Can the study of biblical Hebrew bring us closer to God?

Eftsoon

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
 
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Bible Highlighter

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a languag?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4).

“But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” (1 John 2:5).

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10).

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21).

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23).
 
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JAL

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a languag?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
Don't make the same mistake as the Galatians - they assumed that the written Law was the key to maturity. Any practice pointing even remotely in that vein is a serious mistake. The top priority of any church should be revival, receiving outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

You see, here's the problem with reliance on biblical texts (scholarship). The fallible, feeble human mind cannot properly conceive an ineffably holy God, it will only conceive idols. Hence we know Yahweh only to the extent of Direct Revelation, He must reveal Himself. That's what happens in revival.

Christians often forget that Jesus was The Prophet. He knew the Father, not primarily by scholarship, but insofar as the Father revealed Himself in special ways to all the prophets.
 
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Nova2216

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We get closer to God by doing as (Jn 6:44,45) says.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.


I hope people today realize we are under a law. (not the O.T. Law)

Sin is transgression of the law. (1Jn.3:4)

If there is no law men do not sin today.

Men do sin today according to (Jas. 1:12-15) (Acts 8:13-24) (2Peter 2:20-22) (2Tim.2:17,18)

So we are under law today.

Note - (Heb.7:12 ; 8:6-13 ; 9:15-17 ; 10:9,10)
 
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Nova2216

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?

Use a Strongs concordance.
 
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Der Alte

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
Yes! Many people don't know that all Hebrew names have meaning e.g. Yeshua means "Yahweh saves."
Here is something interesting I heard on Christian radio while driving home from work one day '95ish.
The gospel in the OT the meaning of the names from Adam to Noah.
Name - Meaning
Adam - Man(kind)
Seth - Appointed
Enosh - Mortal
Kenan - Sorrow (Lamentation)
Mahalaleel - The Blessed El/Praise of El
Jared - Shall Come Down
Enoch - Teaching
Methuselah - His death Shall Bring (send forth)
Lamech - to the Suffering wounded/stricken)
Noah - Comfort/Rest
Now read it as a sentence "Mankind appointed mortal sorrow the blessed God shall come down teaching His death shall bring to the suffering comfort.

 
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GreekOrthodox

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Use a Strongs concordance.

While Strongs and Liddle and other tools may be useful they are not the same as learning the language.

No matter the translation, there are nuances that get lost. Personally, I would focus on learning Greek then Hebrew as I feel that we should be spending most of our time in the New Testament rather than the Old. Plus if you know Koine Greek you could always read the Septuagint.
 
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Eftsoon

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While Strongs and Liddle and other tools may be useful they are not the same as learning the language.

No matter the translation, there are nuances that get lost. Personally, I would focus on learning Greek then Hebrew as I feel that we should be spending most of our time in the New Testament rather than the Old. Plus if you know Koine Greek you could always read the Septuagint.

I think there is value to be had. My question is more about whether there is enough value to warrant lifelong study.
Second to that is the question of whether there is somethuing intrinsically special about Biblical Hebrew. We can at least say that it is unique among languages. Has it been uniquely flavoured by God's presence among the Israelites?
 
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GreekOrthodox

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It's a language like anyone elses. When koine Greek began to be restudied in western Europe, they noticed that it didnt look like classic Greek or 15th century Greek, so some scholars thought it was Holy Spirit Greek. Then they started studying non-Scriptural letters and scrolls such as a merchant's inventory and realized it was just another form of Greek. Mind you, no one ever bothers asking the Greeks how we read it........ sigh.

For a long time Koine Greek confused many scholars. It was significantly different from Classical Greek. Some hypothesized that it was a combination of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Others attempted to explain it as a "Holy Ghost language," meaning that God created a special language just for the Bible. But studies of Greek papyri found in Egypt over the past one hundred years have shown that this language was the language of the everyday people used in the writings of wills, private letters, receipts, shopping lists, etc. - Bill Mounce (author of Basics of Biblical Greek)​
 
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Eftsoon

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It's a language like anyone elses. When koine Greek began to be restudied in western Europe, they noticed that it didnt look like classic Greek or 15th century Greek, so some scholars thought it was Holy Spirit Greek. Then they started studying non-Scriptural letters and scrolls such as a merchant's inventory and realized it was just another form of Greek. Mind you, no one ever bothers asking the Greeks how we read it........ sigh.

