Hebrew Meanings: April 2016

Thursday 7 April 2016

Yom Echad

Grammar

Word: יום אחד
Representation: YVM AKhD
Transliteration: Yom Echad
Noun: "one day" or "day of one"
Strong Concordance: H3117 and H259

Exposition

This is another one of those two-word expressions that needs to be explained together.

This expression appears 10 times in Scripture, and normally it just means "one day", as in Genesis 27:45, "Shall I be deprived of both of you in one day?"

Pretty straight-forward, right?

But there is one instance where it is not so straight forward: Genesis 1:5.

In all of the other naming of the days you have "second day, third day, fourth day, etc.". But the first day is not called "first day", but "one day".

It seems out of place, and there has been a lot of interpretation added to try to make sense of it. Such as "call it the 'day of One' as in speaking of the One Creator!" The problem with that is that the Elohim are a plurality, and so it is a monotheistic interpretation being forced upon a henotheistic text.

More than likely, it is just a stylistic expression since nowhere in the Tanach can you find "the first day". It just wasn't done. Why? I don't know. But I do know that because of the lack of use, the expression "one day" in Genesis 1:5 could also be translated as "a first day" as KJV nearly does (it uses "The first day", which isn't such a good choice.

But to show the uniqueness of this term, I will leave it simply as "one day" as the author intended, just to show something rather interesting.

Boker

Grammar

Word: בוקר or בקר
Representation: BVKR or BQR
Transliteration: Boker
Noun: "morning"
Strong Concordance: H1242

Exposition

This word appears less than 200 times in the Tanach. It is it normally a transitional term for "going into the day" and "dawn" is normally used to express the very beginning of the day, which the Sages expressed as when the first pillars of light can be seen peeking over the horizon.

In the case of Genesis-1 with the formula "And it was evening, it was morning..." it speaks of a passage of time, going from darkness laying above the heavens, and being pulled away so that the light can reside there, going from night to day, transitioning from evening to morning.

Erev

Grammar

Word: ערב
Representation: ORV
Transliteration: Erev
Noun: "evening"
Strong Concordance: H6153

Exposition

This word appears less than 200 times in the Tanach. While is it often a transitional term for "going into the night", it is also just another term for "night". Context is important here, as it is with all words.

In the Talmud, the Sages go into great detail on how to determine the exact point of the start of evening and morning, as it relates to reciting the evening and morning recitation of Scriptural passages. They typically used the term "evening" as that period that is no later than midnight and used "night" for that period after evening, but before morning.

Liylah

Grammar

Word: לילה
Representation: LYLH
Transliteration: Lie-lah
Noun: "night".
Strong Concordance: H3915

Exposition

This word appears more than 200 times in the Tanach. Its first appearance is in Genesis 1:5 where we read "...and [the Elohim] called out to the tangible-darkness "NIGHT!""

This style of naming is repeated later, when, in Genesis 1:8, where we read "And the-Elohim called to the firmament (rakia) "HEAVENS!" (shamayim)".

This renaming does not eliminate the prior name, and in fact the prior name will still be referenced from time to time. Rather, the new name is an expression of the previous name. Heavens cannot exist without a firmament, and night cannot exist without darkness. There is a dependency that continues.

In the case of "night", this new name marks the passage of time - day and night. When the blanket of darkness lays upon to upper waters, we have night. When the tangible darkness is rolled back and is replaced by light, it is no longer night.

Yom

Grammar

Word: יום
Representation: YVM
Transliteration: Yom
Noun: "day", a period of time.
Strong Concordance: H3117

Exposition

This word appears more than 2000 times in the Tanach. Its first appearance is in Genesis 1:5 where we read "And the Elohim called to the light "DAY!"."

This style of naming is repeated later, when, in Genesis 1:8, where we read "And the-Elohim called-out to the firmament (rakia) "HEAVENS!" (shamayim)".

This renaming does not eliminate the prior name, and in fact the prior name will still be referenced from time to time. Rather, the new name is an expression of the previous name. Heavens cannot exist without a firmament, and, according to Scripture, day cannot exist without light. There is a dependency that continues.

In the case of "day" is the new name to mark the passage of time - day and night. When the blanket of darkness lays upon to upper waters, we have night. When the tangible darkness is rolled back and is replaced by light, it is day..

