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The Mechanical Translation of the Torah

About the Hebrew Language and the

Mechanical Translation

(Volume 1)

Written by

Jeff A. Benner

Published by

Ancient Hebrew Research Center

Website

http://www.mechanical-translation.org

April 11, 2015


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ContentsAcknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... 8

The Ancient Hebrew Alphabet ...................................................................................................................... 9

Old Hebrew and the Samaritan Alphabet ................................................................................................. 9

Old Hebrew and the Phoenician Alphabet ............................................................................................. 10

Old Hebrew Discoveries .......................................................................................................................... 12

Old Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic ......................................................................................................... 15

The Aramaic Alphabet ............................................................................................................................. 16

Alphabet Origins ..................................................................................................................................... 16

The Proto-Semitic Alphabet .................................................................................................................... 17

Dating the Semitic Alphabet ................................................................................................................... 18

Reconstruction of the original Hebrew Alphabet ................................................................................... 19

Letter Characteristics .......................................................................................................................... 19

Form .................................................................................................................................................... 19

Name ................................................................................................................................................... 20

Meaning .............................................................................................................................................. 20

Sound .................................................................................................................................................. 20

The Reconstructed Alphabet .................................................................................................................. 20

Al ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Bet ....................................................................................................................................................... 21

Gam ..................................................................................................................................................... 21

Dal ....................................................................................................................................................... 22

Hey ...................................................................................................................................................... 22

Waw .................................................................................................................................................... 22

Zan ....................................................................................................................................................... 23

Hhets ................................................................................................................................................... 23

Thet ..................................................................................................................................................... 24

Yad....................................................................................................................................................... 24

Kaph .................................................................................................................................................... 24

Lam ...................................................................................................................................................... 25


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Mah ..................................................................................................................................................... 25

Nun ...................................................................................................................................................... 25

Sin ........................................................................................................................................................ 26

Ayin ..................................................................................................................................................... 26

Pey ....................................................................................................................................................... 26

Tsad ..................................................................................................................................................... 27

Quph.................................................................................................................................................... 27

Resh ..................................................................................................................................................... 27

Shin ...................................................................................................................................................... 28

Taw ...................................................................................................................................................... 28

Ghayin ................................................................................................................................................. 28

Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Chart ............................................................................................................. 29

Hebrew Root Words ................................................................................................................................... 30

Parent Roots............................................................................................................................................ 31

Child Roots .............................................................................................................................................. 32

Adopted Roots ........................................................................................................................................ 33

Hebrew Words ........................................................................................................................................ 33

Reconstruction of Roots.......................................................................................................................... 34

Determining the original meaning of Hebrew roots ............................................................................... 35

The Alphabet and Root Word Connection .............................................................................................. 36

The Hebrew Language ................................................................................................................................ 38

Vowel Pointings ...................................................................................................................................... 39

The Verb .................................................................................................................................................. 40

Tense ................................................................................................................................................... 40

Voice.................................................................................................................................................... 41

Mood ................................................................................................................................................... 41

Verb Conjugations ............................................................................................................................... 43

Hebrew gender ................................................................................................................................... 43

The Noun ................................................................................................................................................. 44

Articles, Conjunctions and Prepositions ................................................................................................. 45

Adjectives ................................................................................................................................................ 45

Hebrew Pronunciation ............................................................................................................................ 46


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Vowels ................................................................................................................................................. 46

Spirants and Stops............................................................................................................................... 46

Syllables ............................................................................................................................................... 46

Ancient Hebrew Philosophy ........................................................................................................................ 47

Hebrew Culture ....................................................................................................................................... 48

The Language and Culture Connection ................................................................................................... 49

The Agricultural aspect of the Hebrew Language ................................................................................... 51

East and West ......................................................................................................................................... 51

Concrete and Abstract Thought .............................................................................................................. 52

Hebrew Descriptions ............................................................................................................................... 53

Static and Dynamic ................................................................................................................................. 54

Balance .................................................................................................................................................... 54

Action ...................................................................................................................................................... 55

Past and future ........................................................................................................................................ 55

Ancient Hebrew Speech .............................................................................................................................. 56

Idioms ...................................................................................................................................................... 56

Euphamisms ............................................................................................................................................ 57

Gender .................................................................................................................................................... 57

Ancient Hebrew Styles of Writing ............................................................................................................... 58

Hebrew Poetry ........................................................................................................................................ 58

Parallelism ............................................................................................................................................... 58

And .......................................................................................................................................................... 59

Block logic ............................................................................................................................................... 61

Word Parallels - puns .............................................................................................................................. 62

History of the Torah .................................................................................................................................... 63

Oral Tradition .......................................................................................................................................... 63

Ancient Texts ........................................................................................................................................... 64

The Original Manuscripts .................................................................................................................... 64

Oldest Known Copies of Biblical Texts ................................................................................................ 65

The Dead Sea Scrolls ........................................................................................................................... 65

The Isaiah Scroll .................................................................................................................................. 66

The Masoretic Texts ............................................................................................................................ 67


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The Aleppo Codex ............................................................................................................................... 68

Ancient Translations ............................................................................................................................... 69

The Documentary Hypothesis ................................................................................................................. 71

Passages written by someone other than Moses ............................................................................... 71

Duplicate passages of one event by separate authors ....................................................................... 72

Conflicting passages of separate authors ........................................................................................... 72

Style of Writing ................................................................................................................................... 73

Textual Criticism ...................................................................................................................................... 73

The Mechanical Translation Project ........................................................................................................... 75

Consumerism in the Bible Business ........................................................................................................ 75

The Original Language............................................................................................................................. 75

The Inadequacy of a translation ............................................................................................................. 76

Is a Mechanical Translation Possible?..................................................................................................... 77

Redefining Biblical Words ....................................................................................................................... 78

Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 78

A Hebrew Word Study ........................................................................................................................ 78

Addition of words to "fix" the text ...................................................................................................... 79

Greek Influence on translations .............................................................................................................. 80

Other examples ................................................................................................................................... 81

Uncovering the original meaning of Hebrew words ............................................................................... 81

Is Strong's Dictionary enough? ............................................................................................................... 83

What is a Mechanical Translation? ......................................................................................................... 84

Personal and Religious Bias ................................................................................................................. 84

A word for word translation ............................................................................................................... 85

Easily read and understood ................................................................................................................ 85

A dictionary and concordance ............................................................................................................ 85

A tool for learning Hebrew ................................................................................................................. 85

Comparisons between the MT and other translations ........................................................................... 86

Genesis 1:1 .......................................................................................................................................... 86

Genesis 2:7 .......................................................................................................................................... 86

Genesis 2:17 ........................................................................................................................................ 87

Genesis 3:15 ........................................................................................................................................ 88


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Genesis 4:1 .......................................................................................................................................... 88

Genesis 4:7 .......................................................................................................................................... 89

Genesis 12:8 ........................................................................................................................................ 90

Genesis 20:17, 18 ................................................................................................................................ 91

Genesis 25:27 ...................................................................................................................................... 92

