"Teacher"—A Hebrew Word Study

 

A Hebrew Word for a teacher is moreh, מורה

Moreh מורה: A Hebrew Word for Teacher

A couple of Hebrew words in Scripture mean "teacher." Both are equally interesting and can help us better understand God's purpose for a teacher. This study will examine one of them, the Hebrew word moreh, מורה.

Job credits God as the teacher of all teachers.

“Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches מורה like Him? 

— Job 36:22

Let our greatest lessons be drawn, therefore, from His Word.

Think Archery

According to Gesenius's Lexicon, the first definition given for "moreh" is in the context of an archery term and literally means "archer." This definition demonstrates that the primary goal of teaching is to aim students toward a specific purpose or target.

Train up a child in the way he should go, 

And when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

— Proverbs 22:6

King Solomon, known for his God-given wisdom, recorded a father's role in aiming and pointing his children like arrows from a quiver.

... Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them ...

— Psalm 127:4

Children need to be aimed or pointed in the right direction. The verse above implies that fathers set their children on a meaningful life course aimed toward a specific target.

Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding
... Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.

— Proverbs 4:1-4

An article by Robbie Low, "The Truth About Men & Church: On the Importance of Fathers to Churchgoing," reports some intriguing statistics from a Swiss study. The findings confirm these thoughts about the powerful influence a Father has on his children by teaching through example.

... if a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s devotions, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father goes regularly, regardless of the practice of the mother, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will become churchgoers (regular and irregular). If a father goes to church irregularly, regardless of his wife’s devotion, between a half and two-thirds of their offspring will find themselves coming to church regularly or occasionally.  

 

An ox is known for its strength and dependability. 

Hebrew Word Pictograph for Moreh מורה

Hebrew word pictographs can give us unique and confirming insights into the functions, purposes, and concepts of words, as we shall see in the Hebrew word moreh מורה, meaning "teacher."

In the ancient Hebrew writings, letters were represented by images and written as such. For example, the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet is symbolized by an ox. This letter, therefore, is associated with the qualities and characteristics of an ox. Words that contain it will be related to strong, leading, and dependable things. This method can provide a visual concept that helps us understand the word.

Teaching produces fruit. 

Mem מ: Womb

The Hebrew word for teacher, "moreh מורה," begins with the letter "mem מ," which is associated with water. The word can also represent a pregnant womb when it ends with a "hey ה," as this word does.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, an Orthodox American Jewish Rabbi, furthers this idea when he teaches that when there is a "mem מ" (watery womb) at the beginning of a word and a "hey ה" (meaning "what comes from" or "the product of") at the end of a word, as does "moreh מורה," it illustrates the transforming of a concept into reality as imaged by a pregnancy that produces a child.

... receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 

— James 1:21

Mary, the mother of Jesus, also illustrates the idea of receiving truth and reproducing when the angel of the Lord visits her with a word from God that she will conceive a Son who will be Savior to the world. 

Let it be to me according to your word 

— Luke 1:38

She produced a child by receiving God's word. Could this be how truth, when taught, works in the minds and hearts of receptive students? When the truth is received with gladness, it will produce. Therefore, we could view teaching as the impregnating of truth, concepts, and ideas, with the expectation that the teaching will be incubated, developed, and produce something useful, meaningful, and productive. Jesus also alludes to this idea in the parable of the four soils representing the hearts of men who would receive His teaching, Word, and Truth. He explains to His disciples that His Word is a seed.

The seed is the word of God. 

— Luke 8:11

The above thought indicates that teaching is like planting seeds with the anticipation of a harvest.

Nails connect things much like synapses do in the learning process. 

Vav ו: Nail

The second letter of the word "moreh מורה" is the Hebrew letter "vav ו." It is pictured by a nail and illustrates connecting and joining things

Specific brain processes and how they function in terms of connections can demonstrate this. According to Kendra Cherry at Very Well Health, our minds learn and grow through a complex process involving neural synapses.

... a synapse is a small gap at the end of a neuron that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next. Synapses are found where nerve cells connect with other nerve cells. 

This process directs messages, via chemical methods, across a synapse, where they bind (join-connect) to specific receptors. According to Wikimedia.com.

"Two connected neural pathways are thought to result in the storage of information, resulting in memory."

They are chemical molecules trapped inside holding tanks until an electrical signal frees them.

Teaching can include freeing, unbinding, and unpacking information in a way that aims at lessons, concepts, and ideas that will help students make the electrical connections in their understanding of the desired target, leading to productive and right living.

The head is the highest place in the body. It suggests things or people that are the highest priority. 

Resh ר: Priorities

The third letter of "moreh מורה" is "resh ר." It is represented by an image of a man's head, symbolizing a person's mind, and is associated with wisdom. The head is the highest place in the body. It suggests things or people that are the highest priority. This concept leads to the idea that teaching is about imparting wisdom that aims students toward their highest and greatest potential targets and making "wisdom" the utmost priority. 

Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. 

— Proverbs 4:7

True wisdom comes from God alone.

To God our Savior, Who alone is wise. 

— Jude 1:25

Jesus was identified as a teacher by even the most religious of His time, as noted by Nicodemus in the book of John.

... we know that You are a teacher come from God. 

— John 3:3

He is our most excellent teacher.

... the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

— Proverbs 2:6

The Greek word used to describe Him means "one who teaches concerning the things of God and the duties of man."

He has shown (pointed out, taught, revealed) to you,
O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

— Micah 6:8

This letter also indicates a forward-facing position, indicating that teaching is about pointing people on a forward path. Moving forward in Scripture is connected to God's wisdom and doing things His way, not our own. 