Remember, these terms, day and night, are used when there are no suns or stars, and it was believed that the source of light and darkness was God ("I form the light and manifest the darkness..." - Isaiah 45:7)

Also, the term "day" is not necessarily a 24-hour period. It can refer to someone's lifetime, or reign. It is a complicated issue that I explain elsewhere. [click here to read]

Vayikra

Grammar

Word: יקרא or ויקרא
Representation: YQRA
Transliteration: Yikra
Verb: "to call", "to call-out to", "to name" (with a vav-prefix, it reverts to past-tense)
Strong Concordance: H7121

Exposition

This verb has a lot of uses, and these can change depending on the connector that is associated with it. When it is a lamed (ל), it means to call-out-to, as in calling to a person by name. When the connector is an את base, it means to name something. Sometimes the differences between these may seem subtle, but they are significant.

Format 1: VYQRA LY bob

Format 2: VYQRA ATI bob

Using format 1, "And he called me Bob" with a lamed (L=ל) is an English translation for something that really means, "and he called out to me with the name Bob".

Using format 2 with an alef-tav (את) connector, "And he called me Bob' really means, "and he named me Bob".

There are many verbs where the meaning changes depending on the connector, such as one word that will change from "reading a story" to "getting a haircut" with the same change as those above.

Now given that, I also want to address Genesis 1:5

You see, when you call-out to someone or something (say, your dog), you are talking to something with some degree of intelligence. This relates to using the lamed (ל) as in format-1 above.

In Genesis 1:5, it says, "And the Elohim called-out-to the-light, "DAY!". Granted, it is indicating that to God, light is also known as "day". But it is also saying something else - that in the first chapter of Genesis, light is not a concept, nor simply photon particles, but a thing with substance. And it is for that reason that, in Genesis 1, that I use "tangible-light" when translating אור rather than simply "light". After Genesis 1, the expressions used that give this impression no longer exist. So in those cases, I appropriately use the term "light".

For those who only read the English, this nuance is completely lost. And that is why I felt the need to give a longer explanation than normal concerning it.

Bein

Grammar

Word: ביו
Representation: BYN
Transliteration: Bein
Preposition: "between"
Strong Concordance: H996

Exposition

The use of "between" (the Biblical Hebrew form) is quit interesting in Scripture. It designates a connection between two objects, whether it be a coming together, a going apart, or a stagnate immobility.

Examples are the making of the firmament, making a separation between the waters so that there would forever remain an upper and a lower waters, with the firmament being the division that keeps them apart.

Another use is the separation between the light and the darkness, which is a pulling apart, and again a maintenance of never coming together again, a pulling away. When one approaches, the other goes away, as in the description of day and night.

Or in Genesis 9:16, when the an everlasting covenant is made between the Elohim and every living creature on on land (post flood) that he won't do it again, like He did. This is connect between the Elohim and the creatures - a connection that will always being separate.

The last example is interesting in that the Elohim, like light and darkness, are treated as physical entities that are separate in location. It is something to consider whenever this Biblical word "between" appears - a distinction between two localized objects.

Vayavdel

Grammar

Word: ויבדל or יבדל
Representation: YBDL
Transliteration: Yavdel
Verb: "he caused a separation/division", or "he divided/separated", or "he will separate" (without the vav prefix).
Strong Concordance: H914

Exposition

The piel form of the word "to separate" is לבדל. The form expressed here is past-tense. It only occurs 4 times in Scripture with the prefixing "vav" (past tense), and one time without it (future tense).

This is an active form that demands intervention. This is an act that does not just happen, but an outside source causes it to occur. One example is the Elohim separating the light from the darkness, which would require an action on their part to make it occur. One may consider this to be a physical interaction or a metaphysical one, depending on one's ideology.

In either case, the meaning is to cause one thing to remain apart, separate, divided, from another thing.

Only in Genesis is this term use with "between", which infers boundaries of the two objects.There is an ideological reason for that this is discussed in a different post [click here].

Ki Tov

Grammar

Word: כי טוב
Representation: KY TVB
Transliteration: Ki Tov
Expression: "for good", "because of good", "that good"
Strong Concordance: H3588 and H2896

Exposition

This is one of the few times where a pair of words cannot be separated. This is because it is an expression that appears more then 40 times in Scripture.

Because of it's ambiguous meaning that seems to change with every translation, it has lent itself to being a catch-all phrase for something that basically means "satisfied" or "more than acceptable".

For example, when it says that the Elohim "saw the light "ki tov" and then separated the light from the darkness", you end up with such comments as:

The light was good, so the darkness was not good.
THAT light was good, but not all light is good
That light is only for the good [people] and it was set aside for the "world to come".
God can only see good, and so he saw it because it was good.

