Hebrew study for beginners
Loyal
Not for myself
but one member here @Rhema is a student of Hebrew and Greek.
You could private message him.
Member
messaging is not working atm. thank you for your response. Im just starting with the alphabet and hope to make the study of hebrew a life long journey.
Loyal
It isn't free, but rosetta stone isn't bad.
www.rosettastone.com
Or you could do like my daughter did, and marry a Jewish language professor.
Rosetta Stone - Learn a New Language
Learn on any device, anywhere, the best way to learn a language online. Buy Rosetta Stone.
Or you could do like my daughter did, and marry a Jewish language professor.
Member
Lol. Shalom in your home. Ahava good day. I'll look into rosettastone thank you.It isn't free, but rosetta stone isn't bad.
Rosetta Stone - Learn a New Language
Learn on any device, anywhere, the best way to learn a language online. Buy Rosetta Stone.
Or you could do like my daughter did, and marry a Jewish language professor.
Active
Why not Aramaic? (Seriously.)
I appreciate the shout-out by @Waggles but have always been quick to admit that Hebrew makes my head hurt. Decades ago I could wander down the hall to the Semitic Languages department if I ever had trouble, but there have only been a few passages where I consider Hebrew to be crucial for understanding just how the Christian translators messed it up.
I consider Hebrew to be a guttural tribal language, and it is extremely difficult to express complex ideas and nuance in Hebrew. It's been enough that I can get by with Greek, and am grateful that the LXX exists.
Consider. ONE Hebrew word can have 60 to 80 possible English words available as a selection for a gloss (synonym). The shading or nuance in English can completely render the Hebrew text to express the exact opposite of what it's trying to say. As an example, the Hebrew word for Bless is the same word as for Curse. Did Job's wife say "Curse God and die?" Or did Job's loving wife, seeing the abject suffering of her husband, say "Bless God and pass on...." ???
There is no separate Hebrew word for Enemy or Stranger. It's the same word.
The Masoretes added the spaces and vowels into their Hebrew text to fit their own theology. Certain passages contradict the LXX, and the reason the Dead Sea Scrolls ... the actual text of the DSS ... were suppressed for decades is because the DSS match the LXX more so than the Masoretic Hebrew.
Stuff like that.
Here's a fun one:
(Isaiah 22:18 KJV) He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball DISCUS into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
( Isaiah was a contemporary of the Greek Olympic Games. )
And one my favorites....
(Genesis 4:4 KJV) And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect DISMAY (BEWILDERMENT) unto Abel and to his offering:
( Look it up.)
Now I appreciate your enthusiasm ( I really do). But it can be a world of hurt you're getting yourself into, and it should be done with eyes wide open. Hebrew is a non Indo-European language, and there's a reason why extremely intelligent Chinese people sound like idiots when speaking English. There is a different "mind-set" that one must adopt to think in such a language. (That's why I say it makes my head hurt - literally.)
About Aramaic, though, while Greek is the language in which the teachings of Jesus have been published in the West, when the Apostle Thomas journeyed into the Far East to spread the Gospel, the Parthian and Persian Empires spoke Aramaic, the language in which Jesus is said to have spoken. And I provide for your consideration...
TheAramaicScriptures.com
The Holy Aramaic Scriptures: With a literal English translation and transliteration of The Eastern Peshitta New Testament Text, such as given in The Khabouris Codex.
www.thearamaicscriptures.com
Best regards on your journey,
Rhema
Active
As mentioned, the NT was published in Greek, so I will recommend a Greek Interlinear -
This link should show the Marshall text with only the KJV in margins (but the description in amazon is unclear) AND... they pop up from time to time with a much less expensive price tag.
If one is looking for a comparison text to study translation differences, there is a book that has both KJV and NIV (a horrid translation, btw) along with the Marshall text, and these are more numerous and relatively cheap... if you don't mind carrying around an NIV.
Interlinear KJV-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English: Marshall, Alfred: 9780310950707: Amazon.com: Books
Interlinear KJV-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English [Marshall, Alfred] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Interlinear KJV-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English
www.amazon.com
The link to the Aramaic Scriptures, given in my previous post, is also interlinear... so that might help.
