an introduction to ancient hebrew - jeff benner
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to
Ancient Hebrew
By Jeff A. Benner
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1
HEBREW PHILOSOPHY ..................................................................... 5
HEBREW PSYCHOLOGY .................................................................... 7
HEBREW CULTURE ......................................................................... 10
HEBREW VOCABULARY ................................................................. 13
HEBREW DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................ 16
HEBREW ALPHABET ....................................................................... 18
PARENT ROOTS ............................................................................. 21
CHILD ROOTS................................................................................. 26
ADOPTED ROOTS........................................................................... 27
HEBREW WORDS ........................................................................... 28
THE AARONIC BLESSING ................................................................ 30
1
Introduction
Figure 1 – The English translations and the Hebrew are like two styles of
restaurants
If you were given the choice of a fast food meal or one from a
5 star restaurant, which one would you chose? Both
restaurants provide food, but I think most people would
choose the 5 star restaurant as it provides, better food and a
better atmosphere than a fast food restaurant. This same
analogy can be used for the Hebrew Bible. Reading an English
translation of the Bible is like the fast food restaurant; you
may still get fed, but doesn't have the same impact as the
Hebrew text. Even if one doesn't know Hebrew, much can be
learned by understanding Hebraic concepts.
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Figure 2 – Image from the TV show "History Happened Here"
The above image is from the TV show "History Happened: The
Dead Sea Scrolls," narrated by Leonard Nimoy. The editor of
this segment recognized "lines" within the text and oriented
the image to reflect this. The mistake the editor made was
that he assumed our cultural perspective into the image.
In our culture, we write words on top of a line, but Hebrew
was written with the words hanging down from the line. The
image above is upside down.
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Figure 3 – Correct orientation of the image
When we make assumption about anything, based on our own
culture, we will misinterpret and mistranslate the text. There
are three keys that are essential to proper Biblical
interpretation; culture, language and thought.
When I first started learning Hebrew, I learned the Hebrew
alphabet that can be seen in any Hebrew Bible printed today.
Figure 4 – Portion of a Modern Hebrew Bible
However, while reading our local paper in 1997 I came across
the article "Evidence of Solomon's temple found."
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Figure 5 – Photograph from the article, "Evidence of Solomon's temple
found"
In this article was a photograph of a 3,000 year old receipt for
3 shekel's for a donation to the "House of Yahweh" by
"Ashyahu the King," written on a piece of pottery fragment.
What I found most interesting was that the inscription was
written in Hebrew, but this Hebrew alphabet looked nothing
like the Hebrew I had learned. I decided to learn this more
ancient alphabet and this begun my journey into the Ancient
Hebrew alphabet and language of the Bible.
5
Hebrew Philosophy
Throughout the world, past and present, there are two major
divisions of thought or philosophy; Western and Eastern.
Eastern philosophy has its roots in the ancient past and was
the predominant form of philosophy throughout the ancient
world. The beginning of Western philosophy arose in the
ancient Greek culture from such philosophers as Plato,
Socrates and Aristotle. As the Greek culture spread, so did
Western philosophy to the point that Western philosophy has
become the predominant philosophy throughout the world.
The Hebrews of the Bible wrote the Bible from the perspective
of Eastern philosophy, but today's readers are interpreting
these writings with Western philosophy, the results being
misinterpretations and mistranslations of the text. For this
reason, it is essential that we learn the philosophy of the
Ancient Hebrews in order to better understand the text we
are reading.
The language of the Hebrews is a concrete language, meaning
that it uses words that express something that can be seen,
touched, smelled, tasted or heard and all five of the senses are
used when speaking, hearing, writing and reading the Hebrew
language. An example of this can be found in Psalms 1:3; “He
is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit
in season, and whose leaf does not wither”.
In contrast to the Eastern philosophy of a concrete language,
Western philosophy uses an abstract language to express
itself. An abstract word is an expression that cannot be seen,
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touched, smelled, tasted or heard. Examples of Abstract
thought can be found in Psalms 103:8; “The LORD is
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in
love”. The words compassion, grace, anger and love are all
abstract words, ideas that cannot be experienced by the
senses. Why do we find these abstract words in a passage of
concrete thinking Hebrews? Actually, these are abstract
English words used to translate the original Hebrew concrete
words. The translators often translate this way because the
original Hebrew makes no sense when literally translated for
Western thinkers.
