I know the importance of translation. Messages can be mixed up so easily with incorrect words that are only one letter off. I learned that lesson in Uganda which I talked about in a post last year "Are You Talkin' to Me?" It is still one of my favorite missions stories. But this post isn't about that story.
There is a song called "Wonderful" that I liked when I first heard it. The song is written by Malcolm Baxter who comes from our friends in the Vineyard church. I don't actually have any friends in Vineyard churches but I know some people who used to be. Anyway, it has a great feel to the song and the lyrics in the verses are great. The chorus, however, contains a word I had never heard of. The word is Humbai. The phrase goes "Humbai Jesus, Humbai Yahweh" and repeats several times.
I knew that when I brought the song to the congregation they would want to know the meaning of this foreign word. And of course I wanted to know as well. I started with Google. It brought many references to India, although no translation. I spent many weeks investigating the origin of the word. It became my pet project.
I looked up the author of the song, Mr. Baxter, and decided to try and contact him. After several weeks I found an email address, sent my question, and received a response. I know the suspense is getting to you and you probably already looked ahead to see what it means, and now have come back to read this part. Welcome back.
If I had to guess, I would have said it means something like worship, or holy, or some dignified church word. Nope. The response I got back was it is not a real word. He made it up. Why? Because he needed a word or phrase to go there and it sounded cool. Okay, the sounded cool part was my paraphrasing of his response, but basically that was it. Not a real word. Seriously? We can do that? I guess when I hear songs that have la-la-la-la in them this creation of Humbai is somewhat genius.
So many times we use words that are unfamiliar. Even unfamiliar to us. But because we know the context we use it by guessing the general meaning of it. And besides, if it is used in a song, it must be a real word.
I wondered how many churches use that song without knowing the meaning of the word, or insert their own definition. I say "I wondered", but really it was more of a passing thought. "Wondered" sounds like I spent time on it and I didn't. I was just happy to get a response from Mr. Baxter.
By the way, I substitute the kinyarwandan word "Imanashimwe" for Humbai Jesus. Yes, it is one crazy word for another, but I know the translation. The meaning is "Praise God".
There is a song called "Wonderful" that I liked when I first heard it. The song is written by Malcolm Baxter who comes from our friends in the Vineyard church. I don't actually have any friends in Vineyard churches but I know some people who used to be. Anyway, it has a great feel to the song and the lyrics in the verses are great. The chorus, however, contains a word I had never heard of. The word is Humbai. The phrase goes "Humbai Jesus, Humbai Yahweh" and repeats several times.
I knew that when I brought the song to the congregation they would want to know the meaning of this foreign word. And of course I wanted to know as well. I started with Google. It brought many references to India, although no translation. I spent many weeks investigating the origin of the word. It became my pet project.I looked up the author of the song, Mr. Baxter, and decided to try and contact him. After several weeks I found an email address, sent my question, and received a response. I know the suspense is getting to you and you probably already looked ahead to see what it means, and now have come back to read this part. Welcome back.
If I had to guess, I would have said it means something like worship, or holy, or some dignified church word. Nope. The response I got back was it is not a real word. He made it up. Why? Because he needed a word or phrase to go there and it sounded cool. Okay, the sounded cool part was my paraphrasing of his response, but basically that was it. Not a real word. Seriously? We can do that? I guess when I hear songs that have la-la-la-la in them this creation of Humbai is somewhat genius.
So many times we use words that are unfamiliar. Even unfamiliar to us. But because we know the context we use it by guessing the general meaning of it. And besides, if it is used in a song, it must be a real word.
I wondered how many churches use that song without knowing the meaning of the word, or insert their own definition. I say "I wondered", but really it was more of a passing thought. "Wondered" sounds like I spent time on it and I didn't. I was just happy to get a response from Mr. Baxter.
By the way, I substitute the kinyarwandan word "Imanashimwe" for Humbai Jesus. Yes, it is one crazy word for another, but I know the translation. The meaning is "Praise God".
Pastor David, I was so glad to find this blog entry! I've been leading worship myself at a church in central Texas now for about 10 years. We used to sing this song years ago, and like you I had tried to find the meaning of "Humbai". I finally gave up and told everyone I was guessing that it meant "Wonderful" (as you speculated, we made up our own definition!). Which worked fine, but I was about to bring the song back into use, so I began scouring the web again for a translation, which brought me to your blog, and your story. (BTW, thanks for doing all the research work, and saving me the time & effort!). I'm glad to finally have this mystery solved!
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