Learning Hebrew

[Jord Simcha]

Hi!

I have some questions about learning Hebrew, I am kind of inspired to try it.

My questions: is it worth it and how hard is it?


Thanks in advance.

 

[public hermit]

I think it's worth it. Is it hard? I think it's easier than Greek, haha. But, that's just me. Others might disagree. Are you doing it alone, or with a class?

 

[Jord Simcha]

I think it's worth it. Is it hard? I think it's easier than Greek, haha. But, that's just me. Others might disagree. Are you doing it alone, or with a class?

So far I have only watched videos on youtube about it.

 

[Al Touthentop]

Hi!

I have some questions about learning Hebrew, I am kind of inspired to try it.

My questions: is it worth it and how hard is it?


Thanks in advance.

I haven't tried Hebrew. I learned Greek (and continue in that learning) and I am more and more convinced that it is more useful than Hebrew in that the old Hebrew was translated into Greek some 300 years before Christ and it is that translation which was quoted by Jesus and all of the New Testament authors.

The Septuagint also clears up some problems that arose in the Masoretic text, most obviously the virgin birth prophecy. Modern translators have translated the passage to read "young woman" rather than "virgin" from the Hebrew, yet those Hebrew scholars in Alexandria translated it "virgin" in the Septuagint.

 

[public hermit]

So far I have only watched videos on youtube about it.

Like anything, you can do if you really want to. I learned Biblical Hebrew in class, so I'll share a little. The first thing we learned was the Hebrew script and pronunciation, then we started to learn the grammar. But, vocabulary was hammered into us the whole time. Once you learn the script and how to pronounce, go ahead and start to enlarge your vocabulary as you learn the grammar. The more vocab you have, the less time you'll spend looking up root words (or trying to figure out root words).

I am sure there are a lot of good online resources, but I use the BDB all the time. It's worth the twenty bucks (used).

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Hebrew-English-Lexicon-Concordance/dp/1565632060

 

[Jord Simcha]

I haven't tried Hebrew. I learned Greek (and continue in that learning) and I am more and more convinced that it is more useful than Hebrew in that the old Hebrew was translated into Greek some 300 years before Christ and it is that translation which was quoted by Jesus and all of the New Testament authors.

The Septuagint also clears up some problems that arose in the Masoretic text, most obviously the virgin birth prophecy. Modern translators have translated the passage to read "young woman" rather than "virgin" from the Hebrew, yet those Hebrew scholars in Alexandria translated it "virgin" in the Septuagint.

thanks for your reply

For me the interest lies for a great deal in the pictographic meaning of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet as well, as shown in this next picture:

There seems to be hidden a lot of prophecy in Hebrew words in this manner.

 

[Jord Simcha]

Like anything, you can do if you really want to. I learned Biblical Hebrew in class, so I'll share a little. The first thing we learned was the Hebrew script and pronunciation, then we started to learn the grammar. But, vocabulary was hammered into us the whole time. Once you learn the script and how to pronounce, go ahead and start to enlarge your vocabulary as you learn the grammar. The more vocab you have, the less time you'll spend looking up root words (or trying to figure out root words).

I am sure there are a lot of good online resources, but I use the BDB all the time. It's worth the twenty bucks (used).

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Hebrew-English-Lexicon-Concordance/dp/1565632060

Thanks!

Right now my vocabulary is Oat, Aish, Bereshit, Bera, Elohim, Ha'aretz and a little of the alphabet. lol

 

[usexpat97]

I think it's worth it, but to find the underlying meaning of the Old Testament--not the "hidden" meaning. You will inevitably encounter Hebrew Gematria if you pursue Hebrew long enough, where they assign numbers to letters and then try to find "hidden" meaning in the Bible with all these numbers. Thing is, Deuteronomy 18 specifically forbids numerology.

Granted, assigning numbers to letters in itself is perfectly fine. That's just how they did it.

 

[bèlla]

We used this book at the synagogue along with Ulpan classes. If you desire to speak the language that’s the best option. Most seminarians aren’t fluent and can’t converse. They can read it.

~Bella

 

[Jord Simcha]

I think it's worth it, but to find the underlying meaning of the Old Testament--not the "hidden" meaning. You will inevitably encounter Hebrew Gematria if you pursue Hebrew long enough, where they assign numbers to letters and then try to find "hidden" meaning in the Bible with all these numbers. Thing is, Deuteronomy 18 specifically forbids numerology.

