Hebrew

[Ioustinos]

How many of you in the ministry are interested in the Hebrew language?

I am; I find it amazing how the apostles such as Paul, Peter, etc led Jews to Christ with just the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit! I would love to have a high level of understanding and usage of the Hebrew language and scriptures. I know that most ministers focus on the Greek language for the NT was written in Greek and thus that is where the majority of the Christian doctrines are based. But do others feel it would be an added tool to not only have a good grasp on Greek but Hebrew as well?

 

[AngelAmidala]

I would think so...I mean, that way you could understand the entire Bible in its original language.

At least that's how I feel about it.

 

[Gerry]

I am interested but too old to learn the language. So I have to rely on Scholars I can trust to teach me what I need to know about specific passages and words.

You, on the other hand, are young and have the opportunity to become one of those Scholars, and somehow, I have no doubt you will. God's Blessings on you in school!

 

[Ioustinos]

Thanks Gerry!

I hope that I keep this desire as I grow older I feel that knowing Hebrew would be a great tool in witnessing to Jews who do and do not follow Judaism. I believe you and I know that not all Jews practice Judaism, just like all who call themselves Christians are not Christians. But knowing about their language and heritage would put one in a position to succeed and at the least cause them to think about the Gospel. Also it would help in finding and exposing deeper truths within Scripture to my future congregation .

 

[Didaskomenos]

Well, I took a little Hebrew in college. Here's the thing:

1) The NT is the source of most doctrine, because the OT doesn't concern itself with that. We can see some concepts, but it's mostly by bathing oneself in the literature, and that's tougher to do.

2) Another complication is that Hebrew (like other Semitic languages) is an extremely odd language to westerners. They thought completely differently from even the people of Jesus' time. For instance, there is really no time element in Hebrew. Either something's completed, or it's not.  This means that present and future tenses don't really exist in Hebrew - although they could use the type of verb that meant "incomplete action" to distinguish it from "completed action" which often (but not always!) is translated as past tense in English.

3) Being such an ancient language, and parts of the OT contain some pretty archaic Hebrew for which we have very little outside examples (the Ugarit find has been slightly helpful), we don't know much about the intricacies of Hebrew, or even how to translate many words or phrases. Take an NIV and look at how many footnotes say, "Or, [blank]," or even "The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase/word is uncertain" (e.g., 2 Samuel 13:18-19). In such cases, the translators often go to the Septuagint, which was a late translation into Greek (around 250-100 B.C.). In fact, the quotations of the OT we find in the NT are most often from the Septuagint.

This is not to discourage you, but to set realistic expectations. I would love to learn more Hebrew, but it's tough. I agree that if we knew more it would help, but you won't likely be able to "open up the scriptures" the way we can almost do with Greek and the NT.  But it is pretty awesome to read, considering how old it is, and considering that these are the very words of the OT prophets!

 

[Gerry]

I really appreciate you taking the time to post this.

 

[Didaskomenos]

Glad you appreciate it!

 

[Defender of the Faith 777]

Ani rotse tov Ivrit medaber (I think)

I want to speak good Hebrew. I know I butchered that, buried it and stomped on it's grave. Hebrew is fun, kinda hard to learn to speak, VERY, VERY hard to learn to read. I just gave up a long time ago. I'll take it again in college and seminary and get serious into it. Boker tov; shalom lakh!

 

[andrea_andrea]

i am too .. i had friends who spoke it but they moved away i picked u on it a bit..........

 

[ZiSunka]

Yesh lee kelev gadol ba bite. I have a big dog at home.

I studied Hebrew a bit at one of the many synagogues in Cleveland. Studying Hebrew at a synagogue is much cheaper and a lot more personal than studying at a university, and I learned so much more!

A six-week course cost about $100, plus books. The teacher grew up in Jerusalem and was able to tell us a lot about the geography, culture and life of Israel, not just the language.

I'm glad I went that way when I wanted to learn Hebrew.

 

[Martin]

I'd love to learn Hebrew - it's the language of God....

 

[ZiSunka]

That's debatable, but it is fun to learn. Try it!

 

[filosofer]

Having studied Latin, German, and Russian before taking Hebrew at the seminary, I was in a "western" languages mind-set. My expectation was that Hebrew would be much more difficult. However, I found it easier in some ways. While the verb forms carry the main information/action, the structure of the language is actually not that different from English (yes, I know right to left, and all that, and the "strange" characters). The key is keeping up on the vocabulary.

1) The NT is the source of most doctrine, because the OT doesn't concern itself with that. We can see some concepts, but it's mostly by bathing oneself in the literature, and that's tougher to do.

While the NT does expand on doctrines, all the major doctrines are contained in the OT. I have taught Bible classes as a basis for evangelism, and at times, I only let them quote or refer to the OT. And they could do it! Well, since the apostles/early Christians did that, it isn't surprising.

And the Hebrew OT adds depth to understanding of what the NT does present.

 

[JesusInside]

ani medaber evrit mitsouyenet !! ( i speack excelent hebrew )

well .. look at this .. i am an arab who lives in israel , so i speak:
1)arabic
2)hebrew
3)english

(and i can say "bary sangermen" in french .)

i just wanna add that the hebrew spoken today is different from the hebrew of the OT.

and in hebrew there are diffirent verbs for the both genders , as an example in modern hebrew at the pats verbs for females they add to the verb "ah" as:
"hitpalel" (= prayed ) for males ----> "hitpalelah" for females.

in present verbs for females they use to add "et" to the verb as:
"mitpalel" (=is praying) for males ----> "mitpalelet" for females

hope you could understand anything of what i wrote .

 

[SCJ]

Awesome, I also would like to learn Hebrew. I think that we will all speak Hebrew when Jesus comes back, but I would still like to know it ahead of time!

 

[JesusInside]

just wanna say ..
why do u think that hebrew is the language of God ?? ( moslems think that arabic is the language of Allah) ...
there is nothing called "the language of god" ... gods word was spoken in hebrew by the jews coz it's the lang they spoke ... in the NT there where several langs .
jesus himself didn't talk regular hebrew !! he spoke in the "aramian" lang (or whatever u call it )

GBU

 

[sakamuyo]

Studying the languages is great!

Even if it does not allow you to read in the original text with the same fluency that you do in your native tongue, learning the language is a great tool that can help unlock the scriptures. It allows you to understand what the people of that time were thinking & feeling. It allows you to see the stories from their perspective.

I, too, think a synagogue is a great place to learn Hebrew. In addition to points made earlier, learning Hebrew in the synagogue means you will be learning specifically for the purpose of understanding the Torah.

You may also want to see if there are any messianic Jewish groups in your area.