{"id":1510,"date":"2014-05-27T20:59:28","date_gmt":"2014-05-27T20:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2014-05-27T20:59:28","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T20:59:28","slug":"hebrew-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/hebrew-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Hebrew Anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Brennan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why we need to learn the language or learn to think like Hebrews.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps the oldest written language still spoken today is Hebrew. Semitic languages, those of the Middle East, are generally considered to have the oldest alphabets. There are common roots which begin with the concept of pictograph. These are generally accepted symbols, comparable today\u2019s international icons\u00a0 seen and used on road signs, computer keyboards and even text messaging. (Somehow the end is the beginning in the strangest places).<\/p>\n

\"Hebrew-Parchment\"<\/a>

Hebrew-Parchment<\/p><\/div>\n

From here on separate alphabets, or in the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, have their start. An unusual article appeared a while ago which attracted attention to Hebrew. It more or less was worded that primitive writing had been discovered at an excavated mining site in Egypt. Ancient Canaanite miners had left behind an inscription that was similar to pictographic Proto-Canaanite, Proto-Hebrew. The article claimed that \u201cilliterate\u201d miners may have invented the alphabet. Odd, it seems that if you are illiterate, how would you know you had invented anything and then written about it in an alphabet ? For one criticism, mining is a very technical process, knowing what you are doing is quite important and what you are seeking as well. Criticism Number Two says that illiterate people don\u2019t write.
\nThe Hebrew aleph-bet we see and use today was developed in the period of the Babylonian Exile.\u00a0 But Hebrew\u00a0 has seen and still enjoys a wide variety of scripts and somehow still has maintained its coherence\u00a0 and its depth. Hebrew has a depth of meaning and interpretation that amazes, mystifies and contains more material for study and revelation than any other language. English is unfortunately, the most inadequate language to use in Bible study. There have been so many translations of the Bible that keeping up with them is a full time job. It\u2019s easier with Hebrew because Hebrew makes it that way.<\/p>\n

An ancient language for a reborn Land. Herzl and the early Zionists had decided that the place set aside for them in the Balfour Declaration would have as its official language Hebrew. Which variety of Hebrew? The Diaspora generated\u00a0 many subdivisions of Jews. Those who fled to Spain became Sephardic, those who escaped into the northern Roman provinces became Ashkenazi. There were existing colonies in Egypt, Ethiopia, perhaps China and India and anywhere the original scatterings by Babylonians, Assyrians and other invaders had deported or moved Jews to flee for their lives.
\n\"3d-shema-israel\"<\/a>
\nPictographic of Paleo-Hebrew is the first Hebraic script. It is similar to several Canaanite scripts. The Babylonian exile was a critical period for Israel. The Babylonians were canny and savvy conquerors. Combining a brutality in warfare and a smart province management system, excess captives were killed and fortifications demolished so captured cities were eliminated\u00a0 as enemy forces. Peasants were left behind to work the lands and provide tribute and general support in foodstuffs and grain. Younger upper class members were deported to be integrated into the Babylonian administrative network. They would at some point serve back in their former country as assistants and governing administrators. They would have language capability, be loyal to the Crown and keep administrative expenses minimal. The men in the fiery furnace were in training for this, so was Daniel. Babylon became comfortable for many and a new script for the written Hebrew was developed. It is used, after a revival in the late 1800\u2019s and is still the most recognizable script.<\/p>\n

In the Messiah\u2019s time, Aramaic was a variation spoken and written from about 700 BCE onwards to just before the Muslim conquests. Using a Hebraic aleph-bet the Targhums were written this way. It is still a known language but not widely used. The Septuagint was transposed from Hebrew into Greek to serve to serve the needs of those who had been living outside their fathers\u2019 home and spoke Greek. It managed to contain the mindset and worldview of the fathers despite using an alphabet that lacked the depth of words and numerical value attached in Hebrew. Gematria is a term that describes the numerical depth of meaning attached to words in the Bible in the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. Have you ever wondered why the numbers, of values of 7, 12 and 40 are so often repeated?<\/p>\n

Although it looks similar to Hebrew, Yiddish is a language from Central and Eastern Europe used by ultra-Orthodox Jews. They consider Hebrew too sacred to profane its use for other than Scripture. This fact needs to be remembered as a courtesy by non-Jews when visiting The Land. New York City is famous for Klezmer and Yiddish culture among the Orthodox. Technology meets tradition today in modern day Hebrew. Although the bulk of modern Israelis speak English fluently, new words are constantly to the ancient tongue of Hebrew. The depth of the language and its ability to accommodate even further expansion and still be comprehensible is astounding.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get to work and learn Hebrew. There are more ways available than ever before. Local colleges offer traditional courses almost everywhere. There are many online courses. There are books, computer software, CD\u2019s DVD\u2019s and MP3 downloads. Internet TV is the newest option as well. Study in Israel by total immersion is perhaps the best if you can do it. What better way to make friends, learn Hebrew and immediately put it to work than in The Land.The best way to deeper the love for the bible and The Word is to speak and write it. Hebrew anyone ?<\/p>\n

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By Tom Brennan Why we need to learn the language or learn to think like Hebrews. Perhaps the oldest written language still spoken today is Hebrew. Semitic languages, those of the Middle East, are generally considered to have the oldest alphabets. There are common roots which begin with the concept of pictograph. These are generally more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[189,225,223,224,135,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-biblical-spiritual","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-biblical-hebrew","10":"tag-hebrew","11":"tag-hebrew-language","12":"tag-israel-news","13":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions\/1513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}