Table Of ContentAncient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
The Ancient Hebrew
Language and Alphabet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Understanding the Ancient
Hebrew language of the
Bible based on Ancient
Hebrew Culture and
Thought
Jeff A. Benner
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
The Ancient Hebrew Language
and Alphabet
Unless otherwise noted, the Scriptures are taken from the HOLY
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Bible Publishers.
About the cover: Photo taken at the University of Pennsylvania,
Museum of Archeology and Anthropology by the author. The
inscription reads "Sh'ma" meaning hear (see Duet 6.4) and is
inscribed on a piece of broken pottery dated 586 to 450 BCE.
Cover and Illustrations by the author
Copyright 2002 Jeff A. Benner
Ancient Hebrew Research Center
Any part of this book may be copied for non-profit educational
purposes only, without prior permission.
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
To my wife Denise, who has taught
me more about Hebrew thought
through her actions then all the
books I have read.
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................... 1
One - The Hebrews .......................................................................... 3
Who were the Hebrews?............................................................... 3
The Origin of the Hebrew Language and Alphabet ....................... 4
The evolution of the Hebrew alphabet ........................................ 10
Why study the Ancient Hebrew language and culture? ................ 17
How do we study the Ancient Hebrew language and culture? ...... 19
Two - Hebrew Thought .................................................................. 21
Abstract vs. concrete thought...................................................... 22
Appearance vs. Functional Description ....................................... 23
Passive vs. Active Nouns ........................................................... 25
Three - Reconstructing the Original Hebrew Alphabet .................... 26
Letter Characteristics ................................................................. 26
Reconstruction of the Alphabet .................................................. 27
Four - Hebrew Prefixes .................................................................. 32
Five - The Root System of Hebrew................................................. 34
Parent Roots .............................................................................. 35
Child Roots ................................................................................ 36
Adopted Roots ........................................................................... 37
Words ........................................................................................ 38
Benefit of studying words from a common root .......................... 38
Reconstructing the Parent Roots ................................................. 39
Methods for reconstructing the original Parent Root ................... 40
Six - Word Studies ......................................................................... 43
God ........................................................................................... 43
Creator....................................................................................... 44
Voice ......................................................................................... 45
Ancient Hebrew Words .............................................................. 46
Seven - Hebrew origins of English ................................................. 48
Conclusion .................................................................................... 52
Appendix A - Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Reconstruction ................ 53
Appendix B - Learn to Read Ancient Hebrew ................................. 70
Introduction ............................................................................... 70
Picture ....................................................................................... 71
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
English letter .............................................................................. 71
English name ............................................................................. 71
Hebrew name ............................................................................. 71
Hebrew sound ............................................................................ 72
Hebrew meaning ........................................................................ 72
Appendix C - History of the Hebrew Script .................................... 96
Appendix D – Alphabet Charts ..................................................... 119
Ancient Hebrew ....................................................................... 119
Modern Hebrew ....................................................................... 120
Appendix E - Ancient Hebrew Parent Root Dictionary ................. 121
Purpose of the Lexicon ............................................................. 121
Cross reference to Strong’s numbers......................................... 121
How to use the Lexicon ............................................................ 122
Appendix F – Number Cross References ...................................... 192
Strong's Number - Ancient Hebrew Number ............................. 192
Ancient Hebrew Number - Strong's Number ............................. 204
Bibliography ................................................................................ 216
Notes ........................................................................................... 220
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
List of Illustrations
Figure 1 Pre-flood pictograph found in the pre-flood city of Kish...... 6
Figure 2 The scattering of the descendants of Noah's three sons. ..... 9
Figure 3 Ancient Shemitic/ Hebrew pictographic inscription on stone
boulder c. 1500 BCE .............................................................. 10
Figure 4 Ancient Hebrew inscription on potsherd c. 900 BCE ......... 10
Figure 5 Moabite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE .......................... 11
Figure 6 Ammonite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE ..................... 11
Figure 7 Ugarit cuneiform inscription on clay tablet c. 1400 BCE ... 12
Figure 8 Aramaic inscription on stone incense altar c. 500 BCE ...... 12
Figure 9 Aramaic inscription on stone plaque c. 20 CE. .................. 12
Figure 10 Hebrew writings from the Dead Sea Scrolls c. 200 BCE 13
Figure 11 Modern Hebrew script from the Hebrew Bible. ............. 13
Figure 12 Pictographic Hebrew writings from the Dead Sea Scrolls
c. 100 BCE ............................................................................. 13
Figure 13 Samaritan scripts ............................................................ 14
Figure 14 Greek inscription found on bowl c. 800 BCE .................. 15
Figure 15 Greek writing on New Testament papyrus c. 200 CE ...... 15
Figure 16 Egyptian Hieroglyphs from the Book of the Dead c. 1350
BCE ....................................................................................... 15
Figure 17 Sumerian Pictograph on clay tablet c. 3000 BCE ........... 16
Figure 18 Sumerian Cuneiform on clay tablet c. 2500 BCE............. 16
Figure 19 Hebrew root word systems ............................................. 34
Figure 20 The Ancient Hebrew alphabet c. 1000 BCE .................. 48
Figure 21 The Ancient Hebrew alphabet c. 1000 BCE (mirror
image) .................................................................................... 49
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
Introduction
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This book is unique in that it will look at the Biblical
Hebrew language of the Bible through the eyes of the
Ancient Hebrews who wrote it. Modern readers often
ignore the fact that the Bible is an Ancient text and must
be read as an Ancient text. The definitions of Hebrew
words, just like any other language, change and evolve
over time. It is the goal of this work to bring out the
Ancient Hebrew meanings of words to the student of the
Bible as never before done.
The study of the Ancient Hebrew language and alphabet
begins with an understanding of the Ancient Hebrew
culture as both are intimately related. The original letters
of the Hebrew alphabet was actually pictures, or
pictographs, similar to Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Each
picture represented an object whose definition is closely
related to the agricultural lifestyle of the Ancient
Hebrews. By studying the culture and lifestyle of the
Ancient Hebrews we can better understand their language.
In a work such as this, there will undoubtedly be some
misinterpretation of the Ancient Hebrew culture and
pictographs. The study of any Ancient culture is like
putting together a puzzle. We will never have all the
pieces to the puzzle, but the pieces we do have, we piece
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
together and attempt to fill in the gaps as efficiently as
possible. Sometimes the gaps in the puzzle are small and
easy to fill in based on the pieces around it. At other times
these gaps are large and difficult to fill in. There is much
work to be done in this area of language and word study
and I hope that others, who have the same love for the
Ancient Hebrew language and culture, will take on the
challenge of continuing the research needed to piece
together the puzzle.
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Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
One - The Hebrews
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Who were the Hebrews?
The first person mentioned in the Bible as a "Hebrew" is
Abraham1.
"One who had escaped came and reported this
to Abram the Hebrew". (Genesis 14.13)
Is Abraham the first Hebrew? The Hebrew word for
"Hebrew" is yrb[ / eevriy2 and comes from the root word
rb[ / avar which means, "to cross over". A Hebrew is
"one who has crossed over". One of Abraham's ancestors
was Eber3 (rb[).
1 Known as Abram before God changed his name.
2 The letter b (beyt) is pronounced as a "b" when at the beginning of a
word, and usually a "v" within a word.
3 Genesis 11.16
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