Example of how the MT enhances the text ............................................................................................ 92

Bless .................................................................................................................................................... 92

Keep .................................................................................................................................................... 93

Face ..................................................................................................................................................... 93

Shine .................................................................................................................................................... 93

Gracious .............................................................................................................................................. 93

Grant ................................................................................................................................................... 93

Peace ................................................................................................................................................... 93

A Hebraic interpretation of the Aaronic Blessing ............................................................................... 94

Transliteration of Hebrew into English ................................................................................................... 94

Pronunciation of transliterated Hebrew words ...................................................................................... 95

The Mechanics of the Mechanical Translation ........................................................................................... 96

Hebrew Words in the Mechanical Translation ................................................................................... 96

Hebrew Verbs in the Mechanical Translation ..................................................................................... 96

Hebrew Names in the Mechanical Translation ................................................................................... 97

The Names of God............................................................................................................................... 98

Hebrew Nouns in the Mechanical Translation .................................................................................... 99

Hebrew numbers in the Mechanical Translation ................................................................................ 99

Ketiv and Qere .................................................................................................................................. 100

Verse Numbers.................................................................................................................................. 100

The Mechanics of the Revised Mechanical Translation ........................................................................ 100

Differences between the MT and the Revised MT ........................................................................... 100

Punctuation ........................................................................................................................................... 102

Names ................................................................................................................................................... 102

About the Mechanical Translation Lexicon........................................................................................... 102

Purpose of the Lexicon ...................................................................................................................... 102

The written word .............................................................................................................................. 102


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The word meaning ............................................................................................................................ 103

Where is the Hebrew? ...................................................................................................................... 103

The original Hebrew ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Perspective of the Lexicon ................................................................................................................ 103

Letter Evolution ................................................................................................................................. 103

The Ayin and Ghayin ......................................................................................................................... 104

The Samech, Shin and Sin ................................................................................................................. 106


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Acknowledgments

A work of this size could never completed without the support of many people. I would first like to thank

my wife Denise and our children for the encouragement and support over the years. I would also like to

thank the following people who have provided of their valuable time to provide their suggestions and

support.

Holly Begley

Richard Conaway

LuAna Craig

Ken Finn

Steve Foisy

Devora Forsman

Kathy Hamlett

Gordon Hayes

Myhrrhleine Hunter

Jeanne M Irons

Tim Jones

Kathy Kindall

Jerry R Lambert

Paul Lurk

Edward MacIsaac

Terry Smith

Frances Stolz

Randy Talbot

Yvonne Todd

Lisa Anne Vallee

Lance Beard

Donnie Blankenship

Cheryl Bruno

Robert Fier

Steven M. Foisy

Janice Gonzalez

Rose Holiday

Sandra S. Keller

Frank R. Krueger

Duncan Law

Bridgett Magee

John Neff

Josh Nielson

Peter Roy

Mary Sellmar

Steve Wu

Janet Wyckoff

Kathy Nichols

Jim Carmichael

Issac Mozeson


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The Mechanical Translation of the Torah About the Hebrew Language and the MT

The Ancient Hebrew Alphabet

Old Hebrew and the Samaritan Alphabet

Figure 1The Modern Hebrew Alphabet

The mention of the Hebrew alphabet brings to mind the Hebrew letters that are familiar to many today that

are used in Torah scrolls, Hebrew Bibles and even in Modern Hebrew Books and Newspapers. However, history

suggests that these Hebrew letters are not the same Hebrew letters used in antiquity.

In 1854, Thomas Hartwell wrote; "The present Hebrew Characters, or Letters, are twenty two in number, and

of a square form: but the antiquity of these letters is a point that has been most severely contested by many

learned men."

Figure 2Judean Half Shekel (Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.)

Hartwell continues: "But the most decisive confirmation of this point is to be found in ancient Hebrew coins,

which were struck before the [Babylonian] captivity, and even engraven on all of them are manifestly the samewith the modern Samaritan."

1

The Samaritans are, according to themselves, the descendants of the Northern Tribes of Israel that were not

sent into Assyrian captivity, and have continuously resided in the land of Israel.

Figure 3The Samaritan Torah Scroll

The Torah Scroll of the Samaritans use an alphabet that is very different from the one used on Jewish Torah

Scrolls. According to the Samaritans themselves and Hebrew scholars, this alphabet is the original "Old

Hebrew" alphabet.

1Thomas Hartwell, An introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Pub. 1854, Page 190


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Even as far back as 1691, this connection between the Samaritan and the "Old" Hebrew alphabets was made

by Henry Dodwell; "[the Samaritans] still preserve [the Pentateuch] in the Old Hebrew characters."2

Humphrey Prideaux also writes in 1799; "And these five books [of the Samaritans] still have among them,

written in the old Hebrew or Phoenician character, which was in use among them before the Babylonish

captivity, and in which both these and all other scriptures were written, till Ezra transcribed them into that of

the Chaldeans."3

This same theory is presented in the 1831 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana; "During the Babylonish

captivity , they received from the Chaldees the square character in common use; and in the time Ezra, the old

Hebrew manuscripts were copied in Chaldee characters."4

Figure 4A portion of the Aleppo Codex

The Hebrew Torah (Pentateuch) was originally written with an alphabet similar to that of the Samaritans, but

after the Exile in Babylon it was transcribed with the Chaldean square alphabet, which was still used 1,000

years ago for the Aleppo Codex and is still used today in modern Hebrew.

Old Hebrew and the Phoenician Alphabet

Figure 5A portion of a text from a Phoenician inscription

While Prideaux noted that the Old Hebrew alphabet was the same as the Samaritan alphabet, he also pointed

out that it is identical to the Phoenician alphabet. When we compare the letters of these three alphabets, we

can see this similarity.

2Henry Dodwell, A Discourse Concerning Sanchoniathon's Phoenician History, Pub. 1691, Page 118

3Humphrey Prideaux, The Old and New Testament connected in the history of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, Pub.

1799, Page 4314Encyclopedia Americana, Hebrew Language and Literature, Pub. 1831, Page 212


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Figure 6The letter "beyt" in Old Hebrew, Samaritan and Phoenician

This is the letter beyt in the Old Hebrew.. the Samaritan and the Phoenician. Note the close similarity of

each. Also note the similarities of the letter hey in each of these alphabets.

The 1831 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana also makes this connection between the Phoenician,

Samaritan and Hebrew alphabets; "[the Hebrews] written characters were the same as the Phoenician, to

which the letters of the Samaritan manuscripts approach the nearest."5

The Phoenicians lived north of the land of Israel centered around the Biblical cities of Sidon and Tyre, in

modern day Lebanon, between the 16th and 3rd Century BC.

