HEBREW INTRODUCTION
PREFACE
As we build our narrative in this website we will frequently make reference to Biblical passages and try to hyperlink to the best online version of the Holy Scriptures that I am aware of. This is Mechon Mamre and it offers a good typography of the Hebrew and as good a translation to English as I know of., In general translations try to capture the base meaning of the text but do not reflect the full linguistic and emotion of the text. Also when offering English translations on this website it will always be my translation with far more depth than otherwise available. Using Mechon Mamre references will allow the read to jump to the right chapter of the text, see the Hebrew and English, even hear the text read aloud with proper Sepharadit pronunciation including Ayin and Khet (which is also the way I pronounce Hebrew properly). The Hebrew-English text version used does not contain the cantillation notes but they do have multiple versions where one can find the cantillation marks and even search facilities. Once done with checking the reference materials one can hit the BACK button and return to my webpage exactly where you left it.
HEBREW LASHON HA-KODESH
Hebrew, Lashon HaKodesh, or The Holy Language is the foundational language of the Jewish People, Judaism, the Torah/Tanakh (with a few portions written in Aramaic which is still a cousin Semitic Language), our culture, and the State of Israel Since the foundation of the Jewish People beginning with Abram Hebrew has always been our formal language and will always be our official language. However we did lose our original Ancient Hebrew writing system with the Babylonian Exile along with the intimate connection to the language and dependencies built on our original writing system. (eg The misspelling of Yitzhak or Isaac in Psalm 105). All other languages are secondary diversions and distractions from our core language. No other language compares with Hebrew and all attempts to study the Bible in any other language other than Hebrew is superficial at best missing 90 percent of the full brilliance of the Bible and ultimately doomed to fail. In this portion of the website we will explore Hebrew and the Bible from a native linguistic perspective delving into literary techniques, conventions, and many other element to provide a true and authentic foundation to connect the reader to both the Hebrew Language and the Holy Bible in all its splendor.The
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
Judaism began with Abram nearly 4000 years ago. Abram began in Haran (Akadian for “Road”) and the Torah even uses the Hebrew word for “Road” in a cross-lingual pun. Haran was also called Padan Aram in Genesis chapter 28 and Aram Naharayim (Aram of Two Rivers). But in Breishit (Genesis) chapter 11 verse 28 the Bible says that Abraham was from Ur Casdim which as mentioned before is also the place were the early Sumerian Cuneiform writing system was created and tablets were found. Wikipedia says that Haran was in what is Turkey today. The name inclusion of Aram suggests that Abram probably also spoke Aramaic. G-d commanded him to go to the Israel, Our Promised Land, and Abram answered G-d’s call.
THE CONTEXT IS SET JUST AFTER NOAH AND THE FLOOD
The development of the word Hebrew begins in the Bible in Breishit (Genesis) chapters 9 and 10. There is an incident after the Flood where Noah plants a vineyard, takes up wine making, and gets drunk and Ham the second son of Noah sees their father naked and goes to tell the other brothers Shem and Yafet. Subsequently Shem and walk backwards with a blanket to protect Noah’s modesty and cover him up. Canaan has also tagged along and does something horrendous to Noah. Then Noah wakes up from his stupor and sees what Canaan did to him and began a tirade cursing Canaan profusely. G-d did not want to get an X rating for the Bible and as such does not elaborate on exactly what Canaan did to Noah. In Genesis 9:18 the formal order of Noah’ and his wife Joan of Ark’s sons are Shem, Ham, and Yafet and the verse specifically mentions and emphasizes Canaan who is the son of Ham but is not on an equivalent relationship to Noah. This is very important – the lack of parallelism . Chapter 10:1 repeats the recalling of Noah’s sons in the same order. But from verse 2 onward the Bible starts the genealogy of Noah’s sons in reverse order from Yafet to Shem which is quite unusual. In verse 18 the Bible does a unique digression stating that Canaan”s children dispersed greatly and in verse 19 it addresses the far reaches of the land they occupied enumerating the delineation by multiple criteria including families, language, lands, and nationalities . I read into this that there is a build up to a punishment of Canaan in which they are going to lose their inheritance of the lLand of Canaan because of his vile actions.
