 48c). If lengthening of verb be needed, I think one had better lengthen the imperative: תנה לי כנפיים ואעוף. Or maybe תנה לי כנפיים לעוף.


Well, I still think that in this context אעופה sounds better than אעוף. But maybe it's only me.


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## Gadyc

Hi,
I dodn't know what is the source and the context of this song, but the phraze is very close to a verse of the Psalms (chap 55 V 7):

מִי יִתֶּן לִי אֵבֶר כַּיּוֹנָה  אָעוּפָה וְאֶשְׁכֹּנָה

It says: Who will give me a wing like a dove, (so) I fly and reside (= live in peace)

מי יתן : Who will give is a biblical idiom refering to G-d. It's a way to ask G-d to accomplish a wish.
אבר : usually an organ. In birds context - a wing.

If the song's context is in someway biblical or close to it, I would try to use the Psalms style.

Gadyc.


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## piano_man

I'm with אעופה.
It's similar to the Biblical אשביתה מאנוש זכרם of Deuteronomy 32:26.
G-d cannot be requesting that someone allow Him to destroy the people there; He is saying what He will do.


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## scriptum

piano_man said:


> It's similar to the Biblical אשביתה מאנוש זכרם of Deuteronomy 32:26.
> G-d cannot be requesting that someone allow Him to destroy the people there; He is saying what He will do.


That's a fine theological point. But the fact is that in the Bible God constantly speaks of Himself as a human being. Cf.
הרף ממני ואשמידם
"Let me alone, that I may destroy them". He is actually asking a man to let Him do something. The quote is from the same book of Deuteronomy.


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## Yoni

העניקה
strikes me as too literal a translation of 'grant me'. Yes, it's a correct dictionary rendering, but my immediate reaction would be 'Ah, he's asking to be granted a prize'  

תנה
is an appropriate rendering of 'grant me', because the ending is poetic in itself. The 'give' sense becomes more like the English 'grant'.


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