For a long time Koine Greek confused many scholars. It was significantly different from Classical Greek. Some hypothesized that it was a combination of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Others attempted to explain it as a "Holy Ghost language," meaning that God created a special language just for the Bible. But studies of Greek papyri found in Egypt over the past one hundred years have shown that this language was the language of the everyday people used in the writings of wills, private letters, receipts, shopping lists, etc. - Bill Mounce (author of Basics of Biblical Greek)​


But the evolution and development of Hebrew is tied closely to direct revelation. Do you think that that influenced it in some way?
 
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Maria Billingsley

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
I would think Greek would be more advantageous than Hebrew. The Holy Spirit brings us closer to the Father and His Holy Spirit graces the pages of the New Testament. The problem with elevating Hebrew is the danger of falling into the
" sacred name movement" , thinking the Hebrew language has some kind of spiritual advantage. Be blessed.
 
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anna ~ grace

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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
I used to think this. And wound up getting entangled in an attempt to keep parts of the Law of Moses, and nearly wound up trying to create my own canon of Scripture based on what seemed right to me.

This is extreme, but many people who delve into Hebrew Roots ideas tend to wind up becoming a sect of their own, legalistic, and kind of cut off from other Christians.

So, no. I don’t think that knowing Hebrew will necessarily be a great help. It’s a beautiful language, and holy, but the words above Christ’s Head were also written in Greek and Latin, and at Pentecost the Gospel was proclaimed by God in Persian, Arabic, Punic, Coptic, Aramaic, Latin, Greek, and probably other languages, too.
 
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GreekOrthodox

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But the evolution and development of Hebrew is tied closely to direct revelation. Do you think that that influenced it in some way?

No, as Hebrew influenced by other Semetic languages such as Moabic, Akkadian and Phoenician. My professor in OT studies said the same. His known languages are as follows:

  • Modern: Romanian (native), French, German, Hebrew.
  • Ancient: Hebrew, Akkadian, Syriac, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Ethiopic (Ge'ez), Greek, Latin.
 
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GreekOrthodox

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I would think Greek would be more advantageous than Hebrew. The Holy Spirit brings us closer to the Father and His Holy Spirit graces the pages of the New Testament. The problem with elevating Hebrew is the danger of falling into the
" sacred name movement" , thinking the Hebrew language has some kind of spiritual advantage. Be blessed.

I stumbled across one of the SNM preachers on the radio driving home. I've never heard such drivel about language in my life. Finally had to turn it off because the theology was so poor.
 
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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?

I think Aramaic would be more important because that is what Jesus spoke, but Koine Greek would be even more important because it is in that language that the New Testament was written, and also, the Old Testament translation into Greek known as the Septuagint is in many respects more obvious when it comes to Christological prophecy than the Masoretic Hebrew text, and Hebrew texts corresponding with the Septuagint have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

From a scholarly perspective, I would argue the Church has a pressing need for more Ge’ez scholars who can translate ancient Ethiopian Christian manuscripts. We have found so much in their monasteries, and the libraries in the monasteries of Ethiopia and Eritrea have just barely been explored; we don’t even know what all is in there. Also, more Greek translators, more Syriac scholars, more Classical Armenian scholars, more Church Slavonic to English translators, and also more Coptic scholars and Romanian and Arabic translators (there is a treasure trove of Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and Maronite Christian literature in the Romanian and Arabic languages, specifically the Syrian and Egyptian dialects of Arabic).
 
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Yes.

Let me give you an example.

KJV Genesis 2:18
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

I always heard that as "help mate". It's not "help mate". It's "help meet".
What on earth is a "help meet"???

Then I listened to a Jewish Rabbi explain the Hebrew behind this translation.
And then it all made sense.

It's not a help-mate/servant.
It's a second perspective.

Ariel Burger — Be a Blessing

Tippett:And that word, unity, is out there in our political life right now, and it’s controversial.

I also love this, because this feels connected, to me — you said that one of the virtues, one of the ways to be maladjusted positively is to push against false dichotomies, which are everywhere in this culture, and claim the countercultural both/and paradoxical thinking, and that, you said, perhaps Elie Wiesel’s favorite phrase was “and yet.” And this idea that, even going back to Genesis, that even the idea that “helpmeet” — the word that gets translated as “helpmeet,” even the first couple of Adam and Eve — that there’s an otherness, actually, in the actual language and imagery in that story. You’ve said this: “The first couple are the first friends, the first strangers, and the first to encounter an ‘other.’”

Burger:The first human relationship. And that phrase in the original Hebrew is so paradoxical. It’s really not “helpmeet” — I don’t even know what a “helpmeet” really means.

