Why is favour said to be “found,” although people were not searching for it? Why does it not instead say, “favour found Noah” in Genesis 6:8?
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. NKJV, ©1982
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Why should it say "favour found Noah"? That's not correct English.– user2672Commented Sep 1, 2019 at 18:23
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2I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about English language; there is no hermeneutics involved.– user2672Commented Sep 1, 2019 at 18:24
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1The English verb "to find favor" has nothing to do with engaging in a search. In fact, it is a way of expressing approval that has not been "curried". You have not tried to "find disfavor" in the eyes of Keelan, but it is pretty clear you have found it.– enegueCommented Sep 1, 2019 at 22:36
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Why is favour said to be “found,” although people were not searching for it ? - You can find money lying down on the ground, without necessarily looking for them.– LucianCommented Sep 8, 2019 at 5:41
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1 Answer
Although in English the verb “find” is commonly used in the sense of “to discover or attain by search or effort,”1
it can also be used in the sense of “To meet with, come to have or experience, obtain, receive, get (chiefly, something desirable or needful).”2
Coincidentally, the Hebrew verb מָצָא (matza) conjugated in binyan Paʿal (Kal) can also be used in this latter sense. Gesenius wrote,3
In summary, neither the English verb “find” nor the Hebrew verb מָצָא need imply that Noah was searching for favor when he “found” it.
Footnotes
1 Oxford English Dictionary online, “find” (v.), II., a.
2 id., I., 3.
3 Gesenius, p. 499, מָצָא (matza), 1.
References
Gesenius, Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm. Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. Trans. Tregelles, Samuel Prideaux. London: Bagster, 1860.
Oxford English Dictionary online. (https://www.oed.com)
answered Sep 1, 2019 at 4:52