7
Hebrew Psychology
Figure 6 – Different cultures view the same picture differently
If you were to ask a Westerner, such as from the Americas or
Europe, what they see in the picture above, they would
probably say "a deer." However, if you were to ask an
Easterner, such as from Japan or China, what they see, they
will probably say "a grove." The difference is that the Western
thinker focuses in on one point, while the Eastern thinker
looks at the whole of the image.
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Figure 7 – An experiment demonstrating the different between Western
and Eastern thought
In an extensive study on these different forms of philosophy, a
wide range of people from America, Canada and Europe were
asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on
the left was happy or sad, they all said "happy." They were
then asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture
on the right was happy or sad, they all said "happy." Then a
wide range of people from Asia, including Japan and China,
were asked the same questions. When asked if the boy on the
left was happy or sad, they all said "happy." When they were
asked if the boy on the right was happy or sad, they all said
"sad."
Again, Western thinkers focus on one point, the boy in the
middle. Eastern thinkers on the other hand focus on the
picture as a whole and because the majority of the children in
the picture on the right were sad, their answer was "sad,"
regardless of the smile on the boy in the middle.
The Psychology of the Ancient Hebrews is very different from
our own and when we read the Bible we must learn to read it
from the Hebrew's perspective rather than our own.
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When we use a word like "name," we focus in on how it is
written and pronounced.
I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of
the congregation I will praise thee. (Psalm 22:23)
What does it mean to "tell someone about another's name?"
Does it mean to tell others how to write or pronounce the
name? From a Western perspective yes, but from a Hebraic
perspective a name is much more than its pronunciation; it is
the character of the individual, his ethics, workmanship,
attitude, dependability, resourcefulness, compassion, honor,
etc. When the Bible teaches us to "tell others the name of
Yahweh," it isn't telling us to teach others how to write or
pronounce it correctly; it is telling us to teach Yahweh's
character.
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Hebrew Culture
A language is always closely connected to the culture of the
people using that language. This is not only true for different
languages, but for different cultures using the same language.
We can never assume people from one culture will always
understand a people from another culture in the same way.
Figure 8 – The results of rain
Take for example the word "rain." In an agricultural
community, "rain" takes on a much different nuance than in
an urban setting.
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Figure 9 – A goat hair tent of the Bedouin, modern day nomads of the Near
East
[He] stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads
them like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
The above passage from Isaiah is making an analogy between
the heavens and a tent. In order to properly understand this
analogy, one must understand the unique quality of the tents
of the Ancient Hebrews. These tents were generally from
woven black goat hair. When sitting inside the tent, it is very
dark, but pin holes of light can be seen coming through the
panels and appear like the stars of the night sky. When it rains,
the hair fibers swell and seal the tent and the pin holes of light
disappear, just as they do when the clouds come, blocking the
view of the stars. When an Ancient Hebrew looks up at the
night sky he sees God's tent over him, in the same way his tent
covers over and protects his family.
In America, a biscuit is a soft raised bread, while in England it
is a small hard flat cake, what we call in America a cracker or
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cookie. When an American orders his first cup of coffee in
Europe, he may be shocked at what he is given and surprised
at the small size of the coffee cup and the extreme potency of
the coffee.
This is not only true for the many cultures of today, but even
more so when we are translating ideas and concepts from an
Ancient culture to a modern one. We know today that a star a
giant ball of gas burning at millions of degrees, but ancient
man did not have this understanding and we cannot use our
modern definition of a star for an ancient peoples
understanding of what a star is.
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Hebrew Vocabulary
What do all of the words, astronaut, astrology, astronomy,
asteroid, starlet, starfish, stellar and asterisk have in common?
They are all related to "stars" and each of these words is
derived out of the ancient Greek word "aster," meaning "star."
These same types of connections between words can be found
in the Hebrew language, however, from our modern Western
perspective, the connections between the words may not be
as apparent? We may understand the connection between
hot and sun, but would we connect these two words with bag,
cheese, crave and shake? Most likely not, but someone from
the ancient Near East, the land of the Bible, most certainly
would have.
Figure 10 – Bedouin making cheese from a Goat skin bag
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Cheese, a craved delicacy of the ancient Near East, was made
by placing the milk of a sheep or goat in a bag made from the
skin of a sheep or goat. The bag is then hung out in the heat of
the sun, and shaken. The skins of sheep and goats have a
natural enzyme that is released when heated and shaken that
separates the whey (water) from the curds (cheese).
