Issue Index
Word of the Month - שמש Shemesh
By: Jeff A. Benner
This Hebrew word is first found in Genesis 15:12;
As the sun (שמש shemesh - Strong's #8121) was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.
This word is also found in another verse which is often interpreted with difficulty because of its difficult use of the word.
But for you who fear my name the sun (sometimes written as 'Sun' in some translations) of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. (Malachi 4:2)
When read quickly, or when spoken, many read, or hear, this as 'son of righteousness.' What, or who, is this is sun? In the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible the vowel sounds are added to the text by placing dots and dashes underneath the Hebrew letters. But since the orignal Hebrew Bible did not have these letters all that originally existed as שמש (sh.m.sh). In Aramaic, a sister language to Hebrew and often very similar in its vocabulary, the Hebrew word shamash (same Hebrew spelling - שמש) means 'servant.' Could this have been the word intended by the author - 'servant of righteousness?'
There is a possible cultural connection between shemesh (sun) and shamash (servant) in that the Ancient Hebrews may have seen the sun as the servant to the earth as it is necessary for all life to exist.
Name of the Month - יששכר (Issachar)
By: Jeff A. Benner
In English this name is usually spelled as Issachar and pronounced i-sha-car or i-sa-car. The Hebrew is spelled יששכר and is pronounced yees-sa-kar. But, the strange spelling of the word (the use of the two שs) implies a very different pronunciation, probably yees-sas-kar, yeesh-shas-kar or yesh-shas-kar. The meaning of the name depends on the actual pronunciation of the word. We know that the final word is sakar and means a wage or reward (a payment for work or a service). The question is the first word, is it yees, yeesh or yesh? If it is yees then it means "he lifts up." There is no Hebrew word yeesh but may be a short form of the word iysh meaning "man." Yesh is a Hebrew word meaning "there is." Therefore the three possible translations of יששכר are "he lifts up a wage," "man of the wage" or "there is a wage."
Question of the Month - His or its
By: Jeff A. Benner
Q: In the original King James Version of Exodus 25:31, the pronoun "his" is used five different times to describe the Menorah. Why was "his" changed to "its" in every other Bible version I could find.
A:
It is interesting that the KJV would use "his." Let me begin by explaining how pronouns work in Hebrew. All nouns in Hebrew are either masculine or feminine. For instance, father (av), light (or) and tree (ets) are masculine and mother (eym), faith (emunah) and soul (nephesh) are feminine. Pronouns used for these words would also be masculine or feminine. Below are some examples.
hu av = he is a father
hiy eym = she is a mother
These translations make sense in English but when working with nouns that have no gender in English it is a little different. For instance, the phrase "hu ets" would literally be translated as "he is a tree" but because this is poor English the translators would change it to "its a tree."
Now let's look at Exodus 25:31. The noun that the pronouns refer to is the Hebrew word menorah. Menorah is a feminine word. The KJV has "his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers." The Hebrew is "yereykhah, veqanah, geviyeyah, kaphtoreyah, uphraheyah." Notice that each of these words end with "ah" and is the pronoun "her." So, it should be translated as "her branches, her bowls, her knops, and her flowers" or "its branches, its bowls, its knops, and its flowers."
Why the KJV chose to use the masculine pronoun "his" is beyond me.
Verse of the Month - Exodus 20:8
By: Jeff A. Benner
זכור
את
יום
השבת
לקדשו
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (RSV)
זכור (za-khor)
The base verb is זכר z.k.r meaning "to remember." The addition of the letter ו and its pronunciation indicates that this verb is written in the infinitive (simple verb not identifying a subject) - remember.
את (et)
This word identifies the following word as the direct object of the verb.
יום (yom)
This word means day, either a whole day or just daylight hours.
השבת (ha-shab-bat)
The word שבת shab-bat literally meaning "a day of ceasing/rest" and is derived from the verb שבת sha-vat meaning "to cease." Usually this word is translated as shabbat or sabbath. The prefix ה means "the."
לקדשו (le-qad-sho)
This base verb is קדש q.d.sh and is usually translated as "holy" but more literally means "to set apart for a special purpose." The prefix ל means "to" or "for" and the suffix ו means "him" but since it is in reference to the shabbat it would usually be translated as "it."
The following is a literal rendering of this verse from its Hebraic meaning.
