The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. – Genesis 12:1
In the beginning God spoke the subject and the verb
“From chapter 11, verse 20, to the last chapter 50 of Genesis, it is filled with the family history of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac and Ishmael (the forefather of many countries in the current Middle East), Isaac fathered Jacob and Esau (the ancestor of the Edomites near ancient Israel), and Jacob became the father of the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. The name Israel, which is the name of the nation and people formed by his descendants, was the new name given to Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, by God.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”– Genesis 32:28)
Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, eventually became the vizier of Egypt after many trials and tribulations. When a famine came over the land where Israel lived, all of Jacob’s family moved to Egypt. They stayed in Egypt, along with all his family for 400 years. This is a brief overview of their family history.
In fact, Abraham’s hometown is assumed not to be in the current region of Israel but somewhere in today’s Turkey or Iraq. Despite living a prosperous and convenient life in an urban area, he was willing to move to an unknown world following God’s command.
The above Bible verse is a scene where God tells Abraham to leave his hometown and promises that many nations will come from him.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. -Genesis 12:2)
This promise was fulfilled. Regarding how many descendants came from Abraham, it is recorded in Hebrews 11:12 that “Descendants came as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore from this one man.”
In English, a sentence is formed with a verb following the subject. Although the subject may seem like the owner of the sentence due to its name and because it often appears at the beginning of a sentence, in reality, the verb is always the main actor in a sentence. A sentence cannot be complete without a verb, and there is always only one verb in a sentence. When it’s necessary to use multiple verbs, in any way, all other verbs except for the main one must be made subordinate, as if they were undergoing a kind of neutering. It’s a harsh analogy, but it can be compared to the idea that there can only be one king in a palace of a country. Thus, attaching ‘to’ in front of a verb or adding ‘ing’ behind it are both ways to subordinate other verbs.
In school, we learned about various types of verbs. In fact, word order is also determined by the verb, and depending on the type of verb, the method of resolving the ensuing questions changes. Let’s simplify it like this: Verbs are divided into transitive verbs, which require an object to resolve a question, and intransitive verbs, which do not. Furthermore, depending on whether a complement is needed or not, verbs are classified into complete verbs and incomplete verbs. Don’t overcomplicate the term complement; simply understand it as something that supplements the subject.
Intransitive Verbs
Usually, the essence of conveying meaning is met with just a subject and a verb. For example, “I go.” is, by itself, a complete sentence conveying the meaning “I am going.” Such verbs that can form a complete sentence with just a subject and verb (S + V) are called intransitive verbs. An example of this would be saying “Go!” which in itself is a complete sentence. These intransitive verbs are mostly verbs like go, come, run, walk, die, fly, which denote movement.
“Now go” is a grammatically complete sentence. But this doesn’t mean that the speaker’s entire meaning is complete. Saying “Go” might prompt the question “Where to?”. Therefore, after commanding “go,” God kindly adds “to the land I will show you.”
It’s important to note that depending on the verb, the sequence of what comes after in our English ‘order’ changes. Saying “Go!” wouldn’t prompt questions like “To whom?”, “What?”, or “How?”. Ultimately, the rest of the sequence depends on the verb.
S + V + (Who + What) + [Where + Why + How + When]
In this sense, our second principle of English can be interpreted a bit differently: after concluding with the subject and verb, what follows serves to complement the verb. Saying “Go!” leads to the question “To where?”. God answers “to the land.” This prompts the question, “Which land?”. Thus, God further clarifies with “I will show you.” The complete sentence becomes “Go to the land I will show you.“
Let’s discuss expressions regarding places like ‘where to?’ and ‘where from?’ later, and for now, briefly learn about the typical intransitive verbs Come and Go. Let’s look at the following biblical verse spoken by Jesus to his disciples.
Where I go, you cannot come – John 8:21)
In John 8:21, Jesus says, “Where I go, you cannot come.” This might seem straightforward to English speakers, but it could lead to confusion for those more familiar with Korean. One might wonder why it isn’t phrased as “Where I go, you cannot go.” After all, if Jesus is going to a place, doesn’t it imply that we should be able to follow Him there?
However, the passage aims to convey a deeper meaning. What Jesus actually means is “You cannot come to me.” Thus, the use of ‘come’ rather than ‘go’ is deliberate. This distinction is important in English: saying “I am going to you” actually translates better as “I am coming to you.” Similarly, the invitation “Shall we go together?” is more accurately expressed as “Can you come with me?” In summary, while ‘go’ is typically used to describe a departure, ‘come’ is used for approaches—either coming towards the speaker or heading to a specific destination where the other person is.
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