The Phoenicians shared the same alphabet with the Hebrews and the Samaritans. It was also evident that thePhoenicians and Hebrews spoke the same language as the "Foreign Quarterly Review" wrote in its 1838

publication; "The learned world had almost universally allowed that the Phoenician language was, with few

exceptions, identical with the Hebrew"6

While the origins of the Old Hebrew alphabet was widely accepted, this theory was based on a limited amount

of evidence as the "Foreign quarterly review" points out; "What is left [of Phoenician] consists of a few

inscriptions and coins"7

Figure 7Sarcophagus found in Sidon with Phoenician inscription

The first major discovery connecting the Phoenician alphabet and language with Hebrew occurred on January

19th, 1855, when Turkish laborers accidently uncovered an ancient sarcophagus in Sidon, a Phoenician city. On

this sarcophagus was a lengthy inscription written in the Phoenician alphabet and language, which was found

to be identical to Hebrew with only a few exceptions.

5Encyclopedia Americana, Hebrew Language and Literature, Pub. 1831, Page 212

6The Foreign quarterly review, Phoenician Inscriptions, Pub. 1838, Page 446

7The Foreign quarterly review, Phoenician Inscriptions, Pub. 1838, page 445


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Old Hebrew Discoveries

Figure 8Meshe Stele inscription

The Meshe Stele, also called the Moabite Stone, was discovered in 1868 in the Biblical city of Dibon, the capital

of the Moabites. The inscription was written with the same letters as the Phoenician, old Hebrew and

Samaritan and it was discovered that Moabite language was also the same as Hebrew with some minor

variations.

Figure 9The Siloam Inscription

The Siloam Inscription, discovered in 1880, is written on the wall of Hezekiah's tunnel, which connects Gihonspring to the Pool of Siloam in East Jerusalem. This Hebrew inscription was written in the same style as the

Phoenician and Moabite inscriptions.


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Figure 10The Gezer Calendar

During the excavation of the city of Gezer, 30 miles from Jerusalem, a limestone tablet was discovered in 1908

with a Hebrew inscription written in the old Hebrew alphabet.

Figure 11A Lachish Ostracon

In 1935 eighteen ostraca (broken pottery fragments) were discovered in the ancient city of Lachish with

Hebrew writing in the old Hebrew alphabet.


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Figure 12An Ammonite inscription

In 1966 an inscription was discovered in Amman Jordan with an Ammonite inscription whose alphabet and

language was also similar to Phoenician and Hebrew.

Figure 13The Tel Dan Inscription

The Tel-Dan Stele, discovered in northern Israel in 1993, is an Aramaic inscription using the same old Hebrew

script. This inscription also revealed another amazing fact.


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Figure 14The phrases "king of Israel" (top) and "house of David" (bottom).

The inscription includes the phrase(melek yisrael) meaning "king of Israel" and the line below reads

(beyt david) meaning "house of david." These phrases are extra-Biblical evidence confirming the

existence of not only the nation of Israel, but also king David.

Old Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic

Figure 15The Greek Alphabet on ancient inscription

The old-Hebrew alphabet, also called paleo-Hebrew, was adopted by the Greeks around the 12th century BC.

Figure 16The first five letters of the Old Hebrew alphabet

The first five letters of the Hebrew alphabet are aleph, beyt, gimel, dalet and hey. These same letters, adopted

by the Greeks, became the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and E-psilon (meaning simple E).

Figure 17The first five letters of the Old Greek alphabet

While Hebrew is usually written from right to left, Greek was written left to right and the orientation of the

letters were reversed.

Figure 18The Modern Greek alphabet

Over the centuries, these ancient Greek letters evolved into their Modern Greek forms.


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Figure 19The Modern Roman alphabet

Our English alphabet is Roman, and because the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet, we are able to see our

own modern English alphabet in these ancient Hebrew turned Greek letters, the A, B, C, D and E.

The Aramaic Alphabet

As previously mentioned, the old Hebrew alphabet was used by all Semitic peoples including the Arameans

(also called the Chaldeans), but evolved independently from the Hebrew.

Figure 205

th

Century B.C. Hebrew (Aramaic) alphabet

By the 5th century B.C., the time of the Israelites captivity in Aramea (or Babylon), it no longer resembled the

old Hebrew it came from and it is this Aramaic "square" script that Israel adopted during their captivity.

Figure 21The modern Hebrew (Aramaic) alphabet

This old Aramaic alphabet, now being used by the Israelites, continued to evolve into the modern letters we

are familiar with today.

Alphabet Origins

By the end of the 19th century, the translation of the Semitic alphabet was well established. The only mystery

was the origin of this alphabet as mentioned in "A Compendius and Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to

the Old Testament" published in 1886.

"

, (aleph), The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet Itsname (aleph) is from (eleph) meaning a yoke-

beast, ox or heifer; and it's oldest figure probably pictured a bovine head."8

The 1922 "New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research," in its entry for the letter "A," alsonotes the suspected origins of the Hebrew alphabet. "A, the initial letter of the English and almost all other

alphabets The Phoenicians called the letter "aleph" seemingly because of the resemblance of the character

8 Benjamin Davies, Edward Cushing Mitchel, A Compendius and Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old

Testament, Pub 1886, Page 1


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to the head of an ox. Although nothing is known with any degree of certainty concerning the ultimate origin of

this letter.9

What the editors of the "New Larned History" did not know, was that this mystery was solved just a few years

earlier by Sir William Flinders Petrie.

The Proto-Semitic AlphabetIn 1905, a new discovery in the Sinai Peninsula changed the world's perception of the origins of this Semitic

alphabet.

Flinders Petrie, a renowned Egyptologist and pioneer in modern archeology, discovered inscriptions of

previously unknown symbols at Serabit el-Khadim.

Figure 22Ancient inscription from Serabit El-Khadim

Dr. Alan H. Gardiner, Another renowned Egyptologist, studied these inscriptions in detail. He discovered that

these Sinaitic inscriptions consisted of a total of thirty-two symbols. Because of the limited number of symbols

Dr. Gardiner determined that this was an alphabet.10

Gardiner was then able to easily identify this Sinaitic alphabet as Semitic because of the pictographic nature of

this alphabet. The name of each Hebrew letter is a Hebrew word with meaning.

The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called the aleph, a Hebrew word meaning "ox," The tenth letter is

called the yud or yad meaning "hand" and the sixteenth letter is the ayin, a word meaning "eye."

Figure 23Ancient Sinaitic letters

Dr. Gardiner found that the letters in these ancient Sinaitic inscriptions were pictures of the very names of the

Hebrew letters. The image of an ox head (left) was the letter aleph, the image of the hand (center) was the

letter yad and the image of an eye (right) was the letter ayin.

9The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research, Pub. 1922, Page 1

10The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research: The Actual ..- Page 225


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This relationship between the pictograph and the names of the Semitic letters, Dr. Gardiner proposed, proved

that this was the precursor to the previously known Phoenician/Old Hebrew alphabet.

Figure 24The L'Balt inscription

Once it was determined that the new script was Semitic, Dr. Gardiner, in 1916, was able to translate a portion

of one inscription. This inscription includes the letters lamed, beyt, ayin, lamed and tav, which form the Semitic

word

(l'balt), meaning "to the lady."

11

Figure 25The Wadi El-Hhol inscription (Photograph by John Melzian of the West Semitic Research Project)

In 1999, John and Deborah Darnell were surveying ancient travel routes in the deserts of southern Egypt when

they came upon another set of inscriptions very similar to the Sinaitic inscriptions found by Petrie.

