# We are children of G'd



## Jazm!

Hi everyone!
Should this phrase be translated as: 

אנחן ילדים האלהים
Anakhnu yeladim haElohiem 

I'm not sure if I wrote it correctly in Hebrew... please correct me!

Thanks a lot.


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## dinji

Jazm! said:


> Hi everyone!
> Should this phrase be translated as:
> 
> אנחן ילדים האלהים
> Anakhnu yeladim haElohiem
> 
> I'm not sure if I wrote it correctly in Hebrew... please correct me!
> 
> Thanks a lot.


No, I would not say that. 

I would suggest

אנחנו  בנים לאלוהים
Anakhnu banim laElohim

If you use the word y'ladim you cut away the connotation who the children are familiy to, and therefore makes G-d sound like a kindergarten caretaker.


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## ahshav

dinji said:


> No, I would not say that.
> 
> I would suggest
> 
> אנחנו  בנים לאלוהים
> Anakhnu banim laElohim
> 
> If you use the word y'ladim you cut away the connotation who the children are familiy to, and therefore makes G-d sound like a kindergarten caretaker.



That phrase sounds a bit awkward - we are the children of g-d would be אנחנו/אנו ילדי אלוהים and we are the sons of g-d (closer to what dinji said) is אנחנו/אנו בני אלוהים


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## origumi

If the context is theological I can suggest בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים, "bnei ha-elohim", as written in Genesis 6:1-4.


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## Jazm!

Thanks a lot, all three of you!


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## scriptum

To the best of my understanding, בני האלהים in the Bible does not refer to human beings. So Dinji is right, and the correct translation should be
אנחנו בנים לאלהים.
To preserve the biblical style, I would suggest: בנים אנו לה' אלהינו (cf. דברים י"ד).​


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## berndf

You are right that in the context of Genesis 6:2 בני־האלהים clearly means "sons of (the) G'd" and not "children of (the) G'd". But there are enough examples in Biblical Hebrew where בנים is is used in a sex-unspecific way (e.g. בני־ישראל); much like "man" in English before the invention of political correctness where "man" could mean "male human" being or just "human being". So, I see nothing wrong with Origumi's suggestion.


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## dinji

I think Scriptum means that Genesis 6:2 refers to angels or the like, which would exclude the expression from being used for humans, whatever the gender. That is of course more a point of theology than lingusitics.

I avoided the construct form _bnei-(ha)elohim _because it may be misintepreted as THE children of G-d rather than SOME children of G-d, which was clearly the intention of Jazm. _Banim shel haElohim anu_ would combine all the concerns expressed so far.

I still also think genderwise unspecified child(ren) in Biblical Hebrew is the word _ben/bnei/banim_ if the intention is to express family relation to parents. _hayeled shel mishehu_ could mean any relation of possession, not necessarily descent?


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## ahshav

Well, if you want to just imply children of "a" G-d, then you just could say בני אל (or, without getting into this argument - ילדי אל).


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## scriptum

dinji said:


> I think Scriptum means that Genesis 6:2 refers to angels or the like, which would exclude the expression from being used for humans, whatever the gender. That is of course more a point of theology than lingusitics.
> 
> I avoided the construct form _bnei-(ha)elohim _because it may be misintepreted as THE children of G-d rather than SOME children of G-d, which was clearly the intention of Jazm. _Banim shel haElohim anu_ would combine all the concerns expressed so far.
> 
> I still also think genderwise unspecified child(ren) in Biblical Hebrew is the word _ben/bnei/banim_ if the intention is to express family relation to parents. _hayeled shel mishehu_ could mean any relation of possession, not necessarily descent?


בני אלהים and בנים לאלהים mean very different things. The word בן in the construct state acquires an enormous variety of meanings, which makes it quite untranslatable. For example, בן מוות clearly is not a "son" of anybody. That's why nobody can know for sure the meaning of בן האלהים, while בן לאלהים leaves no room for doubt.


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