As we have demonstrated each of these words are culturally
related, but in addition, they are all etymologically related as
they each come from the same root word חם (hham), meaning
"hot."
hham Hot חם
hham’mah Sun חמה
hhey’met Skin-bag חמת
hhem’ah Cheese חמה
hha’mad To Crave חמד
hha’mas To Shake חמס
Each Hebrew word is related in meaning to other words, and
these words are themselves related in meaning to other words
and roots. By studying related words and their histories, we
can better define them within their original context.
The just shall live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)
The English word "faith," is defined as "confidence or trust in a
person or thing; belief that is not based on proof," but this is
not the meaning of the Hebrew word אמונה (emunah), which
the King James Version translates as "faith." The root of
emunah is אמן (aman) meaning to be "firm." Emunah means
"steady" in the sense of firmness and is in fact translated this
way in the King James Version in the following passage.
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...And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one
side, and the other on the other side; so his hands
were steady until the going down of the sun. (Exodus
17:12)
English definitions to Biblical words will not suffice for
interpreting the words of the Bible. If we assume the English
definition of "faith" to the Bible, we are going to misinterpret
it. From a Hebraic perspective, Habakkuk 2:4 should be
interpreted as "the just shall live by their steadiness."
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Hebrew Descriptions
Figure 11 – An oak tree and a ram
In our minds we would never relate an oak tree to a ram or
view them as the same. The reason being is that we relate to
features and appearances. However, the Hebrews relate to
the function and in the case of the oak and the ram, they
function in the same way. An oak tree is a very hard wood and
the horns and skull of a ram are equally as hard. For this
reason, the Hebrew word איל (ayil) is used for a ram (see
Genesis 22:13) and an oak (see Isaiah 1:29).
This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark
three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its
height thirty cubits. (Genesis 6:15)
From our Modern Western mindset, we assume that this
passage is describing the "appearance" of the ark. But this is
not so, the dimensions are not given to tell us what it "looked
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like," but instead to tell us that it is very large as it is going to
hold a large number of animals.
Another example of differing cultural perspectives is how
different cultures perceive time. In our modern Western world
we view the past as behind us and the future as ahead of us.
In Biblical Hebrew, the word for "yesterday" (the past) is תמול
(temol), which comes from the root מול (mul) meaning "in
front." The Biblical Hebrew word for "tomorrow" (the future)
is מחר (mahher), which comes from the root אחר (ahher)
meaning "in back." Therefore, from a Biblical Hebrew
perspective, the past is in front and the future is behind. We
see time from the perspective of passing through it. As we
have walked through the past, we see it as behind us and the
future, which we have not yet walked in, is in front of us. The
Hebrews saw time from the perspective of observance. The
past is known and therefore can be seen (in front of the
observer), but the future is not known and therefore cannot
be seen (behind the observer).
Another major difference between the modern Western view
and the ancient Eastern one is how something is described. A
westerner would describe a pencil in relationship to its
appearance, such as long and yellow. An ancient easterner on
the other hand, would describe it by its function, such as "you
write with it." Notice that the western description uses
adjectives, but the eastern description uses verbs. Biblical
Hebrew rarely uses adjectives; instead it much more prefers to
use verbs.
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Hebrew Alphabet
The Modern Hebrew alphabet looks like this;
Figure 12 – Modern Hebrew Alphabet
But in ancient times, this alphabet was written with pictures,
much like Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
Figure 13 – Ancient Hebrew Alphabet
Each letter represents a sound and a concept. The first letter,
(Note that Hebrew is read from right to left), is the aleph
(pronounced ah-leph) and represents the "Ah" and "Eh"
sounds. Aleph is a Hebrew word meaning "ox," and this letter
is a picture of an ox head and represents the concept of
"strength," from the strength of the ox.
The letter lamed, , is a picture of a shepherd staff and
represents the sound "L" as well as the concept of "authority,"
from the authority of the shepherd over the flock.
When these two letters are combined, we have the Hebrew
word (EL, written as אל in the Modern Hebrew
alphabet), the "strong authority."
It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. (Genesis
31:29, KJV)
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This passage includes the Hebrew word EL, which in the King
James Version is translated as "power." However, a better
translation, based on the pictures of the word EL, would be
"There is strength and authority in my hand to do you hurt."
Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of
heaven and earth. (Genesis 14:19, KJV)
This passage also uses the same Hebrew word EL, but in the
King James Version it is translated as "God." Based on the
pictures of the word El, a better translation would be "Blessed
be Abram of the most high strength and authority, possessor
of heaven and earth." When we see the word "God" from a
western perspective we see an old bearded man sitting on a
throne in the clouds. When the ancient Hebrew's see the word
"EL," they see the strength of an ox and the authority of a
shepherd.
The following chart is the Ancient Hebrew Alphabet with each
letter's name, the sound that letter represents, a description
of the picture and the meaning associated with that picture.
Aleph Ah. Eh אHead of an
ox strong, power,
authority
Beyt B, Bh (v) בTent
floorplan family, house, in
Gimel G Foot gather, walk, carry ג
Dalet D Tent door move, hang, enter ד
Hey H Arms raised look, reveal, sigh ה
Waw W, O, U Tent peg add, secure, hook ו
Zayin Z Mattock food, cut, weapon ז
Hhet Hh Tent wall outside, divide, half ח
Tet T Clay basket טsurround, contain,
mud
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Yud Y, Ee Closed hand יwork, throw,
worship
Kaph K, Kh Open palm bend, allow, tame כ
Lamed L לShepherd
staff teach, yoke, to, bind
Mem M Water chaos, mighty, blood מ
Nun N נSprouting
seed continue, heir, son
Samehh S Thorn grab, hate, protect ס
Ayin Silent Eye watch, know, shade ע
Pey P, Ph Open mouth blow, scatter, edge פ
Tsade Ts Trail chase, hunt, path צ
Quph Q Horizon קcondense, circle,
time
Resh R רHead of a
man first, beginning, top
Shin Sh שTwo front
teeth sharp, press, eat,
two
Tav T תCrossed
sticks mark, sign, signature
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Parent roots
When two letters are put together, such as with the word
"EL," a two-letter, or "parent" root is formed. Below are a few
more examples of common parent roots found within the
Bible.
el God אל אל
av Father אב אב
em Mother אם אם
ahh Brother אח אח
ben Son בן בן
lakh Walk לך לך
radl Go Down רד רד
al Go Up על על
qahh Take קח קח
shav Return שב כב
qar Call Out קר קר
da Know דע דע
Because each letter has a meaning, the meaning of these
letters will assist in providing the Hebraic meaning of a word.
Below are a few examples of parent roots whose meanings
can be closely connected to the meanings of the letters
contained within these words.
a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אב
of an ox head representing strength. The
second letter is the ב (beyt - B), the picture of
the tent or house where the family resides.
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When combined these letters form a word
meaning "the strength of the house," who is
the "father."
a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אם
of an ox head representing strength. The
second letter, מ (mem - M) is a picture of
water. The two letters give us the meaning of
"strong water." The Hebrews made glue by
boiling animal skins in water. As the skin
broke down, a sticky thick liquid formed at the
surface of the water. This thick liquid was
removed and used as a binding agent -
"strong water". This is the Hebrew word AM
meaning "mother", the one who "binds" the
family together.
a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אח
of an ox head representing strength. The
second letter, ח (hhet - Hh), is the picture of a
tent wall. The wall is a wall of protection
which protects what is inside from what is
outside. When combined these letters form
the word AHh meaning "the strong wall" or
"the strong protector," and represents the
"brother" as the protector of the family.
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a picture of a ,(bet - B) ב The first letter is the בן
tent or house. The second letter, נ (nun - N)
is the picture of a seed. The seed is a new
generation of life that will grow and produce a
new generation therefore, this letter can
mean "to continue." When combined these
two letters form the word BeN meaning "to
continue the house" and is the Hebrew word
for a "son."
a picture ,(lamed - L) ל The first letter is the לך
of a staff. The second letter, כ (kaph - K), is
the picture of the palm of the hand. When the
staff is placed in the palm one is going to go
walk. The verb LaK means to walk or to go.
a picture of ,(resh - R) ר The first letter is the רד
the head of a man. The second letter, ד (dalet
- D), is the picture of the tent door. The roof
of the nomad's tent was low and one needed
to stoop down to enter or exit through the
dooway and the verb RaD means to go down.
a picture of ,(ayin - A) ע The first letter is the על
an eye representing the idea of experience.