As another example (for fun), there is an Aramaic word that is pronounced similar to the Greek word for camel. It would seem that the Aramaic word was transliterated in the Greek text, and then "fixed" by a later copyist, so that one reads Jesus saying this:
(Matthew 19:24 KJV) And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
The Aramaic word is "GAMLA" and means a thick rope like that used in sailing. The Greek word for "camel" is καμηλον (in situ) or "KAMLON". There would seem to be a number of Aramaic expressions found in the Greek text whose meaning was lost over time and distance. (They weren't called the Dark Ages for nothing.)
I wish you well,
Rhema
Active
There are a couple of understandings I gained from a deeper study of Hebrew that I found really opened me to a whole new grasp of Jesus and the Apostles and their words and actions so I will briefly share one such insight here now and may be add a few more as this study unfolds.
So first let me shed some enlightenment on John's use of the Greek word Logos in John 1. Now long before Jesus was born the pre-Christian Rabbis already understood this concept. In the Targum Jonathan (and some inter-Testamental writings) we hear Jonathan ben-Uzziel (grandson of Paul's teacher Gamaliel) summarize in the Hebrew Aramaic the understanding and tradition held by the learned. He mentions the Word of God many times (called the Memra and NO not the kabbalistic angel Metatron) who is YHVH Himself manifest. He is sent by YHVH to reveal Himself to or speak audibly to humans. For example, the Angel of the Lord later reveals to Moses that He IS the I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Earlier we saw YHVH in the form of a man in the Tents of Mamre with Abraham breaking bread. Jonathan says they understand this to be the Word of God and he says that YHVH dent for the angels to rain fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gommorah from YHVH in heaven. Now he fully knows well that there is only one YHVH so we see YHVH here on earth but He does not cease to be YHVH in heaven.
So when John in John 1 calls Him the Word he is not referring to some Greekified understanding of logos but that being the closest term he had to further explain (YHVH came and pitched tent or tabernacled among us as He had promised so many times). The MAN Christ Jesus, born of the seed of David IS the Tabernacle of YHVH. Thus the Word of God. And he was speaking directly to the unbelieving diaspora Rabbis that this Jesus IS that Word.
Now less than a century later another Targum had been written in Babylon by Onkelos and Onkelos also speaks over and over about the Word of God who reveals God to man.
Loyal
1Sam 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. [Lexham]
here is a reference to the Word of YHWH appearing to people -
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. [ESV]
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
Exodus 9:20 Then whoever feared the word of YHWH among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses,
21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of YHWH left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
Active
That is absolutely correct, he is not.
He is directly addressing the published works of Philo from Alexandria.
One just cannot truly understand the Gospel named John if one has not read Philo.
Rhema
(And the wiki article is just plain wrong.)
Active
No, I must disagree (and I think all Christians should read Philo but also the Targums. In my opinion, having read both (albeit in English), Philo had nothing to do with this usage. Even Philo refers us to the Greek philosophy of the logos (like in Stoicism and Cynacism). But if you read the Targums it sticks out like a sore thumb.
The Rabbinical Word of God concept was that this being IS a Hypostases of the one and only YHVH. A BEING! We see this in the Targums because everywhere YHVH is anthropomorphized in scripture the Targumim call this the Word of YHVH. We see this idea expressed in many Old Testament scriptures long before Philo was even born (for one example read Isaiah 48:12-16...YHVH is speaking, the first and the last, the Creator but then He says "the Lord God, and His Spirit have sent Me".
But the me IS YHVH who spoke and sent and who IS the Spirit. They call the ME the Word of God. The Memra in the Aramaic.
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Active
Philo wrote a lot about the logos. The Gospel named John was written as an apology against Philo, or by a converted student of Philo.
Isn't John saying to Philo... LOOK, the Logos is not a force, but IS a person, and that person would be Jesus.
But I shall definitely look into your references.
Thanks kindly,
Rhema
I'll have to keep an eye out on your posts about the Trinity...
I'm fairly sure the "me" in Isaiah 12:16 is Isaiah...
Active
Philo wrote a lot about the logos. The Gospel named John was written as an apology against Philo, or by a converted student of Philo.
