Verse of the Month
Psalm 22:23 (verse 22 in the English Bibles)
אספרה
שמך
לאחי
בתוך
קהל
אהללך
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
(KJV Translation)
אספרה (asap'rah)
The root word is ספר. You may be familiar with the noun form of this root, sepher, meaning scroll or book. The verb form, saphar, means to tell or give and account of something. The א
identifies this as a verb and the subject of the verb is first person, singular, imperfect tense meaning "I am" or I will".
שמך (shimkha)
The word שם (shem - the letter mem, מ, is written as ם when at the end of a word) is usually translated as "name" but more literally means breath or character as the ancient Hebrews understood the breath of an individual to be his character. The suffix ך is a possessive pronoun meaning "of you". Combined this word means "character of you" or "your character".
לאחי (le'ahhiy)
The word אח (ahh - the "hh" is pronounced hard as in the "ch" in the name Bach) means brother. The word אחים (ahhiym) is the masculine plural form meaning "brothers". The Word אחי (ahhiy) is first person possessive or "my brother". But when the plural and first person possessive are combined the word אחי (achay - the "ay" is pronounced like the "y" in the word fly) as masculine plural nouns always drop the ם when in the possessive. The prefix ל means to or for.
בתוך (betokh)
The word תוך (tavekh or tokh) means middle, center or among. The prefix ב means "in".
קהל (qahal)
This word simply means a gathering as in an assembly. Originally it was used for a flock of sheep which are protected and cared for by the shepherd.
אהללך (ahhal'leka)
The word הלל (halal) is the word discussed above literally meaning to shine. The א identifies this as a verb and the subject of the verb is first person, singular, imperfect tense meaning "I shine" or I will shine". The suffix ך (ka) identifies the object of the verb as masculine singular.
Below is a translation of this verse from a Hebraic perspective.
I will tell the story about your character to my brothers in the flock; I will show them your shining light that will lead them.
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Question of the Month
Q: What is the firmament of Genesis 1:6?
A:
This is a very good example of how the Hebrew language works.
English and all other modern languages are abstract oriented. We commonly
use words that have no connection to any physical activity or object.
Hebrew, an ancient eastern language, is very different and all words are
related to a physical action or object.
Many times it helps to look at all of the uses of a particular word and
other words from the same root to get an idea of what that word really
means. The word raqiya comes from the root word raqa which can be found in
several passages including Isaiah 40:19 - "The idol! a workman casts it, and
a goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains."
The word "overlay" is the verb root raqa. Raqa is the process of hammering
out a piece of gold or other metal into thin plates which was then applied
to a carved or molten image.
Also see Numbers 16:39 - "So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers,
which those who were burned had offered; and they were hammered out as a
covering for the altar".
Here, the phrase "were hammered out" is the verb root raqa. The gold was
hammered into thin sheets then laid over the surface of the alter.
The word raqiya is literally a "hammered out sheet". There are some
scientists who have speculated that before the flood there was a thick sheet
of water surrounding the earth up in the atmosphere. It is then possible
that the "floodgates of heaven were opened" at the beginning of the flood,
was the collapse of this sheet of water. It is estimated that the sheet of
water would have filtered out harmful sun rays and contributed to the
longevity of life on earth before the flood.
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