Monday, September 22, 2008

The use of "Son" figeratively

When God addresses mankind, He would say "Ya Bani Adam" in Arabic which means "O Children of Adam". When God addresses the Israelites, He would say "Ya Bani Israil" or "O Children of Israel". The use of the word "Children" is also extended to members of a tribe. "Bani Tamim" was a tribe in Arabia and members of the tribe were known as "Children of Tamim". Suppose a member of the tribe visited another tribe, then the host would address him as the "Son of Tamin" or the "Daughter of Tamim" whatever the case

Sometimes a person would be called by his/her famous ancestor. In the Quran Ch.19 Verse 28 God calls out to Mary "O Sister of Aaron.." Mary was no sister of Aaron. She was one of Aaron's descendents. In the same way, her cousin Elizabeth was known as "One of the daughters of Aaron
(Luke 1:5) I am trying to unravel the mystery how Jesus came to be known as the Son of God

The use of "Son" is also found in America. I watched a Western once. In that movie John Wayne said "Listen Son and you better listen good" as he grabbed an outlaw by the collar,

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