how to say “wise beyond his/her years” in Hebrew
having trouble seeing the print?
This one’s for Wayne, who asked me what he might call his female friend who is wise beyond her years.
The Hebrew translation of that English observation and compliment, wise beyond her years, is literal: חֲכָמָה מֵעֵבֶר לִשְׁנוֹתֶיה (khah-khah-MAH meh-EH-vehr lee-shnoh-TEH-hah).
Wise beyond his years is חָכָם מֵעֵבֶר לִשְׁנוֹתָיו (khah-KHAHM meh-EH-vehr leesh-noh-TAHV).
| remember this tragically wise boy from The Sixth Sense? |
חָכְמָה (khohkh-MAH) is the classic Hebrew word for wisdom – as opposed to synonyms דַּעַת (DAH-aht), which means knowledge and בִּינָה (bee-NAH), which also means wisdom, but has more to do with understanding of specific information than universal wisdom.
מֵעֵבֶר – whose root is ע.ב.ר (a.b.r) meaning past – (meh-EH-vehr) means beyond, or past the right now or the right here.
שנותיו and שנותיה are his years and her years respectively. The plural of the word שָׁנָה (shah-NAH) – year – is שָׁנִים (shah-NEEM), though when used together with an ending meaning his, her, etc, the word becomes –שְׁנוֹת (shnoht-).
