Biblical Hebrew Study Book Issue No. 1 September 2009 A Modern Way to Learn The Ancient Language
Biblical Hebrew Study Book Editor-in-Chief Yigal Tzadka yigal@hebrewtoday.com English Editor Shoshana Brickman Hebrew Editor Dafna Glazer-Amir Graphic Design Kav U'chtav Important Note Publisher Good Times Ltd. +972-2-643-7153 52 Hechalutz Street Jerusalem, 96269 Subscriptions Liora Tzadka orders@hebrewtoday.com Website www.hebrewtoday.com All rights reserved. Copying material from this publication without written permission is strictly forbidden. The booklet you are holding is sanctified due to the holy texts printed in its pages. Please take care of the booklet accordingly, and treat it with respect. Front page photo: Accessories of a Torah Scribe. A Torah is written with a quill pen or reed. Torah scribes also use a magnifying glass, to make sure that everything is correct. Back page photo: A page from a German Passover Haggadah from the Middle Ages. Dear Readers, If you have any questions, or if you'd like us to focus on a specific Biblical word or paragraph, don't hesitate and let us know. Write to us at yigal@hebrewtoday.com and we'll try to address your questions, either by email or in the next issue of our Biblical Hebrew Study Book. 2
Table of Contents A Few Words from the Editor...4 The Source (Genesis 1:1-13)...5-8 Selected Words from the Source...9-12 Meanings of the Names of the Five Books of Moses...13-15 Word of the Month...16-17 Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet...18-19 Modern Words with Ancient Roots...20-21 The Septuagint: One Book, Seventy Translations...22-23 Picture of the Month...24 The Word Behind the Picture...25-26 Activity: Improving Understanding of Spoken Biblical Hebrew...27-28 Words you Learned in this Course...29 Crosswords Puzzles...30-33 Activity Answers...34 Biblical Hebrew Order Form...35 Biblical Facts and Figures, Activities, and Did You Know? are distributed throughout this study book. Please note: The symbol (with a number) next to each article represents the track number of that article on the Biblical Hebrew Audio CD. This allows you to listen to the track of your choice with ease. 3
A Few Words from the Editor... Dear Readers, The Hebrew Bible is something that people all over the world want to learn about. Hebrew, the original language in which the Bible was written, is a rich and special language, a language that interests diverse people, regardless of the languages they speak on a regular basis. The Biblical Hebrew Study Book series teaches you about this extraordinarily rich language, and explains many of interesting words and themes. Even people who don't know the Hebrew alphabet can learn to read Biblical Hebrew with this Study Book, thereby gaining access to the world's most revered text, in its original language. In this issue, we begin with the story of Genesis, and the creation of the world. From here, we'll move forward, step by step, into subsequent chapters of the Torah, and cover many of its most riveting stories. In the future, we ll also deal with the Psalms and other important books in the Bible. So pull up a comfortable chair, open this edition of Biblical Hebrew, and open your favorite Bible as well. We hope you enjoy our magazine, and come to a deeper understanding of the Bible, because of it. Sincerely, Yigal Tzadka, Editor Please Note: This Biblical Hebrew Study Book series will help you read the Bible in the original Hebrew. A main biblical passage is provided at the beginning of each Study Book, in both Hebrew and in English. To supplement your learning, we recommend that you have your own Hebrew-English version of the Bible on-hand, one that includes the Five Books of Moses (the Torah), as well as the Prophets, and the Writings. This will allow you to look up other texts that are referred to in the Study Book, and help you solve the activities. 4
