Hebrew Study
There is a great deal of misunderstanding of the difference between two Hebrew words — bethulah and almah — in the prophecy in Isaiah 7 that causes controversy between Jewish and Christian theologians. According to the prophecy in the Christian translation KJV, a virgin would conceive and bear a son, whose name would be called “Immanuel”. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name...
Read More »Hebrew language, in its origin, belongs to the Semitic group of languages: the languages of the descendants of Shem son of Noach. Historically, Hebrew is regarded as the language of the Israelites, and after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Judeans. The language was not referred to by the name “Hebrew” in the Hebrew Scripture itself, yet its language is indeed Hebrew. In this study, we will explain the origin and development of the Hebrew...
Read More »The patriarch Avraham made two mistakes in his life, even three. Two of these mistakes cost his descendants a great deal of trouble. Had Avraham listened carefully to words of the Creator the history of the world would have been quite different. And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing! And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be grafted...
Read More »There are people who claim that the infallible Name of the Creator derives from the verbs הַיָּה hayyah or הַוָּה havvah. According to the partial knowledge they have of the Hebrew grammar, they have come up with “names” with distorted meanings that have nothing common with the infallible Name. And there are a lot of people who study the beautiful Hebrew language in order to know more about the Creator YHVH Elohim, His infallible Name, and ultimately to learn...
Read More »Question: Is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) called ‘Sabbath’ as the weekly Sabbath? Answer: The Seventh Day of the week and Yom Kippur are indeed called ‘Sabbath’. The Hebrew word Shabbat is not a name of a day, as the Biblical days of the week do not have names, nor do the months have names. Unlike the non-Biblical calendars, such as the Rabbinical and Christian calendars, which have pagan names for days and months, the calendar of the Creator...
Read More »Chesed is a Hebrew word that has two contradictory and seemingly opposing meanings such as mercy and lovingkindness, and on the other hand shame and disgrace. So, how can these two conflicting meanings be reconciled? This will be the subject of our study in this article. The moral laws in the Torah against the sexual immorality in Lev 18 outline the prohibition of sexual abominations and go with a straightforward warning to the children of Israel not to walk in the laws of...
Read More »The Hebrew words Yam Suph are always translated either “Red Sea” or “Sea of Reeds” referring to the sea the Elohim of the children of Israel split at the Exodus from Egypt. The meaning of Yam Suph has been lost for us and “Red Sea” and “Sea of Reeds” may not be quite correct, as we will examine this below. But why is it important to find the correct translation of Yam Suph where Elohim performed His last plague on Egypt and...
Read More »The exclamation “Amen!” is so often misuse and even abuse by the preachers that it has lost its true meaning and has become a cliché in the churches today. Pastors, preachers, teachers, and TV evangelists, teach from the pulpit “teachings” foreign and sometimes even contradictory to the Teaching (Torah) of the Creator, and then they call for a repeat-after-me “Amen” and the laymen follow suit: “Amen!” But what does...
Read More »Very often a mistranslation like “vanity” can overturn the whole meaning of a message in the Scripture. A typical example of it is the phrase in Ecclesiastes: Vanity of vanities! All is vanity! Is life a vanity, or the things we have labored all of our days were in vain or futile? Have we not received them from Elohim, and if we indeed have, why has the preacher called “vanity of vanities”? What does the wisest man teach in his end-of-life message to...
Read More »There is a peculiar passage in the Exodus story regarding how Israel left Egypt. The Sages of old sought to find a meaningful interpretation of an obscured Hebrew word in the Book of Exodus in order to explain this passage. It is in Exo 13:18 that reads thus, But God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. (Exo 13:18 JPS) King James’ version of the Bible also renders the...
Read More »Little is known that Torah of YHVH is “a fiery law” since it appears only in one place of the Scripture where the Torah is referred to as such. And since the term “a fiery law” appears only once in the Scripture, it will be challenging to derive a conclusive evidence of its meaning. Yehovah came from Sinai, and rose from Seir for them. He shone forth from Mount Paran, and came with ten thousands of set-apart ones, from His right hand a fiery law for...
Read More »The word “holy” as in the phrase “Be holy, for I am holy!” is believed to have positive meanings of being morally and spiritually excellent; also saintly, godly, pious, God-fearing, righteous, good, virtuous, moral, sinless, pure, perfect. This perception is often derived from the Apostle Shimon Kepha’s quote from Leviticus, … as the One who called you is holy, so you also should become holy in all behavior, because it has been written,...
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