Day 62 of 75 · Parables and teaching
B-N-Y
bna: build
בנא · בניא
ܒܢܐ · ܒܢܝܐ
The feel
Bna means to build, the mason's work of raising a house, a tower or a temple from the ground. The verb appears 22 times. Building starts with a choice of ground, rock or sand, and Yeshua uses building for hearing his words and doing them.
The root family
| Form | Pattern | Translit | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| bna | verb (Peal) | bnā | בנא ܒܢܐ | to build | build: 22 occurrences |
| banaye | agent noun, plural | banāyē | בניא ܒܢܝܐ | the builders | the builders: the rejected-stone saying (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10) |
| benyana | noun | benyānā | בנינא ܒܢܝܢܐ | a building, structure | building: "what buildings!" (Mark 13:1) |
In the Gospels the verb appears in the Peal, bna, to build, as dabna, who built (Matthew 7:24), and ebneyh, I will build it (Matthew 16:18).
In his voice
Matthew 7:24
So everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.
dabna bayteh, "who built his house." The Peal verb, near the close of the Sermon on the Mount. In the parable, building is hearing that turns into doing.
Matthew 7:26
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
dabna, "who built." It is the same verb, and the wise man and the foolish man do the same work. The difference is underneath, in what the house rests on.
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my gathering, and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it.
ebneyh, "I will build it." The same mason's verb, with Yeshua as the builder and his gathering as what he builds.
Practice
Pick one saying of Yeshua you read this week and do it once before the day ends, as Matthew 7:24 asks. Then say bna, build, aloud.
Connections