"המלך הולך דרך מים."
Translation:The king is walking through water.
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For anyone wondering about this comment, "durch" is the German word for "through". Nifty!
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The same question just came up in my Yiddish class. I had to tell them that it was just a coincidence. But I think that Yiddish durkh דורך is a cognate to English "through."
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That's never occurred to me, it's very neat but I'm sure quite accidental. But a great way to remember! I wish it had occurred to me earlier.
Odd sentence ? Perhaps a little hard to understand even through the suggested English versions ?
That's funny, when I read the hebrew sentence, I immediately translated it to mean, "The king goes (like travels) by way of the water".... But it would need to say "דרך המים" for that, wouldn't it? Or maybe he always travels by way of water (=דרך מים)... I don't know.....
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That's interesting! דרך המים is more appropriate but we never actually say that. I'm trying to think what we do say, and it doesn't come obvious to me, but I suppose it's דרך הים.
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Not if it's a river or canal boat... I found a translation on reverso.net בדרך כלל שאני נע דרך מים Normally when I travel by water
It doesn't sound right in Hebrew. It may well not be understood. I don't think there's a natural way to see it succinctly in Hebrew (so that it includes seas, oceans, lakes and rivers).
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Perhaps the context is as Is 63:12, 13 מוֹלִיךְ֙ לִימִ֣ין מֹשֶׁ֔ה זְר֖וֹעַ תִּפְאַרְתּ֑וֹ בּ֤וֹקֵֽעַ מַ֙יִם֙ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֔ם לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת ל֖וֹ שֵׁ֥ם עוֹלָֽם׃ מוֹלִיכָ֖ם בַּתְּהֹמ֑וֹת כַּסּ֥וּס בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר or Ps 77: 19 בַּיָּ֤ם דַּרְכֶּ֗ךָ וּשְׁבִילֶיךָ בְּמַ֣יִם רַבִּ֑ים
Well, וְדוֹרֵךְ עַל־בָּמֳתֵי יָם, he treads on the hights of the sea sounds, he is a great surfer.
DL corrects "the king goes by water" to "the king goes via water", which is not how anybody says it in English.
After all, the American Revolution started with the famous warning "one if by land and two if by sea," not "one if via land and two if via sea".
After reading the comments below I am confused. Does the sentence mean going through water like AlmogeL defines it or does it mean via water f instance by boat?
I think it can be both: בְּדֶ֫רֶךְ כְּלָל שֶׁאֲנִי נָע דֶּ֫רֶךְ מַ֫יִם אֲנִי בְּסִירַת־מָנוֹעַ Usually, when I travel by water, I am in a motorboat, but also אֵ֫יזֶה סוּג שֶׁל עַרְפָּד יָכוֹל לְהִסְתּוֹבֵב בְּאוֹר־הַיּוֹם וְלַחֲצוֹת דֶּ֫רֶךְ מַ֫יִם what sort of vampire can walk around in the daylight and cross through water?
From your.excellent examples ot seems to me that דרך מים could be looselly interpreted as a "waterway" providing context allowes it.
I find the first example very artificial Hebrew, to the point of not being understandable. As I wrote above, I can't think of a succinct way to convey this meaning in Hebrew. I understand this sentence only as in your second example.
It seems that you’re wishing Duolingo would have used על to better align this sentence with what you know from the Bible, but דרך means through, which is different than “on”.
I’ve noticed that Duolingo likes to take something from Christianity or which echoes Christianity and change it just a little bit, such as The messiah will come on a white donkey. That blends information from two different scriptures.
could this be understood as poetry or as describing a life situation? ( like walking through fire, walking through storms etc as a metaphor for getting through a life situation)?
If one has to understand it, that would be a good way. It's not a natural Hebrew sentence.
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The only thing I can imagine when reading this sentence (as a native speaker) is like a wall of falling water, as in a waterfall, and the king walking through it. Or maybe a king crossing a stream by foot.
If it's a special capability that the king has, being able to walk through walls of falling water or crossing a stream by foot, and the King habitually does so, then it would be indefinite מים...
I was wondering if by water would have been accepted. I wrote through water to be safe, but really think by water or maybe via water would make morr sense. I assume the king didn't actually go through the water but used the royal ship?