Dating the Semitic Alphabet

The inscriptions discovered in the past century and a half, have been accurately dated through the advances of

archeology. The original Semitic alphabet with its pictographic letters can be divided into three periods; Early,

Middle and Late.

The early Semitic alphabet existed between the 20th and 12th centuries B.C. However, note that the 20th

century date is based on the oldest inscriptions found thus far and it is possible that future discoveries may

push the date of the Semitic alphabet back even farther into history. To date, the Wadi El-Hhol inscriptions

found in southern Egypt are the oldest Semitic inscriptions found and date to between the 19th and 20th

centuries B.C. The Sinaitic inscriptions from the Sinai Peninsula date to about the 15th century B.C.

11The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures By University of Chicago. Dept. of Semitic Languages and

Literatures (1919) Page 35 - the PSI proved the names of the Hebrew letters - aleph (ox) beyt (house) etc.


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The middle Semitic alphabet, the Phoenician and old Hebrew, was in use between the 12th and 4th century

B.C. The Gezer calendar, Mesha Stele, Siloam inscription, the Lachish inscription and the Phoenician

sarcophagus date to this time period.

The late Semitic alphabet, the square Aramaic script, was in use between 4th century BC and into modern

times with the Modern Hebrew alphabet that is used to this day. The majority of the scrolls from the Dead Sea

Caves is written in the late Semitic script and date to between the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. A few of thescrolls found in the dead sea caves, such as the Leviticus scroll, uses the middle Semitic script showing that the

script did not fall out of use completely.

Figure 26Text from a Modern Hebrew Bible

The late Semitic script continued to be used for the works of the Talmud, the Masoretic Hebrew Bible as well

the printed Hebrew Bibles of today.

Reconstruction of the original Hebrew Alphabet

The Ancient Hebrew letters form the foundation to the Ancient Hebrew language and a thorough study of

these letters is essential to understanding the cultural background to the words they form. The process of

reconstructing the original Hebrew alphabet is similar to the field of archeology, which digs down to hidden

depths to determine the origins, culture or way of life of Ancient civilizations. As artifacts are found, they are

compared to artifacts of other cultures and other time periods to determine the distinctive characteristics ofthe culture and civilization. When studying Ancient alphabets, one digs down into the depths of time and

compares the artifacts of pictographic and non-pictographic scripts to determine dates, meaning and sound.

Letter Characteristics

We usually associate two characteristics for each letter, a form and a sound, as in the first letter of our

alphabet whose form is "A" and has the sound "a". The Ancient Hebrew alphabet has four characteristics:

form, sound, name and meaning.

Form

The original letter is pictographic, meaning it represents a picture of something, such as the letter

representing a mouth. The original form is determined by examining the archeological record of ancient

Semitic inscriptions and other related scripts such as the South Arabian and Punic. The name of the letter will

help to determine the original pictograph.


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Name

The name of the letter is "peh" and is also the Hebrew word for "mouth". The name is determined by

comparing the various names of this letter as used in Semitic languages as well as other non-Semitic languages

that have adopted the Semitic alphabet.

Meaning

The mnemonic meaning of a pictograph is the extended meanings related to the pictograph. These mnemonic

meanings most often are related to the pictograph by their function rather than appearance. For example, the

letter

has the extended mnemonic meanings, speak, blow and open, all of which are functions of the

mouth.

Sound

The first letter of the syllabic name provides a singular sound for the purpose of forming words and sentences.

The phonetic value of the letter

is therefore a "p". The original sound is determined by comparing the

sound of the letter as used in other Semitic languages as well as non-Semitic languages that have adopted the

Semitic alphabet.

The Reconstructed Alphabet

Al

The original pictograph for this letter is a picture of an ox head - representing strength and power from the

work performed by the animal. This pictograph also represents a chief or other leader. When two oxen are

yoked together for pulling a wagon or plow, one is the older and more experienced one who leads the other.

Within the clan, tribe or family the chief or father is seen as the elder who is yoked to the others as the leader

and teacher.

The Modern name for this letter is aleph ( ) and corresponds to the Greek name alpha and the Arabic

name aleph. The various meanings of this root are oxen, yoke and learn. Each of these meanings is related to

the meanings of the pictograph . The root

is an adopted root from the parent root

(AL)

meaning, strength, power and chief and is the probable original name of the pictograph .

The is a shepherd staff and represents authority as well as a yoke (see Lam below). Combined these two

pictographs mean strong authority. The chief or father is the strong authority. The

can also be

understood as the ox in the yoke. Many Near Eastern cultures worshipped the god

/ AL, most commonly

pronounced as el and depicted as a bull in carvings and statues. Israel chose the form of a calf (young bull) as

an image of God at Mount Sinai showing their association between the word and the ox or bull. The word

is also commonly used in the Hebrew Bible for God or any god.

The concept of the ox and the shepherd staff in the word has been carried over into modern times as the

scepter and crown of a monarch, the leader of a nation. These modern items are representative of the

shepherd staff, an ancient sign of authority, and the horns of the ox, an ancient sign of strength.


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In Modern Hebrew this letter is silent but was originally used as the vowel a as well as a glottal stop. The

Greek letter alpha derived from the aleph is also used for the a sound.

The Early Semitic pictograph was simplified to and in the Middle Hebrew script and continued toevolve into the a in the Late Hebrew script. The Modern Hebrew letter developed out of the Late Semitic.

The Middle Semitic was adopted by the Greeks to be the letter A and carried over into the Roman A. The

Middle Semitic script became the number 1 we use today.

Bet

Several variations were used for the original pictograph including, , , and . Each of these pictographs

are representative of a house or tent. The pictograph is chosen as it best represents the nomadic tents of

the Hebrews. The tent was divided into two sections, men's and women's, with the entrance at the front of the

tent in the men's section and an entrance from the men's to the women's section.

The Hebrew word (bet) means house or tent as well as family. A common designation for a family is to identify

the house of the family patriarch such as in The house of Jacob.

The meanings of this letter are house, tent, and family as well as in, with, inside or within as the family resides

within the house or tent.

The original name for this letter is bet, the parent root of the child root beyt (meaning house) and is equivalent

to the Greek name beta and the Arabic name beyt. This letter is pronounced as a b when sounded as a stop

such as in the word beyt or a bh (v) when sounded as a spirant as in the word shubh (shoov).

This letter is commonly used as a prefix to words to mean in or withas in beerets meaning in a land.

The Early Semitic letter evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and intoin the Late Semitic script. TheModern Hebrew letter developed out of the Late Semitic. The Middle Semitic script was adopted by the

Greeks to become the letter (a reverse direction due to being written from right to left instead of left to

right) and the Roman B and b. The Late Semitic scriptbbecame the number 2.

Gam

The earliest known pictograph for this letter isand is a picture of a foot. The Modern Hebrew name for this

letter is gimel, an adopted root. The original name to this letter is most likely gam, the parent root of

gimel. This letter is the origin of the Arabic letter Geem and the Greek gamma supporting the theory that

the original name for the letter did not include the L.