The second letter, ל (lamed - L), is the picture
of a staff but also represents a yoke as the
staff on the shoulders. When combined, these
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two letters form the word AL meaning to
experience the yoke and as the yoke is lifted
up onto the shoulders this verb means to go
up. When used as a noun this same two letter
root means a yoke.
and is a (quph - Q) ק The first letter is the קח
picture of the rising or setting sun at the
horizon meaning to come together, or gather,
from the gathering of the light at the horizon.
The second letter, ח (hhet - Hh), is the picture
of a wall which separates. Combined, these
two letters form the word QaHh meaning to
gather what is separated, to take.
a picture ,(shin - Sh) ש The first letter is the בש
of the teeth meaning to press. The second
letter, ב (beyt - B), is the picture of the tent or
home. Combined, these two letters form the
word ShaB representing a pressing to the tent
and means to return.
and is a (quph - Q) ק The first letter is the קר
picture of the rising or setting sun at the
horizon meaning to come together, or gather,
from the gathering of the light at the horizon.
The second letter, ר (resh- R), is the picture
of the head of a man. Combined, these two
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letters form the word QaR, a gathering of
men, and means to meet or call out.
and is a (dalet - D) ד The first letter is the דע
picture of the tent door, used for going back
and forth. The second letter, ע (ayin - A), is
the picture of the eye. Combined, these two
letters form the word DA, the going back and
forth movement of the eye in the sense of
taking it all in and means to know.
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Child Roots
While all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are consonants,
four of them also served as vowels, much like our letter "Y,"
which may be a vowel like in the word "fly," or a consonant
like in the word "yellow." These four letters are א (aleph), ה
(hey), ו (vav) and י (yud).
When one of these vowels is placed in front, between or at
the end of the parent root, a three letter or "child" root is
formed and will have a meaning that is related to the meaning
of its parent root.
From the parent root אל (el), meaning strength and
authority, comes the child root איל (ayil), meaning a buck,
the strong one of the flock. From the parent root בנ (ben),
meaning son, comes the child root בנה (banah), meaning to
build, through the idea that the sons build a house, literally
and figuratively. From the parent root לכ (lakh), meaning
walk, comes the child root הלכ (halakh), meaning a journey.
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Adopted Roots
Another form of three letter, or "adopted root," is the
addition of another consonant in front, between or at the end
of a parent root. Below are some adopted roots derived out of
the parent root פר (par), a Hebrew word meaning "bull."
parahh Break forth פרח
parakh Break apart פרך
paras Break in pieces פרס
paraq Break off פרק
parats Break open פרץ
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Hebrew Words
Other words are then formed by attaching specific letters to a
parent, child or adopted root.
Figure 14 – The parent root לך and its derivatives
For demonstration, let's begin with the parent root לך (lakh)
meaning "walk." By adding the letter ה (h) to the front the
child root הלך (halakh) is formed and also means "walk." By
adding the מ (m) to the front of this child root, the noun
is formed and means "passage." By (mahalakh) מהלך
adding the letter ה (h) to the end of this child root, the noun
is formed and means "custom" (a way of (halakhah) הלכה
walking).
By adding the letter מ (m) to the front of the parent root לך
(lakh), the adopted root מלך (melekh) is formed and means
"king," one who walks among the people. By adding the letter
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מלכה to the end of this adopted root, the noun (h) ה
(malkah) is formed and means "queen." By adding the letters
is (malkut) מלכות to the adopted root, the noun (ut) ות
formed and means "kingdom."
Once we understand how to properly interpret and define
Hebrew words based on their relationships to their roots and
the culture in which the words were used, we can then
properly interpret Biblical passages from a Hebraic
perspective.
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love
me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:6)
Our normal understanding of the word "keep" within this
verse is to "obey," however this is not the case. The Hebrew
verb used here is שמר (shamar), which literally means "to
guard" or "to protect."
They will turn to other gods and serve them, and
despise me and break my covenant. (Deuteronomy
31:20)
Similarly, our normal understanding of "break" within this
verse is to "disobey," but again this is not the case. The
Hebrew verb here is פרר (parar) and means "to trample
underfoot."
The "keeping" or "breaking" of the commandments of God is
not about obedience and disobedience; it is about one's
attitude toward them. Will we guard and protect them as we
would our family, or will we throw it on the ground and
trample them as we would garbage?
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The Aaronic Blessing
Now that we have a basic understanding of Hebrew
philosophy, vocabulary, language and the alphabet, we can
now begin to interpret the Bible from an Ancient Hebrew
perspective rather than from a Western one.
