As I was reading 2 Chronicles 26 this morning in my devotions, I ran across these fascinating words in verse 10. Note the four Hebrew words marked in yellow.
Here's what they sound like:
The words are describing Uzziah, king of Judah. A literal rendering might read: "For a lover of the land he was." That's good Hebrew but lousy English. Here are some attempts to put the Hebrew into English, Spanish, German, and French:
GNT: "he loved farming "
CSB: "he was a lover of the soil"
NIV: "he loved the soil"
LBLA: "amaba la tierra"
RVA: "era amigo de la agricultura"
LUTH: "er hatte Lust zum Ackerwerk"
HOF: "er liebte die Landwirtschaft"
BDS: "it aimait beaucoup la terre
LSG: "it aimait l'agriculture"
I might suggest the following translation: "He was a man who loved the soil."
I didn't always have an interest in dirt and soil. Sand, maybe, but not the earth. But God changed all that. Today we are a third-generation farm.
Like Uzziah of old, I truly love the land and our farm.
The smell of it.
The wonder of feeling the dirt as it crumbles between my fingers.
The soft earth beneath my knees.
A carrot pulled fresh from the soil and brushed off.
It's been said that despite all of mankind's achievements, we owe our very existence to a thin 6-inch layer of soil and the fact that it rains. God created man from the dust of the ground. Soil is where we come from and where we are laid to rest. Soils are home to 60 percent of species on earth. A handful of soil contains literally billions of microbes.
Yes, I love God's good earth. And Hebrew!