DIRECT CONNECTION TO IVRIT (HEBREW LANGUAGE) AND IVRIM (HEBREW PEOPLE)
In Genesis 10:21 we continue going backwards in the geneology enumerating the sons of Shem see the Bible mention Shem as, “the father of all the children of “Ever”. Most English translations I have seen misspell the name as “Haber” effectively losing the important connection to Ever. And finally the Bible continues to expand the whole list of Shem’s descendants again in reverse chronological order. The great grandson of Shem is “Ever” (No not Eber or Habel as found in many translations). And Ever has 13 grand-children. We must always read the Bible and history with an understanding of the times and context of the story. This was immediately after G-d destroyed all of mankind and the animal kingdom that were not saved by Noah on the ark. So why does the Bible credit Ever as having all the children? It is likely that bein the oldest son and with having the largest overall family that it was considered a clan with “Ever” being the dominant founder of the clan. As such it is also possible that the clan spoke a unique Semitic dialect which became referred to as Ivrit (Hebrew from Ever) and the people were referred to as Ivrim (Hebrews). This is supported by Genesis 12:13 which mentions Avram (later Abraham) the Ivri (Hebrew).
METAPHORICAL CONNECTION TO HEBREW LANGUAGE AND HEBREWS AS A PEOPLE
It is important to remember that Hebrew is a multi-dimensional language and names often derive from common words. The word “Ever” has several important nuances including the words “PAST”, “TO CROSS OR PASS”, and “ON THE OTHER SIDE” So the Bible has begun with the wrong chronological order of the sons of Noah and defined the primary populations identifying their families (importance in clan societies), their languages, land possessions, and nationalities. From there the Bible transitions to the remaining brother and begins with an all inclusive catch-all of Ever suggesting “All the rest” outside the primary group or the people on the other side of some natural geographic border (river, forest, etc). We are reminded of the reference to the two and a half tribes that chose to have their lands outside of the larger Promised Land proper and it was referred to as “Ever LaYarden” or “the other side of the Jordan River”. We also use the same verb root to express “crossing” from one geographic domain to the other domain possibly implying an abstract distinct group of people or people separated by some natural geographic boundary such as a large river, forest, or mountain range.
POSSIBLE SOCIOLOGICAL MESSAGE THOUSAND OF YEARS AHEAD OF ITS TIME AND FORECAST OF THE FUTURE
I read several important messages in these passages. First of all there is a justification for Israel conquering the Land of Canaan and meting out the punishment and revenge to Canaan for whatever he did to defile Noah by losing the Land of Canaan to Israel as they acquire the Promised Land solving two problems (reward to Abraham and his descendants along with punishment to Canaan and his descendants.
It also raises deep sociological issues of outsiders, marginalized peoples, misfits, and the like. As history proceeds we will see the Jews exiled from their homeland, living under the political, legal, and sociological rule of others and suffering anti-Semitic persecution because they eat differently, dress differently, behave differently, speak differently, and so forth. A result of the early history of Abraham’s wanderings and being an outsider in all of the various places he visited the Torah makes a special effort to promote kindness to the stranger amongst you in the legal and social systems show the high moral and ethical values of the Bibleimpo
CONCLUSION AS TO DERIVATION OF IVRIT AND IVRIM
Ivrit specifically refers to the Hebrew language but generally refers to the language used by the “outsiders”. Ivrim specifically is one term to refer to the Jews or people “from the other side” (ie outsiders). While the story begins with the segregation of Israelites in Egypt into a separate ghetto of Goshen it replays itself with the Babylonian Exile, the Roman Exile, Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Pogroms, and the Nazi HOLOCAUST. And the focal point is the dividing wall whether psychological or physical and whether it was made to torture the Jews or protect them from the forces and atrocities. The Jewish built wall begins with Solomon (Shlomo) building the First Temple and refocuses on the Wailing Wall which is the only remaining wall of the First and Second Temples. This transform into the symbol of survival for the Jews and leads the aspirations to return to our Holy Ancient Homeland.
But the other side of the coin is the wall that Jews built to wall themselves in to “protect themselves”. This includes re-writing the Laws of Kashrut and Sabbath to corrupt G-d’s definitions and substitute rabbinic interpretations based on mistranslation and misunderstanding the meaning in the Torah. Again this emanates from their loss of Hebrew competence in the Babylonian Exile as they lose Hebrew as their native every day language and the intimate connection with Hebrew. More will be said about this as it is explained later on in detail.
And finally it should be noted that later in history the Bible refocuses the term for Ivrim shifting from “Ever” to Yehuda (Judah) with his most passionate plea to Yosef (Joseph) not to take Binyamn (Benjamin) from Yaakov (Jacob) and which would have killed Yakov. And that point onward the term for Hebrews becomes Yehudim (Jews as in Judah)
