what does mean : known but to god
- 1) that only god know his identitity
- 2) that he was ignored by god
- 3) something else
The complete inscription (in a military cemetary) is
Here rest in honored glory
A comrade in arms
Known but to god
Thanks in advance
Comments
what does mean : known but to god
- 1) that only god know his identitity
- 2) that he was ignored by god
- 3) something else
The complete inscription (in a military cemetary) is
Here rest in honored glory
A comrade in arms
Known but to god
Thanks in advance
I would say that it is probably the first meaning that you have there. I think that there might be a story behind that and the meaning would be clarified with more context.
In that context, it seems that perhaps it is something like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which honors those killed soldiers unidentified or their bodies never found.
Thanks for your input.
Seriously : Someone in a french forum asked the translation of this tomb scripture. I answered that the meaning that only god know is identity.
But a canadian said that we where wrong, and give the answer b. He also added some silly comments, claiming how ignorant in english we where ...
Beautiful poem, by the way.
Yeah, I think you're in the right. It actually is pretty idiomatic, because I know a lot of things that God probably knows as well, but I think this is due to "God knows" being widely used as an abbreviation of "only God knows".
Beautiful poem, by the way.
thanks. Yes it's a beautiful poem.
what does mean : known but to god
- 1) that only god know his identitity
- 2) that he was ignored by god
- 3) something else
The complete inscription (in a military cemetary) is
Here rest in honored glory
A comrade in arms
Known but to god
Thanks in advance
I started trying to disentangle this for you, but I got hung up on "rest." Are you sure you have that correct? Was it actually "rests"? I ask because that changes the meaning of the sentence.
But yes. "Known but to God" means that only God knows whatever it is.
I hope this link will work
http://www.photim.net/nci/photo.php3...ammstein91&O=0
I hope this link will work
I started trying to disentangle this for you, but I got hung up on "rest." Are you sure you have that correct? Was it actually "rests"? I ask because that changes the meaning of the sentence.
But yes. "Known but to God" means that only God knows whatever it is.
I did some digging, and this is a common inscription on the graves on unknown soldiers. And yes, you have the verb correct. So...here's what it means:
"Here rest" can actually go two ways.
1) If there are more than one soldier in there, it's simply indicating that there are multiple bodies buried there. Given that the second line indicates a singular body, this is unlikely.
2) If there is only one soldier in there, it's a kind of touching order: "Here rest" = "Rest here." The idea is that this body, because it is unknown, cannot be buried where it might otherwise, and so this is a kind of concession..."Since we can't bury you where you'd otherwise be, we will lay you to rest here." But it's not like an anonymous grave somewhere, because it is "in honored glory."
"A comrade in arms" is pretty obvious. Other iterations are "American heroes," "an American," etc. It's just an honorific, since the name is unknown.
"Known but to God" means that only God knows this person's identity.
It's actually kind of sad, since it doesn't suggest that God has taken the person into his bosom, nor can it. What if the person was a child molester but a really good soldier? It's part of the anxiety of the absence of identity: all we can say is that, at the very least, he rests HERE in honored glory.
]my bad: you are right it's rests
http://www.photim.net/nci/photo.php3...ammstein91&O=0
I hope this link will work
OK. That doesn't really change my interpretation. It just means that in the ground there's a person whose identity only God knows.
I did some digging, and this is a common inscription on the graves on unknown soldiers. And yes, you have the verb correct. So...here's what it means:
"Here rest" can actually go two ways.
1) If there are more than one soldier in there, it's simply indicating that there are multiple bodies buried there. Given that the second line indicates a singular body, this is unlikely.
2) If there is only one soldier in there, it's a kind of touching order: "Here rest" = "Rest here." The idea is that this body, because it is unknown, cannot be buried where it might otherwise, and so this is a kind of concession..."Since we can't bury you where you'd otherwise be, we will lay you to rest here." But it's not like an anonymous grave somewhere, because it is "in honored glory."
"A comrade in arms" is pretty obvious. Other iterations are "American heroes," "an American," etc. It's just an honorific, since the name is unknown.
"Known but to God" means that only God knows this person's identity.
It's actually kind of sad, since it doesn't suggest that God has taken the person into his bosom, nor can it. What if the person was a child molester but a really good soldier? It's part of the anxiety of the absence of identity: all we can say is that, at the very least, he rests HERE in honored glory.
thanks for the explanation.
Me neither
Pretty sure that's the meaning though....
It is. In fact, it's the primary definition of "but" as an adverb.
"Here Rests
In Honored Glory
An American Soldier
Known But To God"
A couple of years ago they did DNA test and identified one for a family. So this saying might go the way of the Dodo.