Remember the day of ceasing to set it apart for a special purpose
In following issues we will continue with this chapter.
Mechanical Translation Excerpt - Genesis 2:1-10
For details on this new translation see the MTHB web site.
1 and the sky and the land and all of their armies were finished, 2 and Elohiym finished in the seventh day his occupation which he did and he ceased in the seventh day from all of his occupation which he did, 3 and Elohiym respected the seventh day and he set him apart given that in him he ceased from all of his occupation which Elohiym fattened to make, 4 these are the birthings of the sky and the land in their being fattened in the day Yihweh of Elohiym made land and sky, 5 and all of the shrubs of the field before existing in the land and all of the herbs of the field before springing up given that Yihweh of Elohiym did not make it precipitate upon the land and without a human to serve the ground, 6 and a mist will go up from the land and he will make all of the face of the ground drink, 7 and Yihweh of Elohiym molded the human of powder from the ground and he exhaled in his nostrils a breath of life and the human existed for a being of life, 8 and Yihweh of Elohiym planted a garden in Eden from the east and set in place there the human which he molded, 9 and Yihweh of Elohiym made all of the trees spring up from the ground being a craving to appearance and functional for nourishment and a tree of the life in the midst of the garden and a tree of the discernment of function and dysfunction, 10 and a river going out from Eden to make the garden drink and from there he will be divided apart existing to four heads
AHRC Web Site Excerpt - Nomadic Lifestyle
Many Biblical characters, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and others, lived a nomadic lifestyle. A nomad lived in tents and traveled from location to location in search of water and pastures for their livestock.
The Wilderness
The home of the nomad was the wilderness often dry and arid but with an occasional oasis, river, water basin and pastures. The nomad was at much home in the wilderness as we are in our own environment. He also knew the area which he traveled in very well. He knew where all the water sources were, where pastures were located at different times of the year and all the landmarks which directed him on his travels.
Rain is the most important element to the nomad as without it, he, his family, his flocks and herds cannot survive. Each area received rain at different times of the year and in different locations. It was the chief's responsibility to ensure that they were at the right places at the right times. The rains may be locale providing water and pasture but may also be very distant. These distant rains would flood the rivers causing them to overflow and watering the grounds near the rivers within their area of travels.
This article continues at the AHRC Web Site.
Donnee's Corner -     (Minchah)
By: Donnee
Donnee’s Corner will review a word, its meanings, and usage to verify by research. This column will start by a in-depth look at a featured hebrew word followed by various tools to deepen understanding. As well as e-Sword formatting in order to clip and paste into e-Sword, enabling the mouse-over advantages of e-Sword. These various tools will follow the review in order to assist in your research of Ancient Hebrew.
Led by the teeth -  (shin), witnessed by the yoke -  (lamed), with the (mem) maintains flow. Concluding, “CHEW” () as in “PARTICIPATE/INVOLVED” and “YOKE” () for “AUTHORITY” motivated on a base by “FLOW” () so…to “sit” in “rule” by “motion” means P E A C E. Scripture States:
Lev 19:5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace (shelem) offerings unto YHVH, ye shall offer it at your own will. (RNKJV)
Num 29:39 These you prepare to יהוה at your appointed times, besides your vowed offerings and your voluntary offerings, as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace (shelem) offerings. (TS98)
Deu 27:7 and thou shalt offer shelamim (plural form of shelem), and shalt eat there, and rejoice before Hashem Eloheicha (OJB)
Strong's: H8002 shelem sheh'-lem From H7999; properly requital, that is, a (voluntary) sacrifice in thanks: - peace offering.
BDB's Definition: 1) peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship 1a) voluntary sacrifice of thanks
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong's Number: from H7999
Same Word by TWOT Number: 2401b
Ancient Hebrew Lexicon Definition: 2845 ac: Complete co: ? ab: ? ac: Complete co: ? ab: ? : Made whole or complete by adding or subracting. (Nm)-I. Complete: A state of being whole, complete or full. Also an offering of restitution or payment. II. Shelam: Agreeing as a desire for completeness to another. [Aramaic only][freq. 118] |kjv: perfect, whole, full, just, peaceable. Peace offering, peace|{str: 8001, 8002, 8003}
Total KJV Occurrences: 75
For a list of occurrences for this word Click Here.
