The Aleph- Bet

Ok ladies, it's learning time!

Time to learn something that will knock your socks off! 

I have begun to study Biblical Hebrew at THIS site and all I can say is....

AWESOME!

And I'm only on lesson two! 

One of the requirements of the course is to share what you have learned...so I thought...humm...who can I share this with? Who would really be interested in it and be blessed by it? 

That's where YOU ladies come in! 

So here we go, ready for a few lessons in Biblical Hebrew? What I really want to share with you are some of the amazing things I'm learning-things about the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. This is the language of our Messiah and the language that the original Torah (first five books of the Bible) was written in. 

Ok let's begin! 

The Hebrew Aleph-Bet has 22 letters and is pictographic. There are no "uppercase" or "lowercase" letters. Each letter stands for a picture of something. Each letter also has a numerical equivalent. 

Hebrew is the language of the Bible that our Lord Jesus read AND the Hebrew that is found in the original scripts set the standard for Hebrew across the ages. An Israeli child, if given a copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, would be able to read and understand that scroll because the language used in that scroll set the standard for the Hebrew that is spoken and written today. The Hebrew language is Jewish and "Jewish" is the Hebrew language-the two are intertwined and can not be separated.

It is a deeply emotional and expressive language. That's why Israelis wave their hands around a lot when they talk! Communication in Hebrew is 7 % spoken word, 38% tone of voice and 55% body language! 

Context and emotion are vital to understanding Hebrew. 

 There are a total of 10 vowel sounds and there are two main pronunciations: Shepardic and Ashkenazi.

Shepardic Hebrew comes from Spain, North Africa and the Middle East and is the Hebrew pronunciation that is most widely spoken. 

Ashkenazi - this pronunciation comes from Eastern Europe-mainly Germany (ashkenaz means "Germany" in Hebrew).

Hebrew contains a "code" called Atbash. It's pretty awesome-read more about it here!

The language often employs acrostics (Psalms, Lamentations...) and as I said it has a numerical system. 

So let's start with the first letter

ALEPH

 

 

This letter is the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. It's a picture of an ox head. Here is a picture of the ancient Aleph:

As Hebrew is a pictographic language the Aleph means "powerful". It has the numerical value of ONE. 

Aleph is the first letter in the word Elohim-a plural form-it means "God" used in the Hebrew text of the old testament. It is also the first letter in the name EL (God-singular). 

NOW...here is where things get hair-raising....

Remember what I just said- that the Aleph means "power" and that it is the first letter in God's Hebrew name. It's numerical value is ONE. 

HOWEVER....the Aleph is made up of 3 separate letters. Two vavs (the little stems on the left and right side) and one yod (the bar in the middle). Vav has a numerical value of 10 and Yod has a numerical value of 6. The total value is 26.....the same as the Hebrew name Yahweh when written in Hebrew. 

No-this is not "numerology" this numbering system was and is very important to the language itself! 

Something interesting about the Aleph- it speaks to us of the Triune God. The 3 separate letters "in one" with a numerical value the same as Yahweh! 

Remember what the Lord said? 

I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13). 

Aleph spelled using Atbash (backwards) means WONDERFUL. 

So...Aleph is really a picture of our Messiah. 

I was so "blown away" after the second class that I wept, literally. I had no idea that our Lord had all these hidden treasures !!! 

I can't wait to get to the next lesson!! 

May our Lord richly bless you all!!