Most people are familiar with the English translation of the
Aaronic blessing.
The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make his
face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The
LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you
peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 RSV)
Notice that many of the words in this translation are abstract;
bless, keep, gracious, countenance, grant and peace. Each of
the Hebrew words behind the English in this passage is filled
with images that are lost when translated into the English
language. When we examine each of these words from their
original cultural and linguistic perspectives, the message in
this passage comes alive.
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Bless
Figure 15 – Camels kneeling down
The Hebrew verb ברך (Barakh, Strong's #1288) means to kneel
as seen in Genesis 24:11. However, when written in the piel
form, such as it is in Aaronic blessing, it means to show
respect (usually translated as bless). However, as "respect" is
an abstract word, we need to uncover its original concrete
meaning, which we can do by examining other words related
to this verb. One such related word is the noun ברך (berekh,
Strong's #1288) meaning "knee." Another related Hebrew
word is ברכה (berakhah, Strong's #1293) meaning a gift or
present. From this we can see the concrete meaning behind
the piel form of the verb barak. It is to bring a gift to another
while kneeling out of respect. The extended meaning of this
word is to do or give something of value to another. Elohiym
"respects" us by providing for our needs and we in turn
"respect" Elohiym by giving him of ourselves as his servants.
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Keep
Figure 16 - Thorns
The Hebrews were a nomadic people raising livestock. It
would not be uncommon for a shepherd to be out with his
flock, away from the camp, over the night. In order to protect
the flock, the shepherd would construct a corral of thorn
bushes. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the
corral would be a hedge of protection around them. The
Hebrew word for a thorn is רישמ (shamiyr, Strong's #8068)
and derived from the verb רשמ (shamar, Strong's #8104),
which literally means to guard and protect and is the word
used in the Aaronic blessing.
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Face
Figure 17 – Norman Rockwell's painting of a girl's expression
In the painting above you can "read" the faces of each of the
people within the painting. The face reflects the many
different moods, emotions, and thoughts of the person. The
Hebrew word פנים (paniym, Strong's #6440), means "face,"
but is always written in the plural form (the ים suffix identifies
this word as plural), reflecting this idea of multiple faces of
each person. This word can also mean “presence” or the
“wholeness of being” of an individual.
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Shine
Figure 18 – Light brings order to chaos
The word אור (or, Strong's #215), as a noun means "light" and
as a verb, as it is used here, means to "give light" or "shine"
and is equated with bringing about order as light illuminates
or reveals what has been dark.
Gracious
Figure 19 – A nomadic camp
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Most theologians will define “grace” as “unmerited favor,” but
notice the abstractness of these words. The Hebrew verb
translated as gracious in the Aaronic blessing is the verb ןנח
(hhanan, Strong's #2603) and is often paralleled with other
Hebrew words meaning healing, help, being lifted up, finding
refuge, strength and rescue. From a concrete Hebraic
perspective this verb means to “provide protection.” Where
does one run to for protection? The camp, which in Hebrew is
.(hhanan) חנן a word related to ,(hanah, Strong's #2583) חנה
Grant
Figure 20 – A meal that is set and arranged
The Hebrew verb שים (siym, Strong's #7760), literally
means to "set down in a fixed and arranged place."
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Peace
Figure 21 – A windmill that is "not complete."
When we hear the word peace we usually associate this to
mean an absence of war or strife. However, the Hebrew word
.has a very different meaning (shalom, Strong's #7965) שלום
The root of this word is שלם (shalam, Strong's #7999) and is
usually used in the context of making restitution. When a
person has caused another to become deficient in some way,
such as a loss of livestock, it is the responsibility of the person
who created the deficiency to restore what has been taken,
lost or stolen. The verb shalam literally means to make whole
or complete. The noun shalom has the more literal meaning of
being in a state of wholeness, or being without deficiency.
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A Hebraic interpretation of the Aaronic Blessing
With the Hebraic understanding of each of these Hebrew
words, we can better understand the true meaning of the
Aaronic blessing as it was understood by the Ancient Hebrews.
YHWH will kneel before you presenting
gifts and will guard you with a hedge of
protection.
YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of
his being toward you bringing order and
he will give you comfort and
sustenance.
YHWH will lift up his wholeness of being
and look upon you and he will set in
place all you need to be whole and
complete.