The word gam means to gather together as a group of animals gathering at the water hole to drink. The

pictographic script for the word gam is

. The

is the foot representing walk and the

is water

(See Mah below). Combined these mean walk to the water.

The letterhas the meanings of walk, carry or gather. The sound associated with this letter is a g as in go.

The Early Semitic

became (a turn of 180 degrees) in the Middle Semitic script. This letter further

developed toin the Late Semitic script. The Late Semitic script further developed into the Modern Hebrew

.


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The Middle Semitic script became the Greek (a reversal of the letter due to direction of writing) as well as

the Roman C and G. The Late Semiticbecame the number 3.

Dal

There are two possibilities for the original Early Semitic pictograph for this letter - , a picture of a fish and

a picture of a door. The modern Hebrew name for this letter is dalet and means door. The word dalet is a

derivative of the parent root dal also meaning door. The Arabic name for this letter is dal giving support

to the parent root as the original name. As the Hebrew word for a fish is dag, it is unlikely that the pictograph

is the pictograph for this letter but, rather the pictograph.

The basic meaning of the letter

is door but has several other meanings associated with it. It can mean a

back and forth movement as one goes back and forth through the tent through the door. It can mean

dangle as the tent door dangled down from a roof pole of the tent. It can also mean weak or poor as one

who dangles the head down.

The sound for this letter is a d as in door as it is with the Greek and Arabic equivalents.

The Early Semitic pictograph . The Middle Semitic then evolved intoevolved into the Middle Semitic letter

the Late Semitic letter, the early form of the Modern Hebrew

. The Middle Semitic letter is the origin of the

Greek letter , The Roman D and the number 4.

Hey

The original pictograph for this letter is , a man standing with his arms raised out. The Modern Hebrew and

original name for this letter is hey. The Hebrew word hey means behold, as when looking at a great

sight. This word can also mean breath or sigh as one does when looking at a great sight. The meaning of

the letter

is behold, look, breath, sigh and reveal or revelation from the idea of revealing a great sight by

pointing it out.

The Modern Hebrew sound for this letter is h. Originally this letter doubled as a consonant, with an h

sound, or as the vowel sound eh. When the Greeks adopted this letter it became the epsilon with an eh

sound.

This letter is commonly used as a prefix to words to mean the as in haarets meaning the land. The use of

this prefix is to reveal something of importance within the sentence.

The Early Semiticevolved into the Middle Semitic by rotating the letter 90 degrees to the left. This letter

then evolved into hin the late Semitic script that developed into the Modern Hebrew . The Middle Semitic

was adopted by the Greeks and the Romans to become the (reversed due to the direction of writing). This

Middle Semitic letter also became the number 5.

Waw

The original pictograph used in the Early Semitic script is a , a picture of a tent peg. The tent pegs were made

of wood and may have been Y-shaped to prevent the rope from slipping off.


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The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is vav, a word meaning peg or hook. This letter is used in

Modern Hebrew as a consonant with a v sound and as a vowel. If the Modern Hebrew letter appears as A, it

is the vowel sound ow and if it appears as W, it is the vowel sound uw. When used as a vowel the ancient

pronunciation was also an ow or uw. In each of the consonant/vowel letters of the Ancient Hebrew

language the pronunciation of the consonant is closely related to the pronunciation of the vowel such as the

letter hey (See above) is h and eh and the pronunciation of the letter yud (See below) is y and iy.

For this reason, it is probable that the original pronunciation of the letter was with a w. In Modern Arabic

language, this letter is also pronounced with a w. Therefore, the original name of this letter would have been

waw instead of vav.

As the pictograph indicates, this letter represents a peg or hook, which are used for securing something. The

meaning of this letter is to add or secure.

This letter is frequently used as a prefix to words to mean and in the sense of adding things together.

The Early Semitic evolved into the in the Middle Semitic script. This letter then became the wof the Late

Semitic script and evolved into the Modern Hebrew.The Middle Semitic letter was adopted by the Greeks

and the Romans to be the letter F but was dropped from the Greek alphabet later. The Late Semitic form of

the letter became the number 9.

Zan

The ancient pictograph for this letter is and is some type of agricultural implement similar to a mattock or

plow. The meanings of this letter are harvest or crop as this tool is used in the harvesting, food as from

the harvest, cut from the function of the implement and broad from its shape.

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is zayin but was originally the parent root zan. When the Greeks

adopted the letter its name was originally zan but later became zeta, the modern name for this letter inthe Greek alphabet.

The phonetic sound for this letter is a z as it is in Greek and Arabic.

The Early Semitic pictograph was simplified toand evolving into in the Late Semitic script and evolved intothe Modern Hebrew letter

. The Greeks and Romans adopted this letter to become the letter Z. The Late

Semitic became the number 7.

Hhets

The ancient pictograph

is a picture of a tent wall. The meanings of this letter are outside as the function of

the wall is to protect the occupants from the elements, halp as the wall in the middle of the tent divides the

tent into the male and female sections and secular as something that is outside.

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is hhet meaning a string. A very similar word Hebrew word hhets is a

wall and is most likely the original name for this letter. The sound of the letter, in ancient and modern times, is

a guttural "hh" (as in the chin the name Bach).


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The early Semitic pictograph evolved into in the Middle Semitic script by being rotated 90 degrees. Thisletter continued to evolve into xin the Late Semitic script. The Middle Semitic script is the origin of the Greek

and Roman H while the late Semitic script became the modern Hebrew

. The Middle Semitic form of this

letter became the number 8.

Thet

The original pictograph for this letter is

, a container made of wicker or clay. Containers were a very

important item among the nomadic Hebrews. They were used for storing grains and other items. Wicker

baskets were used as nets for catching fish. The meanings of this letter are basket, contain, store and clay.

The twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet is a tav with a "t" sound. It is unlikely that the original

Hebrew had two letters with the same sound. When the Greeks adopted the Hebrew alphabet this letter the

Greek theta. The original sound for this letter is was probably a "th".

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is tet meaning mud or clay but would have been pronounced as

thet.

The Early Semitic letter remained unchanged into the Middle Semitic script but was simplified to j in the

Late Semitic script. The Late Semitic letter became the , Theta, in the Greek alphabet, the Modern Hebrew

and our number 6.

Yad

The Early Semitic pictograph of this letter is, an arm and hand. The meaning of this letter is work, make and

throw, the functions of the hand. The Modern Hebrew name yud is a derivative of the two letter word yad

meaning "hand", the original name for the letter.

The ancient and modern pronunciation of this letter is a "y". In Ancient Hebrew this letter also doubled as a

vowel with an i sound. The Greek language adopted this letter as the iota, carrying over the i sound.

The ancient pictograph , was turned 90 degrees to become the in the Middle Semitic script. The lettercontinued to evolve into the simpler form in the Late Semitic script. The Middle Semitic form became the

Greek and Roman . The Late Semitic form became the Modern Hebrew .

