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impart to a situation

English translation: bring to bear on a situation

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:impart to a situation
Selected answer:bring to bear on a situation
Entered by: Ana Juliá

07:30 Mar 28, 2017
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Religion / Comments to First Corinthians
English term or phrase: impart to a situation
12:8 utterance of wisdom . . . utterance of knowledge. Some understand these to be miraculous gifts (“word of wisdom” and “word of knowledge”) by which a speaker is given supernatural “wisdom” or “knowledge” from God to ***impart to a situation***. Others take these to be more “natural” gifts: the ability to speak wisely or with knowledge into a situation. The Greek expressions (logos sōphias and logos gnōseōs) occur nowhere else in the Bible, and Paul does not give any further explanation, so it is difficult to be certain. But since Paul already has a different, broader term that he uses to refer to speech based on something that God suddenly brings to mind (“prophecy”), the second view seems preferable.
Ana Juliá
Spain
Local time: 17:16
bring to bear on a situation
Explanation:
"Impart" can mean communicate (e.g. to impart knowledge to someone), but I don't think that meaning applies here, because it doesn't make sense to speak of communicate knowledge to a situation. I think the other main meaning of "impart" is intended here, namely to bestow. I think the writer is American, and the primary meaning in Merriam-Webster is the one involved here, I believe:

"1: to give, convey, or grant from or as if from a store
- her experience imparted authority to her words - the flavor imparted by herbs
2: to communicate the knowledge of : disclose - imparted my scheme to no one"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impart

So it means that wisdom and knowledge are "bestowed on" or "conveyed to" or "transmitted to" a situation, and in practice I think this really amounts to saying "applied to" or "brought to bear on". That is, the situation is illuminated or resolved by having wisdom and knowledge imparted to it, as you might impart flavour or movement to something, for example.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 17:16
Grading comment
Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3communicate/pass on/use (knowledge/wisdom) in a situation
Yvonne Gallagher
4 +2bring to bear on a situation
Charles Davis


  

Answers


24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
communicate/pass on/use (knowledge/wisdom) in a situation


Explanation:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/impart

it can also mean to give a particular flavour to
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/impart






--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 26 mins (2017-03-28 07:57:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/impart

situation=a particular set of circumstances

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 16:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 108

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Or simply 'bring [knowledge, wisdom, etc.] to a situation'
11 mins
  -> Many thanks. Yes, of course! That was on the tip of my tongue!
agree  Jack Doughty
11 mins
  -> Many thanks:-)
neutral  Charles Davis: I don't think it can mean "communicate" or "pass on" here. It's to a situation, not in a situation. // I'm sure that's not what the writer means.
18 mins
  -> I think you're splitting hairs...//no need for bold
agree  philgoddard: I agree with Charles that "communicate/pass on" is not quite right, but "use" is fine.
6 hrs
  -> Thank you!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
bring to bear on a situation


Explanation:
"Impart" can mean communicate (e.g. to impart knowledge to someone), but I don't think that meaning applies here, because it doesn't make sense to speak of communicate knowledge to a situation. I think the other main meaning of "impart" is intended here, namely to bestow. I think the writer is American, and the primary meaning in Merriam-Webster is the one involved here, I believe:

"1: to give, convey, or grant from or as if from a store
- her experience imparted authority to her words - the flavor imparted by herbs
2: to communicate the knowledge of : disclose - imparted my scheme to no one"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impart

So it means that wisdom and knowledge are "bestowed on" or "conveyed to" or "transmitted to" a situation, and in practice I think this really amounts to saying "applied to" or "brought to bear on". That is, the situation is illuminated or resolved by having wisdom and knowledge imparted to it, as you might impart flavour or movement to something, for example.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 17:16
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 172
Grading comment
Thanks!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Robert Forstag: "Bring to bear" really seems to fully capture the intended meaning here.
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Robert
agree  acetran
8 hrs
  -> Thank you, acetran!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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