Biblical Hebrew How to Understand the Ancient Language - Without Having to Learn Hebrew SAMPLE. Choice Words from the Story of The Sale of Joseph

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1 Biblical Hebrew How to Understand the Ancient Language - Without Having to Learn Hebrew SAMPLE Choice Words from the Story of The Sale of Joseph

2 Biblical Hebrew Study Book Editor-in-Chief Yigal Tzadka Content Advisor David Smith English Editor Tiki Krakowski Hebrew Editor Orly Kihaly Graphic Design Nechama Levine Publisher Good Times Ltd Hechalutz Street Jerusalem Subscriptions Liora Tzadka Cover Photo: Brothers Sell Joseph into Slavery. Konstantin Flavitsky, The story of the sale of Joseph is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. This is not a simple topic and many commentators have tried to deal with it over the years. Also, many artists have focused on this topic, like in this painting by Konstantin Flavitsky. Website All rights reserved. Copying material from this publication without written permission is strictly forbidden. Important Note The study book you are holding is sanctified due to the holy texts printed in its pages. Please take care of the study book accordingly, and treat it with respect. Dear Readers, If you have any questions, or if you d like us to focus on a specific Biblical word or paragraph, please let us know. Write to us at yigal@hebrewtoday. com and we ll try to address your questions, either by or in the next issue of our Biblical Hebrew Study Book. 2

3 The Source (Genesis 37:23-26) ו י ה י כּ א שׁ ר בּ א יוֹס ף Vayehi ka asher ba Yosef א ל א ח יו; el echav ו יּ פ שׁ יטוּ א ת יוֹס ף vayafshitu et Yosef א ת כּ תּ נ תּוֹ et kutanto א ת כּ ת נ ת ה פּ סּ ים et ktonet hapasim א שׁ ר ע ל יו. asher alav. 24. ו יּ קּ ח הוּ Vayikachuhu ו יּ שׁ ל כוּ א תוֹ ה בּ ה; vayashlichu oto haborah ו ה בּוֹר ק, vehabor rek א ין בּוֹ מ י ם. en bo mayim. 25. ו יּ שׁ בוּ ל א כ ל ל ח ם Vayeshvu le echol lechem 23. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colours that was on him; 24. and they took him, and cast him into the pit and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25. And they sat down to eat bread; 3

4 ו יּ שׂ אוּ ע ינ יה ם ו יּ אוּ vayis u eineyhem vayir u ו ה נּ ה א ח ת י שׁ מ ע אל ים vehineh orchat Yishme elim בּ א ה מ גּ ל ע ד; ba ah migil ad וּג מ לּ יה ם נ שׂ א ים ugemalehem nos im נ כ את וּצ י ו ט nechot utsri valot הוֹל כ ים ל הוֹ יד מ צ י מ ה. holchim lehorid Mitsraymah. 26. ו יּ אמ ר י הוּד ה א ל א ח יו Vayomer Yehudah el echav מ ה בּ צ ע mah betsa כּ י נ ה ג א ת א ח ינוּ ki naharog et achinu ו כ סּ ינוּ א ת דּ מוֹ. vechisinu et damo. and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26. And Judah said unto his brethren: What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? 4

5 Selected Words from the Source (ktonet hapasim) coat כּ ת נ ת ה פּ סּ ים of many colours (37:23) The word כּ ת נ ת (ktonet) coat comes from the word כּ ת נ ה (kutna) cotton. This indicates to us what material Joseph s coat was made from. This is the same coat that Jacob gave to Joseph in verse 3. Incidentally, the word כּ ת נ ת has all but disappeared from the Hebrew language, though there are some who use it to describe pajamas. In the English translation, the phrase of many colours is used to describe,פּ סּ ים however, it is not an exact translation. The correct translation is stripes. But what were these stripes that were on the coat and why did Jacob need them? Obviously, this was a more tailored piece of clothing, and it showed that Jacob favored Joseph over the rest of the brothers. However, the stripes showed something else. During Biblical times, members of royalty wore clothing with stripes. We can see this in the story of Amnon and Tamar, the children of King David. In Samuel II, 13:18, the text describes the clothing that Tamar wore: 2 Striped tunic in Egytpian art ו ע ל יה כּ ת נ ת פּ סּ ים כּ י כ ן תּ ל בּ שׁ ן ב נוֹת ה מּ ל ה בּ תוּ ת ve aleha ktonet pasim ki chen tilbashna vnot hamelech habetulot Now she had a garment of many colours upon her; for with such robes were the king s daughters that were virgins apparelled 5

6 Did Jacob know that he was dressing a future prince? Is this how he showed the rest of the brothers that he took Joseph s dreams (that he would rule over his brothers) seriously? (37:25) (of) (orchat) caravan א ר ח ת This word comes from the word אוֹר ח (orach) which means a way, path. In other words, this is describing a caravan, a group of people traveling on a certain path. In this case, they happen to be Ishmaelites. Caravan of camels. Sculpture: David Gerstein. Photo: Dr. Avishai Teichner (37:25) Ishmaelites (Yishme elim) י שׁ מ ע אל ים This word obviously comes from the name Ishmael - the son of Hagar, Abraham s Egyptian maidservant. This name is composed of two words: (yishma) he will hear י שׁ מ ע (el) God א ל As you may recall, when Hagar fled from Abraham s house, an angel of God revealed itself to her and told her that she was pregnant and that she would give birth to a son. He established the name of the child before it was born, and said that God heared her troubles (Genesis 16:11). (nechot utsri valot) spicery and balm and נ כ את וּצ ר י ו ט ladanum (37:25) Throughout history, the area around the Land of Israel produced spices, medical incense and other similar things. For thousands of years, 6