Kaph

The Ancient form of this letter is the open palm of a hand. The meanings of this letter are bend and curve

from the shape of the palm as well as to tame or subdue as one who has been bent to anothers will.

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is kaph, a Hebrew word meaning palm and is the original name for

the letter. This letter is pronounced as a k, as in the word kaph, when used as a stop or as a kh

(pronounced hard like the German name Bach), as in the word yalakh (to walk) when used as a spirant.

The Early Semitic evolved into in the Middle Semitic script. This letter continued to evolve into in theLate Semitic script and becoming the Modern Hebrew

and the

(final kaph). The Middle Semiticbecamethe Greek and Roman K (written in reverse direction).


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Lam

The Early Hebrew pictograph is , a shepherd's staff. The shepherd staff was used to direct sheep by pushing

or pulling them. It was also used as a weapon against predators to defend and protect the sheep.

The meaning of this letter is toward as moving something in a different direction. This letter also means

authority, as it is a sign of the shepherd, the leader of the flock. It also means yoke, a staff on the shoulders aswell as tie or bind from the yoke that is bound to the animal.

This letter is used as a prefix to nouns meaning to or toward.

The Modern Hebrew name of this letter is lamed, similarly is the Greek name lamda. The Arabic name

however is lam retaining an older two letter root name for the letter and the probable original name. The

phonetic sound for this letter is l.

The original pictograph for this letter is

and has remained virtually unchanged through the ages. The Middle

Semitic remained the same but changed slightly toin the Late Semitic script becoming the in the Modern

Hebrew script. The Early Semitic

is the origin of the Greek (upside down) and the Roman L.

Mah

The Early Semitic pictograph for this letter isa picture of waves of water. This pictograph has the meanings

of liquid, water and sea, mighty and massive from the size of the sea and chaos from the storms of the sea. To

the Hebrews the sea was a feared and unknown place, for this reason this letter is used as a question word,

who, what, when, where, why and how, in the sense of searching for an unknown.

The modern Hebrew name for this letter is mem probably from the word mayim meaning water. The

word mayim is the plural form of mah, probably the original name for this letter, meaning what. The

Greek name for this letter is mu, a Hebrew word closely related to mah. The sound for this letter is m.

The Early Semitic

evolved into in the Middle Semitic and continued to evolve into in the Late Semiticscript. The Late Semitic script evolved into the m, which became the and (final mem) of the Modern

Hebrew script. The Early and Middle Semitic script is the origin to the Greek and Roman M.

Nun

The ancient pictograph is a picture of a seed sprout representing the idea of continuing to a new

generation. This pictograph has the meanings of continue, perpetuation, offspring or heir.

The Modern Hebrew name is nun, a Hebrew word meaning continue, offspring or heir. This two-letter word

is the original name for the letter. The phonetic sound for this letter is n.

The Early Semitic evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into in the LateSemitic script. The Late Semitic script became the Modern Hebrew

and

(final nun). The Middle Semitic script

became the N (written in reverse direction) in both the Greek and Roman alphabets.


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Sin

There are several possibilities for the original Semitic pictograph including (a fish), (possibly a thorn),

(a window?) and (a thorn). The pictograph is used almost exclusively through the history of this letter. This

picture has the meanings of pierce and sharp. This letter also has the meaning of a shield as thorn bushes were

used by the shepherd to build a wall or shield, made to enclose his flock during the night to protect them from

predators. Another meaning is to grab hold as a thorn is a seed that clings to hair and clothing.

Of all the letters this is the most difficult to reconstruct due to the limited archeological and textual support.

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is samech (

), which is a word that means support, with no

apparent connection to a two letter parent root or to the meaning of the original picture of this letter. The

Arabic alphabet does not have this letter and the Greek letter derived from this letter is called the ksi. The 21st

letter of the Hebrew alphabet (

) has two names and sounds, Shin (sh) and Sin (s). All the words using the sin

are related in meaning to the words using a samech in the same place as the sin. It is possible that the original

name for the samech was sin, meaning thorn, and later was divided into the samech and sin (which then

became associated with the shin).

The original sound for this letter must be an "s" to which the samech and sin both agree. The Greek sound for

the letter is "ks", similar to the "s".

The early Semitic

evolved into thein the middle Semitic. This letter continued to evolve intoin the lateSemitic. This letter became the

in the modern Hebrew alphabet. The late Semitic is reversed in the Greek

alphabet becoming the and . The Greek letter became the Latin X.

Ayin

The Ancient picture for this letter is a picture of an eye

. This letter represents the ideas of seeing and

watching as well as knowledge as the eye is the window of knowledge.

The name of the letter is ayin, a Semitic word meaning eye. This letter is silent in modern Hebrew. There is no

indication that the ancient Semitic had a sound for this letter as well and appears to have been silent in the

past. The Greek language assigned the vowel sound "o" to the letter. As Hebrew did not have one letter for the

"o" sound the Greeks took this silent letter and converted it into a vowel.

The early Semitic evolved into the simpler in the middle Semitic and remained the same into the lateSemitic period. This letter evolved into the

in the modern Hebrew script. The middle Semitic became the

Greek and the Latin O.

Pey

The Semitic word "pey" means a "mouth" and there are several ancient Semitic pictographs believed to be this

letter, none of which resemble a mouth. The only exception is the South Arabian pictograph . This

pictograph closely resembles a mouth and is similar to the later Semitic letters for the letter "pey".

This pictograph has the meanings of speak and blow from the functions of the mouth as well as the edge of

something, as the lips are at the edge of the mouth.


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The modern Hebrew name for this letter is "pey" and as previously identified it is the Hebrew word for mouth.

There are two sounds for this letter, the stop "P" and the spirant "Ph" or "f".

The early Semitic

evolved to the letterin the middle Semitic scripts. The letter continued to evolved intothe pin the late Semitic script. This letter evolved into theand (final pey) in the modern Hebrew script. The

middle Semiticbecame the Greek and the Latin P.

Tsad

The three Ancient pictograph possibilities for this letter are , and. The word "tsad" means "side," but

is also related to the idea of a stronghold, which is often built on the side of a mountain. The pictograph is a

picture of a trail as leading up to a destination or stronghold. Most ancient Semitic alphabets used pictographs

which closely resemble the last pictograph indicating that this was most likely the original form of the letter.

The meaning of this letter is the side of something as well as hunting and chasing through the idea of laying

down in ambush. The modern name for this letter is tsade, a child root from the word tsad also meaning side.

The phonetic sound of the letter is a "ts" in both ancient and modern Hebrew.

The early pictograph

evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into cin the LateSemitic Script. From the middle Semitic script comes the Modern Hebrew

and

. Modern Greek and Latin has

no letter derived from this Semitic letter.

Quph

Most of the pictographs used for this letter are , and

. Ancient Semitic letter which were originally

oriented in a horizontal plane were tilted to a vertical plane. More than likely this letter was originally written

as.

The name of this letter is quph, a parent root. When all of the words derived from this parent root are

compared the common theme of a circle or revolution are found. The pictograph of this letter is probably a

picture of the sun at the horizon in the sense of a revolution of the sun.

