take up thy bed and walk

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tara

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Hello

I have a question from John 5:8 in the Bible.

It says "Rise, Take Up Thy Bed, and Walk".
I don't understand the meaning of "take up".
Does it means "Pick up your bed, and walk with it"?
or "Get rid of your bed, and walk"?

I suppose it's a metaphor, but I'd like to know what
the person is expected to act literally.

Thank you,
Tara
 

Rover_KE

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The cripplied man would have been lying on a simple bag of straw. Jesus told him to pick it up and walk away.

There is no need to capitalise any other word than 'Rise'.

Rover
 

tara

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Hello Rover,

Thank you very much for your kind response.

I'd like to know more about how the man will treat the bag of straw.
It doesn't say, but if you picture the scene, will this man walk away carrying with his bag of straw,
without throwing it away?
Of you don't care what happens to the bag of straw after being picked up?

I will appreciate if you or other teachers give some idea on this.

Thank you,
Tara

The cripplied man would have been lying on a simple bag of straw. Jesus told him to pick it up and walk away.

There is no need to capitalise any other word than 'Rise'.

Rover
 

bhaisahab

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Hello Rover,

Thank you very much for your kind response.

I'd like to know more about how the man will treat the bag of straw.
It doesn't say, but if you picture the scene, will this man walk away carrying with his bag of straw,
without throwing it away?
Of you don't care what happens to the bag of straw after being picked up?

I will appreciate if you or other teachers give some idea on this.

Thank you,
Tara

Why would he throw away his bag of straw? He might need it to sleep on later.
 

emsr2d2

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It's true that he might take it with him, especially if it is the bed he regularly sleeps on. However, there is nothing in the text to say what he did with it next. We don't know and (personally) I don't care.
 

5jj

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I like to think he gave it to one of the little pigs to build a house with.
 

tara

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Hello bhaisahab,

Thank you very much for your response.
It's so true.

Thank you,
Tara

Why would he throw away his bag of straw? He might need it to sleep on later.
 

tara

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Hello emsr2d2,

Thank you very much for answering my stupid question.
I just wanted to know if there's something native English speakers would know based on their cultural background.
And I'm satisfied to know you don't know how he treat his bed from the sentence, and you don't care.

Thank you,
Tara

It's true that he might take it with him, especially if it is the bed he regularly sleeps on. However, there is nothing in the text to say what he did with it next. We don't know and (personally) I don't care.
 

tara

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Hello 5jj,

That's lovely.
I would like to give it to a drowning man, too.

Thank you,
Tara

I like to think he gave it to one of the little pigs to build a house with.
 

emsr2d2

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Hello emsr2d2,

Thank you very much for answering my stupid question.
I just wanted to know if there's something native English speakers would know based on their cultural background.
And I'm satisfied to know you don't know how he treat his bed from the sentence, and you don't care.

Thank you,
Tara

It wasn't a stupid question at all.

I'm not really sure why native English speakers would have a particular view of this story based on our cultural background. Unless you are suggesting that all native English speakers are Christians who read and believe the stories in the Bible. That is not the case.

Saying "I don't care" is perhaps a little too dramatically casual! It's simply that what he did with the bed is completely unimportant and that is perhaps why that information doesn't appear in the story.
 

tara

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Hello emsr2d2,

Thank you very much for your comment.

I know not all native English speakers are Christians.
I'm not good at English, but not that ignorant either (I hope). :)

It's very difficult to explain with my poor English, but I've realized sometimes there are more meanings
and hints that you can't pick up only with dictionaries and grammar knowledge.
Sometimes you need common sense and cultural background to understand the meanings.

I'm not sure if it's a good example, but my American friend explained a sentence "I saw my life for what it was".
And she mentioned "for what" in this case only is used for negative meaning, which I wouldn't know if she didn't tell me.

When I look up "take up" in my dictionaries, there are several explanations, but look very vague for me.
So I was wondering if I get some hints here.

Maybe I haven't made myself understood, but it's the best I could.

Thank you,
Tara




It wasn't a stupid question at all.

I'm not really sure why native English speakers would have a particular view of this story based on our cultural background. Unless you are suggesting that all native English speakers are Christians who read and believe the stories in the Bible. That is not the case.

Saying "I don't care" is perhaps a little too dramatically casual! It's simply that what he did with the bed is completely unimportant and that is perhaps why that information doesn't appear in the story.
 

emsr2d2

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Hello emsr2d2,

Thank you very much for your comment.

I know not all native English speakers are Christians.
I'm not good at English, but not that ignorant either (I hope). :)

It's very difficult to explain with my poor English, but I've realized sometimes there are more meanings
and hints that you can't pick up only with dictionaries and grammar knowledge.
Sometimes you need common sense and cultural background to understand the meanings.

I'm not sure if it's a good example, but my American friend explained a sentence "I saw my life for what it was".
And she mentioned "for what" in this case only is used for negative meaning, which I wouldn't know if she didn't tell me.

When I look up "take up" in my dictionaries, there are several explanations, but look very vague for me.
So I was wondering if I get some hints here.

Maybe I haven't made myself understood, but it's the best I could.

Thank you,
Tara

I thought you were looking for different connotations to the whole story, rather than just the phrasal verb "to take up". I was not suggesting that you were ignorant at all!

I'm a little confused by the example you gave involving your American friend. The phrase "for what" doesn't give that sentence any particular tone. In fact "I saw my life for what it was" isn't necessarily negative. I can see that it would be in certain contexts but I can also imagine perhaps an arrogant, thoughtless millionaire who had recently visited a village in a third world country suddenly say "I saw my life for what it was" (ie he realised that he was a very lucky, fortunate, rich man who could have everything he wanted, so he saw his life for the privileged life it was.)
 

tara

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Hello emsr2d2,

Thank you so much for your comment again.

>I was not suggesting that you were ignorant at all!

I know you weren't!:)
I meant it for a joke, but it obviously fell flat.


And thank you very much for your detailed explanation about "for what".
I didn't mean to ask you another question here, but I appreciate your kind remark.

Thank you,
Tara
 

BobK

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There's no need to look for a special meaning of 'take up'; it just means 'pick up''. ('Take up' would rarely - if ever - have that meaning in current English. In current English, 'take up' is usually metaphorical, in the sense 'begin to study or practise'.) And remember the setting - first-century Palestine. The bed was not a piece of solid furniture.

b
 

tara

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There's no need to look for a special meaning of 'take up'; it just means 'pick up''. ('Take up' would rarely - if ever - have that meaning in current English. In current English, 'take up' is usually metaphorical, in the sense 'begin to study or practise'.) And remember the setting - first-century Palestine. The bed was not a piece of solid furniture.

b

Hello BobK,

I see. Thank you very much for your kind explanation.

Thank you,
Tara
 
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