Hebrew is the original written and spoken language of the Old Testament. It has also been called the "Holy Language". It is the language in which God spoke forth the Torah and the language the prophets used to express their revelations. Sadly, most of it's beauty and shades of meaning are lost in English translations.
Hebrew words have more than just one definition. For example, the Hebrew word for 'keep' is 'shamar', which literally means to guard, protect and cherish; while the Hebrew word for 'break' (parar) literally means to trample under foot. The ancient Hebrew understanding of these words is not about obedience and disobedience of His commands, but one’s attitude toward them. It is a matter of cherishing His teachings or trampling them.
You most likely already know several Hebrew words that have come through Biblical English such as Hallelujah, Amen, Hosanna, andShalom. Shalom for instance means more than just hello, or peace, it contains the whole word picture of health, welfare and friendship.
The Modern Hebrew spoken in Israel is also very unique. After being dormant as a spoken language for almost 2000 years, it has been resurrected into a fully spoken language with the birth of the State of Israel. The revival of a formerly spoken language has no precedent in world history and is considered to be something of a miracle by linguists.
Many Bible verses take on new meaning in the original Hebrew text. There are also many plays on words that are missed when only reading an English translation.
One of the first examples is from the creation of Man, (Adam), who was created from the dust of the ground (Adamah). Another example is in the naming of the creation of woman when Adam said: 'she shall be called woman (ishah) because she was taken from man (ish). Then Adam gave her the name 'Eve' (Chavah, which means life-giver, living) because she was the mother of all living. And of course, we have our Messiah, Yeshua (Salvation) and He shall save (Yoshiah) His people from their sins.
Another area that comes to life when studying Hebrew is understanding Hebraic idioms. If one went to China and said “it’s raining cats and dogs” the people of that land would be bewildered. In the same way, Hebraic idioms can lead to some misunderstandings.
One of the biggest misinterpretations of a Hebraic idiom is ‘binding and loosing’. Often this text has been interpreted as Jesus’ giving His disciples authority to engage in spiritual warfare. This is not the case. This reference is not to the literal binding or loosing of something (as in tying up or untying something), it is rather, ‘prohibit’ (from the Hebrew word asar) and 'permitting' (from the hebrew word hitir)
Asar v’Hitir as used by Israel’s Sages, had to do with making ‘binding’ and ‘loosing’ decisions regarding conduct prohibited or permitted by the commands of the Torah. This is likely what Jesus meant in His instructions on ‘binding’ and ‘loosing’. We can see it as guidance to the Church as to what conduct God would prohibit or permit among Christians. This was especially important as the Church moved into the Gentile areas where the people would not have had an understanding of the Law of Moses.
Another example of a Hebrew idiom is Baruch ha-ba, which translates literally as 'blessed is he that comes'. In Hebrew, this idiom simply means welcome. When Jesus lamented over Jerusalem He said: "you will not see me again until you say 'blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' ... in other words, He will not return until Jerusalemwelcomes Him as their Messiah.
There is also so much meaning in the translation of names. The name Samson (Shimshon) comes from the root word "Shemesh" which means 'light'. The name Delila (D'lila) comes from the root word 'night'; so we understand, by their names, that this the story is really about asking:What does the light have to do with the darkness.? The names add to the meaning of the account the idea that Samson’s undoing was at the hands of evil foreigners and warnes the reader to stay away from them.
Another example of Hebrew names and understanding the meanings behind them are the names Hannaniah, Misha’el and Azariah. Do you recognize these names? Most of you will probably not because you know them better as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Their names given to them by their Hebrew Mothers were; Hannaniah, which means ‘The Lord shows Grace’; Misha’el, which means ‘Who is like God’; and Azaria, which means ‘The Lord will help Me’. The names given to them by N’vuchadnetzar were Shadrach, which means ‘I will do what Aku (one of Neb’s gods) commands’; Meshach, which means ‘Who is there like Aku’; and Abednego, which means ‘I am Nabu (another one of Neb’s gods) slave’. So now the story becomes; will they live up to the names their Hebrew Mothers gave them in honour of our God, or the names N’vuchadnetzar gave them in honour of his pagan gods?