The various meanings of this letter are sun, revolution, circle and horizon. This letter can also mean condense

as the light gathers at the sun when it is at the horizon. It can also mean time as the revolution of the sun is

used to calculate time. Hebrew, Greek and Arabic agree that the sound for this letter is "q". The Modern

Hebrew and Arabic name for this letter is quph, a parent root.

The early pictograph evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into q in the Late

Semitic Script. From the middle Semitic script is derived the Modern Hebrew

. The Middle Semitic script is the

origin of the Latin letter Q.

Resh

The Ancient picture for this letter is

, the head of a man. This letter has the meanings of head or man as well

as chief, top, beginning or first.


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The modern Hebrew name for this letter is resh, a Hebrew word meaning head. Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek

agree that the sound for this letter is an "r".


evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and became r in the Late Semitic Script.

From the Late Semitic script is derived the Modern Hebrew

. The Middle Semitic script is also the origin of the

Greek letter and the Latin R.

Shin

The Ancient picture for this letter is

, a picture of the two front teeth. This letter has the meanings of teeth,

sharp and press (from the function of the teeth when chewing). It also has the meaning of two, again, both or

second from the two teeth.

The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is shin, a Hebrew word meaning tooth. Hebrew and Arabic agree that

the sound for this letter is "sh".

The early pictographevolved intoin the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve intofin the Late


. The Middle Semitic script isalso the origin of the Greek letter and the Latin S.

Taw

The Ancient picture is a type of "mark", probably of two sticks crossed to mark a place similar to the

Egyptian hieroglyph of , a picture of two crossed sticks. This letter has the meanings of mark, sign or

signature.

The Modern Hebrew, Arabic and Greek names for this letter is tav (or taw), a Hebrew word meaning, mark.

Hebrew, Greek and Arabic agree that the sound for this letter is "t".


evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into tin the Late


. The Early Semitic script is the

origin of the Greek letter and the Latin T.

Ghayin

While this letter existed in ancient Semitic languages and some modern Semitic languages, it no longer exists

in the modern Hebrew. Instead it has been absorbed into the letter

(ayin). While the evidence exists showing

that this is in fact a separate letter, there is very little evidence for reconstructing its original pictograph. The

Ugarit and Arabic languages wrote this letter the same as the ayin but with an additional line or dot. The

closest candidate for this letter is the , a twisted rope, as found in some ancient Semitic inscriptions.

In the Arabic language this letter is called the ghayin but originally may have had the name ghayin meaning

"twisted". The meaning of the letter ghayin is twisted from the twisting fibers of a rope and from this come the

meaning of goats from their twisted horns. As goats are dark in color, this letter also carries the meaning of

dark.


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Because the Greek language transliterates this letter with a gamma (g sound) we know that this letter

originally had a type of "g" sound such as in the word ring.

Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Chart

The following chart is the Ancient Hebrew Alphabet with each letter's name, the sound that letter represents,

a description of the picture and the meaning associated with that picture.

Table 1Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Chart

Aleph Ah. Eh Head of an ox strong, power, authority

Beyt B, Bh (v) Tent floorplan family, house, in

Gimel G Foot gather, walk, carry

Dalet D Tent door move, hang, enter

Hey H Arms raised look, reveal, sigh

Waw W, O, U Tent peg add, secure, hook

Zayin Z Mattock food, cut, weapon

Hhet Hh Tent wall outside, divide, half

Tet T Clay basket surround, contain, mud

Yud Y, Ee Closed hand work, throw, worship

Kaph K, Kh Open palm bend, allow, tame

Lamed L Shepherd staff teach, yoke, to, bind

Mem M Water chaos, mighty, blood

Nun N Sprouting seed continue, heir, son

Samehh S Thorn grab, hate, protect

Ayin Silent Eye watch, know, shade

Pey P, Ph Open mouth blow, scatter, edge

Tsade Ts Trail chase, hunt, path

Quph Q Horizon condense, circle, time

Resh R Head of a man first, beginning, top

Shin Sh Two front teeth sharp, press, eat, two

Tav T Crossed sticks mark, sign, signature


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Hebrew Root Words

What do all of the words, astronaut, astrology, astronomy, asteroid, starlet, starfish, stellar and asterisk have

in common? They are all related to "stars" and each of these words is derived out of the ancient Greek word

"aster," meaning "star." These same types of connections between words can be found in the Hebrew

language, however, from our modern Western perspective, the connections between the words may not be as

apparent? We may understand the connection between hot and sun, but would we connect these two words

with bag, cheese, crave and shake? Most likely not, but someone from the ancient Near East, the land of the

Bible, most certainly would have.

Cheese, a craveddelicacy of the ancient Near East, was made by placing the milk of a sheep or goat in a bag

made from the skin of a sheep or goat. The bag is then hung out in the heatof the sun, and shaken. The skins

of sheep and goats have a natural enzyme that is released when heated and shaken that separates the whey

(water) from the curds (cheese).

As we have demonstrated each of these words are culturally related, but in addition, they are alletymologically related as they each come from the same root word

(hham), meaning "hot."

hham Hot

hhammah Sun

hheymet Skin-bag

hhemah Cheese

hhamad To Crave

hhamas To Shake

Each Hebrew word is related in meaning to other words, and these words are themselves related in meaning

to other words and roots. By studying related words and their histories, we can better define them within their

original context.

Like a tree with its roots, trunk, branches and leaves, the Hebrew language is a system of roots and words,

where one word and its meaning is the foundation to a number of other words whose spelling and meaning

are related back to that one root.

As an example, the root (M-L-K) means "rule." This root can be used as a verb meaning to rule, or as a

noun meaning a ruler, or king. Other nouns are created out of this root by adding other letters. By adding the

letter

(H) to the end of the root, the word

(malkah) is formed, which is a female ruler, a queen. By

adding a (U) to this feminine noun, the word (malukhah) is formed meaning "royalty." By adding theletters

(UT) to the end of the root, the noun

(malkut) is formed meaning the area ruled by the ruler,

the kingdom.

By studying the relationship between words and their roots we can better understand the meanings of these

words within their original context. Let's take 3 English words found in English translations of the Bible:

Maiden, Eternity and Secret. These three words are, from our interpretation, three much unrelated words. But

let us examine the Hebrew words behind these translations:

(almah),

(olam) and

(te'almah).


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Each of these words share the same three letters: ,((ayin (lamed) and ((mem12

. Each of these words are

related as they come from the same root A-L-M. Rather than perceiving them as different and independent

words, we need to recognize that there meanings are related. By interpreting these words in context of their

root relationship, we are able to uncover their original meanings.

The root (A-L-M) literally means beyond the horizon, that hazy distance that is difficult to see. By extension

it means to be out of sight, hidden from view. (almah) is the young woman that is hidden away(protected) in the home.

(olam) is a place or time that is in the far distance and is hidden to us.

(te'almah) is something that is hidden away.