The Source (Genesis 1:1-13)? 1 בּ אשׁ ית בּ א א ה ים Bereshit bara Elohim א ת ה שּׁ מ י ם ו א ת ה א ץ. et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz 2 ו ה א ץ ה י ת ה Veha'aretz hai'tah ת הוּ ו ב הוּ tohu va'vohu ו ח שׁ, ע ל-פּ נ י ת הוֹם; vechoshech al-p'ney tehom ו רוּח א ה ים, ve'ruach Elohim מ ח פ ת ע ל-פּ נ י ה מּ י ם. merachefet al-p'ney hamayim 3 ו יּ אמ ר א ה ים, י ה י אוֹר; Vayomer Elohim yehi or ו י ה י-אוֹר. va'yehi-or 4 ו יּ א א ה ים א ת-ה אוֹר, Vayar Elohim et-ha'or כּ י-טוֹב; ki-tov ו יּ ב דּ ל א ה ים, בּ ין ה אוֹר vayavdel Elohim beyn ha'or 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light 5
וּב ין ה ח שׁ. u'veyn hachoshech 5 ו יּ ק א א ה ים ל אוֹר יוֹם, Vayikra Elohim la'or yom ו ל ח שׁ ק א ל י ל ה; velachoshech kara lailah ו י ה י-ע ב ו י ה י-ב ק ר, vayehi-erev vayehi-voker יוֹם א ח ד. yom echad 6 ו יּ אמ ר א ה ים, Va'yomer Elohim י ה י ק יע yehi rakia בּ תוֹ ה מּ י ם betoch hamayim ו יה י מ ב דּ יל בּ ין מ י ם ל מ י ם. vi'yhi mavdil beyn mayim lamayim 7 ו יּ ע שׂ א ה ים א ת-ה ק יע, Vaya'as Elohim et-harakia ו יּ ב דּ ל בּ ין ה מּ י ם א שׁ ר vayavdel beyn hamayim asher מ תּ ח ת ל ק יע, וּב ין ה מּ י ם mitachat larakia uveyn hamayim א שׁ ר מ ע ל ל ק יע ; asher meh'al larakia from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning, were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament: 6
ו י ה י-כ ן. vayehi-chen 8 ו יּ ק א א ה ים ל ק יע, שׁ מ י ם; Vayikra Elohim la'rakia shamayim ו י ה י-ע ב ו י ה י-ב ק ר, vayehi-erev vayehi-voker יוֹם שׁ נ י. yom sheni 9 ו יּ אמ ר א ה ים, Vayomer Elohim י קּ ווּ ה מּ י ם מ תּ ח ת ה שּׁ מ י ם yikavu hamayim mitachat hashamayim א ל-מ קוֹם א ח ד, el-makom echad ו ת א ה, ה יּ בּ שׁ ה; ו י ה י-כ ן. vetera'eh hayabashah vayehi-chen 10 ו יּ ק א א ה ים ל יּ בּ שׁ ה א ץ, Vayikra Elohim layabashah eretz וּל מ ק ו ה ה מּ י ם ק א י מּ ים; ulemikveh hamayim kara yamim ו יּ א א ה ים, כּ י-טוֹב. vayar Elohim ki-tov 11 ו יּ אמ ר א ה ים, Vayomer Elohim תּ ד שׁ א ה א ץ דּ שׁ א ע שׂ ב tadsheh ha'aretz desheh esev and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, 7
מ ז יע ז ע, mazria zera ע ץ פּ י ע שׂ ה פּ י ל מ ינוֹ, etz pri oseh pri lemino א שׁ ר ז עוֹ-בוֹ ע ל-ה א ץ; asher zar'o-vo al-ha'aretz ו י ה י-כ ן. vayehi-chen the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit afterwhose his kind, seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 ו תּוֹצ א ה א ץ דּ שׁ א ע שׂ ב Vatotseh ha'aretz desheh esev מ ז יע ז ע ל מ ינ הוּ, mazria zera leminehu ו ע ץ ע שׂ ה-פּ י ve'etz oseh-pri א שׁ ר ז עוֹ-בוֹ, ל מ ינ הוּ; asher zar'o-vo leminehu ו יּ א א ה ים, כּ י-טוֹב. vayar Elohim ki-tov 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 ו י ה י-ע ב ו י ה י-ב ק ר, Vayehi-erev vayehi-voker יוֹם שׁ ל ישׁ י. yom shlishi 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 8
Selected Words from the Source (bereshit) In the Beginning בּ ר אשׁ ית is one of the most interesting words in the Bible. Indeed, there are בּ ר אשׁ ית dozens of commentaries which deal with the question of why the Bible opens with this particular word. בּ ר אשׁ ית (rosh) which means head. The word ר אשׁ is בּ ר אשׁ ית The root of the word here means in the beginning. (See page 15 for more about this word). The letter ב comes from the word בּ תוֹ which means inside. In other words, the paragraph is describing what occurred in(side) the beginning. (barah) created בּ ר א The word בּ ר א refers to the creation of something from nothing. However it seems that this word may also be some sort of language game. The letters of the word are,ב-ר-א three letters that also appear in the word ית.בּ ר אשׁ In fact, these are the first three letters of the Bible, so they have a significant importance as well. We should note now that there are many word games in the Bible, and we'll be discussing them in future issues. (elohim) God א לוֹה ים Why doesn't the Bible refer to א לוֹהּ God in the singular form of or?ה א ל After all, the verb that goes with this noun is in the singular form,.בּ ר א Note that in English, the word God is always in the singular, and doesn't have a plural form when used to refer to the monotheistic God of the Bible. 9