Tippett:I know; I think that’s the King James version. It was that Eve is just created to become Adam’s helpmeet, is the language a lot of people learned, in church, at least.

Burger:Right; I’ve seen it too, from a young age, but I don’t know what a “meet” is. [laughs] But the original Hebrew is really fascinating, because it’s two words. It’s not one word. And they’re two words that mean, really, the opposite: one is “helper” and one is “against him.” And that’s the real key to understanding this idea of otherness, that really one of the best things that you can do for me, one of the best ways you can help me in my search for truth, which is a never-ending search, and my desire to improve myself and become a better person, is to confront me with your different perspective, your different opinion, your different take on things. And the way that professor Wiesel asked the question is, what does it mean to disagree for the sake of the other?

Tippett:You quote Elie Wiesel saying, “To engage with controversy does not mean to refuse to listen,” which sounds like such a simple sentence, but it’s almost impossible in a lot of the places where we engage otherness, at least in public right now.

Burger:I want to share that I think there are two challenges with otherness, really. One is, we sometimes fall into the trap of not listening, or feeling threatened, or closing ourselves to the other.

But we also make a different mistake, which is to be overly familiar with the other and to think that we already know the other. And one of the things I’ve been thinking about is the way in which light from a distant star arrives at our planet, arrives at the human eye after such a vast period of time. Light takes time to travel. And so, at a very, very micro, nano- scale, the same thing is true when I’m standing two feet away from someone and looking at them. There is some lag, there’s some time lapse between the light from their face reaching my eyes and when it originated in their face, which means there’s a way in which I’m never seeing you. I’m seeing you a moment ago, even though we can’t measure that.

And that means that I’m always a little bit behind, and my ideas about you are always a little bit obsolete, because in that micro, nano-, nano-, nanosecond, you might’ve changed. And you might’ve grown in some way. And to me, that’s pointing us to a great sense of openness to one another, if we could really hold that place of not-knowing.

That’s the other part of otherness, is to really allow ourselves to not know each other and to not say, “OK, I’ve heard this political position a billion times before,” or, “My neighbor or my uncle or the person I’ve had an argument with for Thanksgiving dinners for the last ten years is gonna be the same this year,” but to allow a little bit of space, at least, for not knowing and the possibility of being surprised.
 
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Do you think that the Hebrew language (biblical hebrew) has special value purely as a language?
Can a study of the language bring us closer to God?
Would it be worthwhile for churches to teach Biblical Hebrew as standard or are we fine as we are?
Muslims express the idea you cannot translate the Koran and must learn Arimaic to truly understand since that is the language God used and He wrote every word.
The writers of the Bible were inspired by the Spirit, which is not the same.
 
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Bible Highlighter

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I think there is value to be had. My question is more about whether there is enough value to warrant lifelong study.
Second to that is the question of whether there is somethuing intrinsically special about Biblical Hebrew. We can at least say that it is unique among languages. Has it been uniquely flavoured by God's presence among the Israelites?

I think God is able to translate languages just fine at Pentecost. I believe God's Word is perserved for our world language today. Why? Because that would be consistent with how God operates. God's Word never told us to look to some more ancient language. Yes, the Hebrews at one time spoke Hebrew and they written Hebrew. But that was for the Old Testament (i.e. Old Covenant). There is no Bible verse suggesting that if you know a more ancient language it will bring you closer to God. To grow closer to God: We must obey the Lord's commands (not the Old Testament, but the New Testament) (See again the verses in my previous post). But everyone wishes to cut corners or do their own thing nowadays or to follow the crowd. The Bible is simple. Just read it, and believe it, and do not add or take away from it.
 
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I think there is value to be had. My question is more about whether there is enough value to warrant lifelong study.
I offer as an opinion for you to test >

You have character. Character effects if and how well you can do things; so if you study Hebrew, your character can effect how well you benefit from the study. Our character has us more or less with God in His creativity for doing things well.

So, a language can not be a major factor, not like character is important. There is no magical shortcut past getting real correction . . . how God alone is able to correct and cure our character so we are sharing with Him and submissive to Him > Hebrews 12:4-14.

Second to that is the question of whether there is somethuing intrinsically special about Biblical Hebrew. We can at least say that it is unique among languages. Has it been uniquely flavoured by God's presence among the Israelites?
Hebrew is special, however it is, but God is the One who makes it good for us . . . through our character making us able to benefit.

Judas knew Hebrew, by the way. And I would say Satan has spoken in Hebrew with a few Jews. But the language did not do Satan any good, right?

And it seems Jesus spoke Aramaic, not only or always Hebrew.
 
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