Besides being able to find the common meaning in different words of the same root, we are also able to

distinguish between different meanings of words that come from different roots. For instance, there are two

Hebrew words translated as "moon." One is

(yere'ahh), which comes from a root meaning "to follow a

prescribed path" and is therefore used for the motion of the moon. The other is

(lavanah), which comes

from a root meaning "to be white" and is therefore used for its bright appearance.

When we ignore the Hebraic definitions of the words in the Bible we miss much of what the text is attempting

to tell us.

Parent Roots

All Hebrew linguists recognize that most Hebrew words are derived from a three-letter (triliteral) root.

However, there are some linguists who have suggested that these triliteral roots are themselves derived out of

a two-letter (biliteral or parent) root.

Rabbi Matityahu Clark, in his book Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, records and organizes Rabbi

Samson Raphael Hirsch's commentaries of the Bible which relate to the Hebrew language. Rabbi Clark stated;

"The second major analytical tool in the Hirsch system we will call Gradational Variants. This involves five

special consonants: (aleph),

(hey),

(waw),

(yud) and

(nun). These consonants play a special role with

respect to roots whose third consonant is identical with the second The new root form does not change the

basic meaning of the original root, but adds some nuances of meaning."13

Rabbi Clark then provides many of examples of these "Gradational Variants" including; the triliteral root

(tsarar), which means "forcing, constraining, oppressing." As mentioned, the second and third consonants are

identical, the letter

(resh). The Gradiant Variants of

)tsarar) are; ;(natsar) - guarding or protecting

(yatsar) - forming or creating;

(tsur) - fencing or enclosing.

The meaning of the triliteral root

(radad) is a "flattening down or submitting totally." The Gradiant Variants

are; ;(radah) - ruling over or having dominion over ;(yarad) - going down .(rud)humbling

12The letter "mem" has two forms,

when it appears at the end of a word, and

when it appears anywhere else in a

word.13

Rabbi Matityahu Clark, Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, Pub. 2000, Page 295


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Wilhelm Gesenius, one of the greatest Hebrew scholars of all time, wrote in his book Gesenius Hebrew

Grammar, "..a large number of triliteral stems really point to a biliteral base, which may be properly called a

root, since it forms the starting-point for several triliteral modifications of the same fundamental idea."14

Gesenius then cites the following example; "The biliteral root (K-R) is the root of (K-R-R), (A-K-R),

(K-W-R) and (K-R-H), each being related to the idea of "digging." Another example he provides is the

biliteral root (D-K), the root of ,((D-K-A ,((D-K-K (D-W-K) and (D-K-H), each being related tothe idea of "striking" or "breaking."

Edward Horowitz states in his book How the Hebrew Language Grew, "Scholars are fairly convinced that back

of these three lettered roots lie old primitive two-lettered syllables. These two-lettered syllables represent

some simple primitive action or thing. It does seem quite clear that there existed a bi-literal or two-letter base

for many, if not most, of our three lettered roots."15

Horowitz then provides the following roots,

(G-W-Z),

(G-Z-R),

(G-Z-A),

(G-Z-Z) and

(G-Z-H), each

meaning to "cut," and all coming from the root

(GZ) meaning. Horowitz noted, "Do not be surprised if so

many of these comparatively few two-lettered roots mean to cut, to split, to slit, or slice. After all, everything

that primitive man did in the way of making a living for himself and his family in some way or other involved a

cutting action."

Child Roots

While all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are consonants, four of them also served as vowels, much like our

letter "Y," which may be a vowel like in the word "fly," or a consonant like in the word "yellow." These four

letters are (aleph),

(hey),

(vav) and

(yud).

When one of these vowels is placed in front, between or at the end of the parent root, a three letter or "child"

root is formed and will have a meaning that is related to the meaning of its parent root.

From the parent root (el), meaning strength and authority, comes the child root (ayil), meaning a buck,

the strong one of the flock. From the parent root

(ben), meaning son, comes the child root

(banah),

meaning to build, through the idea that the sons build a house, literally and figuratively. From the parent root

(lakh), meaning walk, comes the child root

(halakh), meaning a journey.

Below are the Child Roots formed from the Parent Root

(BL), which has the generic meaning of "flow",

demonstrating the close relationship between the Parent and Child roots.

14Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, Pub. 1910, Page 100.

15Edward Horowitz, How the Hebrew Language Grew, Pub. 1960, Page 299


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Table 2Words connected to the root

Hebrew Meaning Connection to root

Wilt Flowing away of life

Empty Flowing out of contents

Panic Flowing of the insides

Aged Flowing away of youth

Flood Heavy flowing of water

Steam Flowing of water

Adopted Roots

Another form of three letter, or "adopted root," is the addition of another consonant in front, between or at

the end of a parent root. Below are some adopted roots derived out of the parent root

(par), a Hebrew

word meaning "bull."

Table 3Adopted roots derived from

parahh Break forth

parakh Break apart

paras Break in pieces

paraq Break off

parats Break open

Hebrew Words

Other words are then formed by attaching specific letters to a parent, child or adopted root.


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Figure 27The parent root and its derivatives

For demonstration, let's begin with the parent root

(lakh) meaning "walk." By adding the letter

(h) to the

front the child root

(halakh) is formed and also means "walk." By adding the

(m) to the front of this child

root, the noun

(mahalakh) is formed and means "passage." By adding the letter

(h) to the end of this

child root, the noun

(halakhah) is formed and means "custom" (a way of walking).

By adding the letter

(m) to the front of the parent root

(lakh), the adopted root

(melekh) is formed

and means "king," one who walks among the people. By adding the letter

(h) to the end of this adopted root,

the noun

(malkah) is formed and means "queen." By adding the letters

(ut) to the adopted root, the

noun

(malkut) is formed and means "kingdom."

Once we understand how to properly interpret and define Hebrew words based on their relationships to their

roots and the culture in which the words were used, we can then properly interpret Biblical passages from a

Hebraic perspective.

And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep mycommandments. (Exodus 20:6)

Reconstruction of Roots

By comparing the various aspects of a parent root, the original meaning of the parent can be determined. For

example, the two child roots

(M.Q.Q) meaning "to rot" and

(mo q) meaning "to stink" are

formed out of the parent root

(MQ). These two ideas are connected in that something that rots begins to

stink. When we examine the letters which form the parent root,

and

, we find the original meaning. In the

ancient pictographic script the

is a picture of water and the

is a picture of the sun at the horizon

representing the gathering or condensing of light. When we combine the meaning of these two letters we

have "water condensed". When the water of a pond condenses, such as dries up, the vegetation and fish that

lived in that water die and begin to rot and stink. We know have a picture which will help us better understand

the meaning of these words. One additional piece to the puzzle is the adopted root

(tsamaq), an adopted

root meaning "dry".

Many times the adopted roots alone can help to reconstruct the meaning of a Parent root. The original

meaning of the parent root (BHh) is very difficult to determine as the only word derived from it is the word

(av'hhah) from the child root

(avaq) meaning "sharp point". The adopted roots in the table below

1-about (1)translaÇÃo de hebraico.pdf

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