The reason for the use of the plural form is that the Bible pays a great deal of respect to God and therefore uses the plural form when referring to it. Note that later on in this first Chapter of the Bible, when the creation of Adam is referred to, the words used to describe his creation are also in the plural. Here's another interesting note about the word.א לוֹה ים There are some commentators who divide the word into two parts, א ל (el) God and ה יּ ם (hayam) the sea. In this interpretation, the name is similar to the God of the waters that flow to the sea. These waters start from a high point and arrive at all sorts of places, bringing life with them. These waters flow to the sea and bring with them life also to the fish and the other creatures in the world. The ocean is a place that is in harmony with nature and with every other place in the world. (tohu va'vohu) chaos and emptiness תּוֹהוּ ו בוֹהוּ In fact, the correct word for this is chaos, although in English, the word chaos is a relatively recent one, having been first used some time in the 15 th century. In Hebrew, the Bible uses the words תּוֹהוּ ו בוֹהוּ in order to describe a situation of disorder and wilderness. Furthermore, the passage in Jeremiah 4:23-27 explains the phrase תּוֹהוּ ו בוֹהוּ as says: (shmama) wilderness, a desolate place, when it שׁ מ מ ה א ית י א ת ה א ץ ו ה נּ ה תּוֹהוּ ו בוֹהוּ... שׁ מ מ ה תּ ה י ה כּ ל ה א ץ 4 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void... The whole land shall be desolate מ שׁ תּוֹמ ם Another related word - when we say in modern Hebrew that a person is (mishtomem), astonished, astounded, the word is based on the same root as (toheh) wondering תּוֹה ה The meaning of the word is that the person is.שׁ מ מ ה and בּוֹה ה (boheh) staring in the air. It's as if there is a lack of reason and meaning, leading to the person's astoundment. Other words of explanation. (bohu) emptiness, lack of something בּוֹהוּ (bo hu) inside of it. As if to say that the future creation is hidden within בּוֹ הוּא 10
this wilderness. (raki'a) heaven ר ק יע The regular definition of this word is heaven. However, the meaning here is a clear, flat surface, upon which the water was laid. The meaning of the word ר ק יע in modern Hebrew is something that is thin and strong, made with great strength, for example, a flattened sheet of metal. If someone stomps on the floor loudly, it is said that he רוֹק ע (rokeah) stamping his feet. (bein mayim lemayim) from water to water בּ ין מ י ם ל מ י ם Separating the water that is in the heaven from the water that is on the earth. (shamayim) skies שׁ מ י ם The English translation of this word is usually heaven and not sky, skies. In Biblical Hebrew, this word is used to indicate the sky, whereas the words heaven. (gan eden) the garden of Eden, are used to indicate גּ ן ע ד ן Some people say the word שׁ מ י ם comes from the words שׁ ם מ י ם (sham mayim) there water (i.e. there is water). (me'orot) lights of the sky מ אוֹרוֹת Share this Experience with Others! We hope you are enjoying this unique course on Biblical Hebrew, and we're sure others will love it, too! Let your friends know about this experience. Tell them how to reach us, so that they can have their own subscription to the Biblical Hebrew Study Book. 11