Granted, assigning numbers to letters in itself is perfectly fine. That's just how they did it.

Thanks for your reply.

I already encountered it indeed. It was stunning but it's not what I'm interested in. Btw I just quickly read Deuteronomy 18 but couldn't find that.

 

[Jord Simcha]

We used this book at the synagogue along with Ulpan classes. If you desire to speak the language that’s the best option. Most seminarians aren’t fluent and can’t converse. They can read it.

~Bella

Thanks for the tip.

I'm more interested in being able to read it than speak it too, like most I guess.

 

[usexpat97]

Thanks for your reply.

I already encountered it indeed. It was stunning but it's not what I'm interested in. Btw I just quickly read Deuteronomy 18 but couldn't find that.

Deuteronomy 18:10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

 

[Jord Simcha]

Deuteronomy 18:10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

So, you equate it with interpreting omens?

 

[usexpat97]

Numerology is all that stuff.

There *MIGHT* be an exception, in how you interpret the number 666. Apostle John was trying to communicate something with 666, and it is not entirely clear what that is. John was communicating in Greek, however--not Hebrew. And there is such a thing as Greek Gematria as well. I don't know for sure what 666 is, and the answer might lie in Hebrew or Greek Gematria.

 

[Jord Simcha]

Numerology is all that stuff.

There *MIGHT* be an exception, in how you interpret the number 666. Apostle John was trying to communicate something with 666, and it is not entirely clear what that is. John was communicating in Greek, however--not Hebrew. And there is such a thing as Greek Gematria as well. I don't know for sure what 666 is, and the answer might lie in Hebrew or Greek Gematria.

From the videos I have seen, I have been shown that God used a lot of 3s and 7s and 37s and 73s and factors of 37 in Genesis 1:1. And somehow hid the number pi in there too. It was very intriguing. The man who made a few of those videos talked about how many dots you need for perfect triangles, stars of David and rectangles, and that somehow a few very important words like the one for truth has a numerological value that translates into a perfect rectangle and more things like that. Like I said very intriguing but not what I am looking into though.

What interests me most is the meaning of the words. If you want to read more about what I learned you can read it (and view the videos) in this topic from FineLinen: The Aleph & Tav

 

[usexpat97]

From the videos I have seen, I have been shown that God used a lot of 3s and 7s and 37s and 73s and factors of 37 in Genesis 1:1. And somehow hid the number pi in there too. It was very intriguing. The man who made a few of those videos talked about how many dots you need for perfect triangles, stars of David and rectangles, and that somehow a few very important words like the one for truth has a numerological value that translates into a perfect rectangle and more things like that. Like I said very intriguing but not what I am looking into though.

What interests me most is the meaning of the words. If you want to read more about what I learned you can read it (and view the videos) in this topic from FineLinen: The Aleph & Tav

I really think you are going down a rabbit trail.

When God spoke to Adam and Eve, He said, "Do not eat of the tree". It was not complicated. God never required a 150 IQ to be saved.

 

[Jord Simcha]

I really think you are going down a rabbit trail.

When God spoke to Adam and Eve, He said, "Do not eat of the tree". It was not complicated. God never required a 150 IQ to be saved.

I don't think so. I just watched a few videos that is all. Watch them for yourself if you think they are bad influence. I don't think they are. They are just interesting things God put in the Bible. I didn't feel the men who made those videos made them hard to understand at all. They just discovered more than the average Bible reader has.

 

[Silmarien]

Hi!

I have some questions about learning Hebrew, I am kind of inspired to try it.

My questions: is it worth it and how hard is it?


Thanks in advance.

I would say that it's very much worth it! I decided to pick it up to understand some of the weird linguistic issues with New Testament Greek, but found it by far the more enriching of the two.

I spent a couple of months working my way through The First Hebrew Primer, which I found great for self-study, especially because of how much support it gives with actually learning the alphabet. The difficulty level with Hebrew is a little odd--I found the alphabet to be the trickiest part, as well as memorizing vocabulary in the beginning due to how alien it is, but the more you become familiar with the root words, the easier it becomes. (Granted, I've only done an introductory course so far.)

 

[Of the Kingdom]

There are many benefits to learning Hebrew, even if you only understand a little. Here is one of the central passages from Deuteronomy (qouted from Wikipedia):

"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃), found in Deuteronomy 6:4

Approximate pronunciation of the Hebrew text:

Shema Yisrael, Yahweh Elihenu, Yahweh Echad.