Isn't John saying to Philo... LOOK, the Logos is not a force, but IS a person, and that person would be Jesus.
But I shall definitely look into your references.
Thanks kindly,
Rhema
I'll have to keep an eye out on your posts about the Trinity...
I'm fairly sure the "me" in Isaiah 12:16 is Isaiah...
Isaiah 48 was the reference.
Active
Okay Clintos, are you ready for another (and hopefully it will also generate some discussion). When most modern Christians (especially after the Reformation period) say the phrase "in the name of Jesus" in their mind it is about the "name" like Bob or Ieesha or Lilith, etc., but this is absolutely incorrect from the Hebrew perspective. The Hebrew word "shem" translated anme is not referring to any guttural pronunciation at all (although in a few rare cases it can). The word shem is speaking of the character, the presence, the authority or power, of that individual.
The closest example I can provide in this short space is "a decree has come forth in the name of the King" whereby the person sent with the decree is as if the King himself and is given full authority and power to carry out the decree and minister any punishment for disobeying the decree. When some today says "Stop in the name of the Law!" You had better stop because tho that person is not the law itself the authority and power delegated to them makes them as the Law itself.
So when we pray in the name of Jesus we are doing so in His presence by His authority and power. His name could have been Henry and it would still be the same. We are becoming or being as His being there or when asking the Lord "in His name" we are asking by His faith and as a result of His authority and power to please let this be His will. Do you get it?
So now consider when Isaiah defines the SHEM of Messiah (the child born, the Son given). His SHEM is Wonderful (pele' a worker of wonders), Counsellor (who advises our hearts and represents us as our advocate), and so on down the list. Can you see this in Isaiah 9:5-6? His name (His Shem) shall be called....these are not His guttural names. I am not worshipping and following Wonderful... and so when He was born as a human baby (of the seed of David) Joseph is instructed to call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. This IS who He is. This IS what He does. As for me, I am just Paul. In the West our guttural name has little meaning or purpose but in the mind of the ancient Hebrews it means much much more.
Finally remember, that tho we receive the Scriptures in Greek the writers thought like Hebrews. So let's see how others respond.
Active
I'm fairly sure the "me" in Isaiah 48:16 is Isaiah...
(Isaiah 48:16-17 KJV)
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I:
And now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me (Isaiah to say...)
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.Prophets say "Thus saith the LORD..." no?
Rhema
(So sorry for the typo.)
Active
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
It is all YHVH not Isaiah! For when was Isaiah there in the beginning (Roche), from the time it was? Or when was Isaiah himself Roche? Roche means the upper, the most, the top, the chief, the head, etc., and then in the Hebrew it say ayn (there am I) with a colon which defines or describes or lists what follows, which is Adonoy or Lord.
In the Hebrew the "me" which you say could be Isaiah is not even in the text (it does not exist except in the English translation)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah 48&version=KJV
Active
So Rhema? We know that the 2 sides of a Colon are the same thing or one in English, and the KJV translators took this implication from the original Hebrew as opposed to the Greek or Latin, so for Clintos edification (and my own) what does the Greek Interlinear (presumably based on the Byzantine Majority Text Septuagint version) say in Isaiah 48:12-16? In your opinion, how do they translate this?
Active
Philo wrote a lot about the logos. The Gospel named John was written as an apology against Philo, or by a converted student of Philo.
Isn't John saying to Philo... LOOK, the Logos is not a force, but IS a person, and that person would be Jesus.
But I shall definitely look into your references.
Thanks kindly,
Rhema
I'll have to keep an eye out on your posts about the Trinity...
I'm fairly sure the "me" in Isaiah 12:16 is Isaiah...
I would offer the apology of the faith of Christ as God , called a labor of love is against the whole dying word under the wrath of God .Those that desire to make eternal God into a man as us .(anthropomorphized).It has nothing to do with the philosophies of mankind.
God is not a man as us and neither is there any fleshly infallible interpreter as a umpire set between God not seen and dying mankind seen, with approval for both.Eternal God not seen and temporal dying mankind seen
Duality, (not trinity) Two is the witness God has spoken .Three denotes the end of a matter .
Isaiah 12 has 6 veres? Perhaps another passage?