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Learning Hebrew may seem daunting. After all, in it, me means "who", who means "he", he means "she", and dog means "fish"! It has a different alphabet. It is read from right to left. But it does follow very logical patterns that make each next step easier. It even appears to have been the original human language; the names of everyone prior to the tower of Babel make sense only in Hebrew. So it is thus the "pure language" to which Yahweh promises He will eventually return everyone who wants to call on Him. (Zephaniah 3:9) In any case, it is the language that most of the authors of Scripture wrote in, and those who wrote in Greek (if indeed that was the original version) still thought in Hebraic terms, as evidenced by the kind of non-Greek idioms they used. So if you want to really be sure you are understanding the Bible properly, Hebrew is the key language to learn. Even the exceptions to the rules can teach us deep spiritual truths. While there is a name for each number, Hebrew numerals are usually written using letters and combinations of letters. Therefore, each word has a numeric value when all its letter values are added together. This is called Gematria. |
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Notice that the FEMININE form and PLURALS are made by adding suffixes to the (usually) 3-letter root:
For example:
Root: y-l-d (to give birth)
Boy = yeled
Girl = yaldah
Boys/children = yeladim
Girls = yaldoth
The adjective follows the noun.
There is no overt indefinite article ("a" or "an") in Hebrew. There is, however, a definite article, ha-
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Glossary of Basic Vocabulary("Ch" is pronounced like "kh"; vowels are much like Spanish, and the apostrophe stands for the "schwa", a very short, unstressed vowel.)Adam: Human being, mankind, humanity
FESTIVALSChag haMatzah: Feast of Unleavened BreadPesakh: Passover Shabbat: Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, "ceasing" Shavuot: Pentecost or "Feast of Weeks" Sukkoth: Feast of Booths or Tabernacles Yom haBikkurim: Day of Firstfruits Yom haTeruah: Day of Trumpet-blast (awakening, alarm) Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement Chol haMoed: Ordinary days during a festival OFFERIINGS:Chata'at: Sin OfferingKorban: Drawing Near Olah: Burnt (Ascending/Elevating) Offering Shalem: Peace Offering Terumah: Lifting off/contribution ("wave offering") Minchah: Grain/unleavened bread offering |
Hebrew Pronunciation of some Biblical namesAaron: ah-ha-ROHNAbraham: AHV-ra-hahm David: da-WEED Elijah: el-i-YAH-hu Ephraim: ef-RYE-eem Ezekiel: y'-HEZ-kel Hezekiah: hiz-kee-YAH-hu Isaac: yitz-HAHK Isaiah: ye-shah-YA-hu Israel: YIS-ra-el Lazarus: EL-a-ZAR Jacob: YA-a-cove Jairus: ya-EAR James: YA-a-cove Jeremiah: year-m-YAH-hoo Jeroboam: ya-ra-VAHM Jesus: y'-SHOO-a or yah-SHOO-a John: YO-cha-nan Joseph: yo-SEYF Joshua: y'-HO-shoo-ah Mary: Mir-YAHM Matthew: ma-tee-THYAH-hoo Micah: MI-kha Moses: MO-shay Nahum: na-KHOOM Noah: NO-akh Peter: KAY-fa (Cephas) Rehoboam: rey-ha-VAHM Samuel: shmoo-EL Saul: shah-OOL Solomon: SHLO-mo Zacchaeus: Zak-KAI Zechariah: z'KHAR-yah Zephaniah: tse-FAN-yah |