The list goes on.

The simple meaning is "God made light, examined it, was satisfied with His creation (it was more than just acceptable), and separated it from the darkness".

But because of people expectation, I will often use "that was good" alone or with another modifier/

Lirote

Grammar

Word: ירא or וירא
Representation: YRA
Transliteration: Yereh
Verb: "he saw", or "and he saw"
Strong Concordance: H7200

Exposition

The simple infinitive form of the word "to see" is לראות. The form expressed here is past-tense third-person if it begins with a "vav" ("and"), and future tense third-person if it does not. It's a form of Biblical Hebrew grammar that is no longer used. (The technique is known as "vav-conversive").

This word occurs more than 300 times in Scripture and often, with different effects.

Depending on the context, it can also mean "examined", "perceived", "noticed", "understood". That has to be applied correctly. For example, if it is a passive seeing, then "saw" is certainly appropriate. If there is a directed (active) looking implied, then "examined" might be the best word to use.

One example is when God creates something - does He just see it passively, or is He examining His creation? Because of this, I may sometimes use an expression that differs from the more traditional use. But if you prefer "saw", then by all means, do so.

Sunday 3 April 2016

vayihi

Grammar

Word: ויהי
Representation: VYHY
Transliteration: Yayehi
Verb: "and it/he was"
Strong Concordance: H1961

Exposition

This is a vav-conversive form of the verb, reversing the future-tense single-person form of the verb "to be" to the past-tense form, or "he/it was". Vav-conversive is a Biblical style that it not normally used in modern Hebrew.

Because Hebrew is gender-based (there is no "it", just "he" or "she"), this word can either be translated as "it was" or "he was". The prefixing vav can either be translated or dropped, depending on the style and context. I typically use "and" unless another preposition helps the sentence flow better.

All vav-conversive past forms in Tanach:

ויהי - And he was

ואהיה - I will be (the KJV mangles this to "I AM")

ויהיו - They will be

ותהיו - You (plural) will be

ותהיי - You (fem.) will be

yehi

Grammar

Word: יהי
Representation: YHY
Transliteration: Yehi
Verb: "it/he/there will be"
Strong Concordance: H1961

Exposition

This is a future-tense single-person form of the verb "to be". It can either be translated as "it will be" or "he will be" due to the gender-based Hebrew language where "it" can be a "he" or a "she". Sometimes I may use "there will be" as a better sounding form of "it will be".

If prefixed by the letter vav (ו) that has a patach (it looks like a small "T") beneath the vav, the combination creates what is called a "vav-conversive" and the tense is reversed, and so "it will be" becomes "it was".

All future forms:

יהי - He will be

תהיה - You (masc.)/she will be

אהיה - I will be (the KJV mangles this to "I AM")

יהיו - They will be

תהיו - You (plural) will be

תהיי - You (fem.) will be

Saturday 2 April 2016

Aur

Grammar

Word: אור
Representation: AUR
Transliteration: Or
Noun: "light", "tangible-light", "illumination"
Strong Concordance: H216

Exposition

Depending on the context, this can refer to light as in an expression of illumination, or it can refer to something more tangible, as in the Elohim making the sun and the moon from light (Genesis 1:16), or the primordial light that was separated from the primordial darkness (Genesis 1:4).

In other places, it is simply an expression of illumination, and so it should be understood as such.

For more about light and it's relationship to day and the sun, click here:

amar

Grammar

Word: אמר
Representation: AMR
Transliteration: Amar
Verb: "said", "answered"
Strong Concordance: H559

Exposition

This is the past-tense masculine form of "to say". It is also a singular form, and because Hebrew is gender-based, "he-said" or "it said" is equally valid, and so should be translated appropriately based on the context of the verse.

Biblical Hebrew will also link collective nouns in the singular form, which is not normally done in modern Hebrew. And sometimes a plural form will be used against a singular noun.

This can be confusing at first, but should be considered a style rather than a grammatical error, or proof that the noun is either singular or plural.

Example of a singular noun with a plural verb: Genesis 11:3 "And man [singular] said [plural] to..

Example of plural noun with singular verb: Exodus 4:29: "And Moses and Aaron [he] went (singular)..."

And of course, every instance of the plural noun "Elohim" has a singular verb, as in "And the Elohim [he] said (singular).

This style has resulted in some interesting ideological views of the text.