A Cross-Cultural Conceptual Study of the Emotion of Anger and the Folk Theory of the Emotion of Ngoo in the Ki

Communication requires more than a lexical understanding of words. Language relies on the background understanding of the speaker and hearer – an understanding that cannot be taken for granted when communicating cross-culturally.

In this study, Dr. George Mbithi Mutuku brings to life a deeper understanding of emotion, specifically anger, in the Hebrew Bible. Utilizing frame semantics and undertaking a comparative study of 11;10;07; and ngoo as conceptualized in Hebrew and Akamba cultures, respectively, Mutuku argues that ngoo would have been the best rendering for the Hebrew concept 11;10;07; in the K7;kamba Bible. So doing, he demonstrates the value of exploring words and meanings in their cultural contexts and offers a powerful warning against the assumption that any word – even the word of God – carries universal meaning divorced from that context. He reminds us that God's word is communicated to us cross-culturally, so we must take seriously the responsibility of transferring its meaning across languages.