7 caravans traveled to Egypt, and later to Rome, laden with this precious and unique merchandise. So, what did the Ishmaelites carry on their camels? - spicery נ כ את The various interpreters Different spices have not been able to identify what נ כ את is exactly. Some botanists think that is a carob product, such as carob powder or carob honey. In various historical descriptions carob honey is described as one of the expensive products that were exported from the area around Egypt to Europe. Other scholars think that נ כ את is a type of wax, which was rare at the time and was used in a certain type of drawing technique in ancient Egypt. However, the most common interpretation of the word is that נ כ את is a general word for spices, just as the translation has it - spicery. - balm צ ר י These are various medicinal herbs that were used in the ancient Near East. As Jeremiah said to the daughters of Egypt: ע ל י ג ל ע ד וּק ח י צ י בּ תוּל ת בּ ת מ צ י ם; 3 ל שּׁ ו א ה בּ ית פ אוֹת תּ ע ל ה א ין ל ali Gil ad ukchi tsori betulat bat Mitsra yim lashav hirbet refu ot te ala ein lach Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt; in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no cure for thee (Jeremiah 46:11) 7

8 The prophet mentions the provenance of the balm - the Hills of Gilead, which are east of the Jordan River - which fits in with our story, since it says that the caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. It is interesting to read medical sources from the Land of Israel that describes balm. The Muslim scholar al-muqaddasi ( ) described balm as a medical product made of many ingredients. He said that some of the ingredients were derived from poisonous animals such as snakes and scorpions. He even notes that those animals were caught near Jericho, where they would milk their poison, or make a powder out of their dried bodies, in order to mix it with the powder of plants, which were harvested near Jerusalem. There were scholars who understood the balm to be a plant that was used in the making of incense. In ancient Jewish literature, the balm is listed as an ingredient in the incense that was used by the High Priest in the Holy Temple. Various botanists think that the balm was made out of the legendary balsam tree that grew near Ein Gedi (near the Dead sea). In an exhibit on King Herod the Great in Jerusalem, a small jar with the word balsam, is displayed. The archaeologists think that this is the last remnant of this perfume. Small jar of balsam perfume found at the Herodion ט - ladanum It is not clear what ladanum is. There are those who think that it is a type of pitch that was used in healing. Other think that it is a mixture or powder made of inedible fruits and trees, such as oak trees. In any case, 8

9 it seems that in Biblical times, ladanum was expensive and important. Indeed, Jacob would later send Joseph, who was then a prince of Egypt, ladanum balm (Genesis 43:11). These two products have been called the song of the earth - i.e. the choicest products of the land. During the Second Temple period, it was thought that ladanum was a type of medical potion that needed to be taken in small doses. (37:26) profit (betsa) בּ צ ע Judah, who was also trying to help Joseph, wanted to delay the inevitable and asked: What do we gain by killing our brother? He uses the word which is translated as profit. This is a neutral translation, which בּ צ ע does not convey the meaning of.בּ צ ע It does not indicate whether this is a positive or negative thing. However, in Biblical Hebrew, the word way. has a negative connotation and it is generally translated that בּ צ ע Here too, in the case of Judah, the text wanted to steer us toward the understanding that something bad is happening here - and the use of the word בּ צ ע emphasizes that. This word also means a part of a whole. When someone takes a part of a whole for himself, he takes a part for himself. When a person embezzles money, he takes for himself part of the whole, but in a non-kosher way. :בּ צ ע Here is an example of the word כּ י מ קּ ט נּ ם ו ע ד גּ דוֹל ם כּ לּוֹ בּוֹצ ע בּ צ ע; 4 וּמ נּ ב יא ו ע ד כּ ה ן כּ לּוֹ ע שׂ ה שּׁ ק ר ki miktanam ve ad gdolam kulo botse a batsa uminavi ve ad kohen kulo oseh shaker For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely (Jeremiah 6:13) 9

10 A GLIMPSE OF OUR HISTORY Good Times Publishing Ltd. is a publication house which started its journey in 1984 as a family-owned business, publishing educational material for the Israeli school system. The founder and Editor-in-Chief, Yigal Tzadka, graduated with a degree in Archeology in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after having completed his military service in the Israel Defense Forces. For the last 30 years, he has been writing and editing publications both in Israel and abroad. With a collaboration of Hebrew Scholars and Christian Pastors, Good Times created multiple products to help individuals of any level understand Biblical Hebrew. Today, Good Times is based in Jerusalem and ships its publications to private, as well as organizational subscribers, in over 50 countries around the world. The publications are recognized by the Israeli Ministry of Education and recommended by the Jewish Agency for Israel. In 2009, The Biblical Hebrew Study Book was created to provide a way for non-hebrew speaking Christians to understand the true meaning of the original Biblical words, and to provide a personal and exciting learning experience. 10

11 WORDS FROM THE EDITOR The Biblical Hebrew Study Book is a monthly publication that goes through the Tanakh (Biblical Canon) giving our readers special insights into the root of certain Biblical Hebrew words, original meaning, Biblical occurrences, and implication in English. There is no need to know Hebrew in order to understand our Study Books. Each month we highlight important Biblical Hebrew words in a selected section of the Bible and offer interpretations to illuminate your understanding of the text. Thank you for taking the time to go through our sample and learn a bit of history on us. My passion is to provide material for those who want to learn more about the Bible. The Biblical Hebrew Study Book helps strengthen your skills for inductive Bible study, and enhances your teaching and preaching abilities. Subscribe now to become part of our Biblical Hebrew family, and join the thousands of people around the world that are deepening their faith. Yigal Tzadka 11

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