... they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 

— Jeremiah 7:24

The Hebrew letter hey is a window representing revelation. 

Hey ה: Revelation

The fourth and final letter of the Hebrew word for teaching, "moreh מורה," is a "hey ה." Its pictograph is a window representing revelation. When at the end of the word, it means "what comes from."

Recall that when "mem מ" is the first letter of a Hebrew word and "hey ה" is the last, it shows the process from beginning to end of transforming seeds or concepts into a reality. When a baby is born, it reveals what has been processed for the last nine months. It is a "seed time to harvest" experience.

A teacher aims to produce results that can be seen and translated into action. God works the same way with us. 

... he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces. 

— Matthew 13:23

Therefore

... be doers of the word, and not hearers only. 

— James 1:22

The whole goal of teaching is to result in revelation. As it concerns a targeted and purposeful life, "The Preacher" in Proverbs tells us.

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint (become aimless and unproductive). 

— Proverbs 29:18

Altogether Combined 

Putting it all together, we could conclude from the Hebrew word pictographs of the term "moreh" that a teacher is someone who imparts and implants wisdom and instruction to the womb-like minds of their students. They unpack concepts in a way that connects their understanding to real life, which is the heart of wisdom, aiming to guide students toward a meaningful, useful, and productive life.

Torah תורה: Target

The Hebrew word "Torah תורה" (first five books of the Bible), which also means "teaching," shares the same root as "moreh מורה" and differs by only one letter. "Moreh מורה" begins with "mem מ," and "Torah תורה" starts with "tav ת." "Tav ת" is the sign of the cross in its pictograph concept and connects with the idea of a covenant (God's life-or-death agreement with us). An abbreviated pictograph understanding of "Torah תורה" might read: What comes from the man connected to the covenant.

In archery terms, the Torah is the target of life. The bullseye or center book would be Leviticus. The book of Leviticus centers around the sacrificial system, which points to the cross/covenant sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus, so we might experience restoration to God.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ... Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption ... He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 

— Hebrews 9:9, 11,12

 A fascinating confirmation of this thought is found in the Hebrew text of the Torah itself.

• If you start with the first "tav ת" in the book of Genesis and count 49 letters, you will find a "vav ו," the second letter of the Torah תורה. Count 49 again, and you will find a "resh ר," which is the Torah's third letter. Count 49 again, and you will find a "hey," the final letter of the Torah. 
• The book of Exodus does the same. 

The book of Leviticus contains the sacrificial system, the only way to meet with God. However, this third and middle book of the Torah is different. Every seventh letter from the first "yod י" spells God's covenant name, YHVH יהוה.

• Every 49th letter from "hey ה" spells Torah backward in the book of Numbers. 
• The book of Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah תורה, begins with the first "hey ה" in the 5th verse, "On the other side of the Jordan" (picture of salvation through Christ and entering the promised land of a new eternal life), spells Torah backward too.

What does all this mean? The first two books spelling Torah forwards point to Leviticus, which contained God's covenant name, YHVH יהוה, connecting us with the cross, Jesus, and the sacrificial system. The word "Torah תורה" is spelled backward in the last two books. This pattern points back to Leviticus, the book that contains God's covenant name, YHVH יהוה, connecting us to the cross, Jesus, and the sacrificial system. The Torah teaches us that the bullseye in life is faith in Jesus Christ as our sacrifice for sin. Everything everywhere, including the Torah itself, points to Him.

Sin: Missing the Mark 

Regarding the Bible, another archery term is the Hebrew word for sin, "chatah חטא." It means to miss the mark. Missing the mark might sound trivial when viewing it in terms of target practice with a bow and arrow, but as it concerns life eternal, nothing else counts but the bullseye. If we miss the mark, our lives move on a trajectory that leads away from God. This reality is a much weightier matter. 

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us (sets us off course), and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto (aimed toward) Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. 

— Hebrews 12:1-2 

 

Rain

Another definition given for the Hebrew word "moreh מורה" is "early rain." Early rains soften the soil for planting and water the tender plants that grow in it. Thus, God's teaching both softens the ground of our hearts and nurtures the implanted words (Torah תורה and teachings ) that He is cultivating in us. Its root word, "yarah ירה," means to scatter water upon in the sense of watering.

God's Teaching Is Like the Rain

Let my teaching drop as the rain, 

My speech distill as the dew, 

As raindrops on the tender herb, 

And as showers on the grass. 

— Deuteronomy 32:2

"Mem מ," the first letter of the word "moreh מורה," represented by a picture of water, confirms this. Teaching is not only imparting and implanting but also watering what we want to produce. The Holy Spirit is symbolized in Scripture by water.

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive 

— John 7:38-39

He is associated in this context with guiding us into the truth and teaching that waters our souls.

... the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things ... when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. 

— John 14:26, 16:13 

Both Word and Spirit are essential to learning and growth. Jesus told His disciples.

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 

— John 6:63 

Foundations

We will conclude with a final definition borrowed from the root of "moreh מורה," "yarah ירה," which means "to teach" and "to lay foundations."

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, 

A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. 

— Isaiah 28:16

The Cornerstone is Christ Himself, the sure foundation, as He invites and prompts us to hear and do as He teaches.

... whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 

— Matthew 7:24

© 2015 Tamarajo 

Sources

1http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-05-024-v#ixzz3YY2PZmvn 2https://www.verywellhealth.com/synapse-anatomy-2795867