Mila Yomit (Daily Word) - היתה (Hayta)
By: Rabbi Itzchak
The following is Word is from an ongoing Hebrew word by Hebrew word cyber learning journey and is being presented to you here as an introduction. For additional information on the 'MILA YOMIT: The Torah, Word By Word' and its author, Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, click here. To receive more of these, please contact Rabbi Itzchak.
MILA YOMIT 8: VEHA'ARETZ HAYTA
והארץ היתה
Meaning -And The Earth Was
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MILA CHOZERET-Repeating Word
והארץ -VEHA'ARETZ- And The Earth
(This is underlined above because we have already had this mila/word. When we encounter words we already have had, we will generally note them with little explanation and continue on to the new word).
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MILA CHADASHA-New Word
היתה -HAYTA
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OTIOT- Letters
ה HEH (H)-expression
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י YOD (Y)- spark
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ת TAV (T)-seal
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ה HEH (H)
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MEANING:
היתה -HAYTA- was, in feminine form, if it was masculine it would be היה -HAYA. היתה -HAYTA is the past tense, third person, feminine of the verb להיות -LEEHEEYOT be.
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CONCEPTUAL MEANING
First appearance of any form of the verb 'to be'. Contains three of the four letters of the Name YHVH י-ה-ו-ה. The name YHVH is first introduced to us after the first and general account of the material creation. The physical creation is the manifestation of אלהים - ELOHIM. YHVH is first mentioned in chapter 2 when the human interaction with the Creator is the focus. We will wait for that to enter more fully into the awesome nature and importance of this Name. At this point it seems appropriate to mention two things about the Name. If it was translated into a normal word, it may be read as "YEHAVE" (probably how Yahweh came to be used.] This means 'bringing or bringer into being'. The Divine Name contains within it the verb 'to be' in a variety of ways.
היה: HAYA - that which was (our word)
הוה: HOVEH - that which is
יהיה: YEEHEEYEH - 'that which will be ' or 'it will be'. Past, present and future of being is within the Divine Name.
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The verb להיות -LEEHEEYOT:to be' is spelled: ל -lamed: preposition 'to' , ה-Heh, י -Yod, ו-Vav :all the letters of the Divine Name, and ת-Tav-the final letter. It is infused with the Divine Name because all being is a manifestation of the Creator. When Hebrew says 'to be' it is alluding to the deeper truth that 'to be' is somehow 'to God'. (A wonderful book is God Is A Verb by Rabbi David Cooper.) Whatever was, whatever is and whatever will be exists in the Presence of the One. It would not even exist if not for the One Who Brings all 'being' into being.
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Zohar, the second book of Kabbalah, after Sefer Yetzirah, comments: The word היתה -Hayta':was, being a pluperfect, implies that the earth 'had been' previously. There was snow in the midst of water, from the action of which was produced a slime. Then a mighty fire beat upon it and produced in it a refuse. So it was transformed and became...(the next word.]
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Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, (1808-1888, Germany) והארץ היתה -VeHaAretz Hayta" introduces a fresh trend of thought. The first verse shows us our present heaven and our present earth, and proclaims over heaven and earth the great general fact:- It was God who brought this heaven and this earth into existence in its material and form! The second verse calls our attention again to this, our earth: And says: And this earth which we now see in such sharply individualized objects was once..." (Hirsch, Comm. on Genesis, P. 7)
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Some commentators translate the prefix ו VAV at the beginning as a conjunction thus rendering the phrase “When The Earth Was... VEHA'ARETZ HAYTA: And The Earth Was... The question of "What was this once and why did it become the way it is?" has always been at the heart of this mystery of life. The Torah comes to describe for us how the One Being Created the many beings. It wishes for us to understand that all being is a sacred manifestation of Being.
May we be awake to the always presence of Being.
והארץ היתה
Editorials
Do you have any comments, suggestions or additional insights you would like to share for this issue of the "Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine"? Would you like to contribute an article for the E-magazine? We would love to add your insights and perspectives. Email us a sample of your material and we will review it for submission.
Jeff, Your article was not entirely accurate. The way you spell 'clean' begins with a tet, not a tav! Also, you need to be sure not to use mem-sofit in the middle of words. Jim
Thank you Jim, you're right, I misspelled these words and have corrected the online versions.
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