The Incredible Hebrew Language

A Pure Language

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food 

— Job 23:12 

"God's sacred Word ... is that inestimable treasure that excels all the riches of the earth" 

— Translators of the King James Bible

The Hebrew language is fascinating in so many ways, and it is the central learning tool I use in most of my articles. It is a symbolic language that uses letters as pictographs to define its words, which will be used and described in future writings. This article is an overview of this miraculous historical undying tongue.

Hebrew is one of the oldest living languages and is thought by some to be the language from which all other readable words stem. It is the language Moses used in writing the Torah, which records the beginning of all things and is, according to the text, the language God speaks. 

The miraculous part of the story of this language is that 2000 years ago, the Jewish people were dispersed from their homeland of Israel, and they took their native language with them wherever they went. After World War II and the Holocaust, Britain enforced the Jewish people's right to return to their homeland. Incredibly, the language was preserved for almost 2000 years despite God's people being assimilated into other cultures and languages. It is miraculous that the language was not lost and is presently the national language of Israel. The Hebrew language was preserved through their religious dedication to reading and praying in Hebrew, regardless of the native language of the land where they dwelt.

We can look at our own country to consider how miraculous this is. Someone might move here from another country, and the newcomers may learn our language while maintaining and using, to some degree, their native language. They may even teach the next generation some of their native tongues. Still, the likelihood of the language surviving through several generations is slim to none, let alone for almost 2000 years. The nation of Israel was reborn in 1948, along with its language, thanks to Eleazar Ben Yehuda, who promoted its use and played a foundational role in reestablishing it as Israel's national language.

More people now than ever seek the Hebraic roots of their Christian Faith, including the language itself, and discover that it is a pure and unique language possibly born from the mouth of God Himself. "He spoke, and it was."

“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord. 

— Zephaniah 3:9

The restoration of this holy language is in direct fulfillment of the above verse, which speaks of restoring a pure language to the people. It is yet another facet of God revealing Himself and expressing His ultimate desire for us to know Him as He is and understand His truths in a deeper dimension. 

*There are no cuss words in Hebrew. All cuss words in Israel have been imported from other languages.

Pictograph Perspective

I became interested in Hebrew after reading "Buried Treasure," a fascinating book by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. In the book, he explains that the letters used to form Hebrew words each have an associated image. When these images are combined, they can help communicate a concept or representation that enhances our understanding of the word.

Most modern languages are based on phonetic sounds that we associate with words and their meanings. However, the Hebrew language provides visual concepts through ancient pictographs. For example, the Hebrew word for "father" is spelled with two letters: aleph and bet/vet (av in Hebrew). Aleph is represented by an ox, symbolizing strength, leadership, and dependability. Bet/vet is a picture of a house that connects the ideas of home and family.

By combining these two concepts, we get the impression that God wants us to know that a father is a strong leader of a home and family. This method of revelation adds another dimension that was previously invisible, and I have found it to confirm and align with previously revealed Scripture.

Forward and Backward

He also reveals in his book how some words spelled one way can mean their opposite when spelled backward, such as the word for "hand," which is "yod י," which consists of a "yod י" (picture of a hand grasping) and a dalet ד (door, a symbol of a "way"). The word pictograph suggests that the hand is the means of reaching or grasping something desired or needed. If you spell hand backward, as in "dalet," "yod י," (dai), it forms the word for sufficient or enough. In one direction, we are grasping something needed; in the other, we have a need fulfilled.

"The more you read the Bible, the more you meditate on it, the more you will be astonished by it" 

— Charles Spurgeon 

 

Jewish Jewels

Another resource I found extremely useful for understanding pictograph concepts is the Jewish Jewels website. They have an excellent video series that studies each letter and its corresponding pictograph. Dr. Danny Ben Gigi, a former professor of Hebrew who taught at Arizona State University, teaches the lessons.

This designed method gives stability to word definitions because the pictures and their associations don't change. In modern language, a word might mean one thing at one time, and a decade later, it might mean something else. God's language never changes. You can't change a word picture. An ox will always be associated with what an ox has always done, does, and always will do. It will never change. This method makes His word even more dependable.

 "O, beloved! You have only to study the Scriptures to find out wondrous things in them; you have only to search deeply, and you stand amazed at their richness. You will find God's Word to be a very precious Word; the more you live by it and study by it, the more will it be endeared to your minds. 

— Charles Spurgeon 

 

Agri-Bio-Linguistics

Along with these pictograph concepts, there is another revelation with certain Hebrew words called Agri-BioLinguistics. This concept is where God uses agriculture, biology, and language to communicate ideas. These are three things all men would be familiar with and understand. A foundational verse expressing this concept:

"Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 

— Matthew 4:4

"Man" represents biology. "Bread" illustrates agriculture. And word signifies the linguistic aspect. For example, the Hebrew word Kavod כבד means "glory," but it is also the word for the liver. In Hebrew, God uses the liver to communicate something about glory. One concept is that the liver is the largest organ in the body and one of the most essential. God wants us to understand that glory is substantial, that it matters, that glorifying God means considering Him as crucial and valuable, and that He would weigh heavily on the scales of our estimation.  

"The best evidence of the Bible's being the Word of God is to be found between it's covers" 

— Charles Hodge

Numerics and geometrics

Another finding in Hebrew is that, thematically, God has designed His word through a number system. No mystic or magic involved. It is another form of checks and balances to help keep us on the right track and add another layer of depth to its meaning.

Ancient Hebrew had no separate numbering system; like Roman numerals, its alphabet served as its numbering system. However, the difference between other languages and their use of numbers compared to Hebrew is that the numbers and formulas produced by the Words in Hebrew are consistent with the concepts and themes expressed in His Word. For instance, the number four in Scripture symbolizes formation, transformation, and all their processes. It speaks of things created and the physical realm.

The value of some words has even been discovered to express geometric shapes and patterns, such as the Hebrew word for "wisdom" (chokmah), which, by God's creation of the world, consists of triangular numbers that can form the shape of a snowflake when considered both ordinally and standardly.

 ... as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there ... So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; (... and God said) It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please ( ... and God saw ... that it was good) 

— Isaiah 55:11 / Gen 1 

"All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more strongly the truths that come from on high, and contained in the sacred writings" 

— William Herschel (German astronomer and composer)

Hebrew Fascination 

Concluding Thoughts

It appears that God has designed His Word in a way that gives us several dimensions in which we can understand Him. The most significant discovery of all is in learning His consistency. No matter how we examine His Word, His truth remains the same. This idea is also true concerning all that He has created. We have living life lessons all around us if we take the time to dig for them.

... speak to the earth, and it will teach you. 

— Job 12:8

I conclude that the revelations of pictographs, word reversal, numerics, geometrics, and His creation are never things to be worshiped as in looking to any of them for private interpretation or future speculation. They are simply tools for viewing already revealed truth in multidimensional ways that can assist our understanding of His truth. 

Kabbalists (letter worshipers), astrologers (star worshipers), and numerologists (number worshipers) have made a religion in and of themselves out of these things. They all leave God out of the equation, but we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

I highly recommend that, when one does an in-depth study of the Bible, they also read it regularly, from Genesis to Revelation. It will ground your research and keep you from straying from God's larger picture.

God bless, and happy learning!

"Study of His Word is never a drudgery, but always a delight" 

— Herbert Lockyer

© 2010 Tamarajo