I want to give you something on this page that took me years to understand, and that nobody told me when I was young.
You already speak Hebrew. Not a little. Quite a lot.
Every time you say amen, you are speaking Hebrew. Hallelujah, Hebrew. Hosanna, Sabbath, Messiah, jubilee, cherub, manna, Satan, Eden, leviathan, behemoth, myrrh, cinnamon, rabbi, Abba, alphabet, camel. All Hebrew, carried into English inside the Bible, most of them unchanged for three thousand years.
So this is not a lesson where you start from nothing. This is a lesson where you find out what you have been carrying.
And I am not going to try to make you fluent. That takes years and a teacher and a lot of embarrassment in supermarkets, and I have had all three. What I am going to do is give you six things, in an order that makes them stick: the words you already own, the letters as pictures, the trick of the three-letter root, twenty words that open the Bible, the place names on the map that are actually sentences, and six things you can say out loud on your first morning in this country.
One honest word about pronunciation before we start. Every sound-alike below is a memory hook, not a recording. Hebrew has two sounds English does not: the ch in Bach, made in the back of the throat and never like the ch in church, and a resh rolled further back than an English r. Where you see kh or ch below, clear your throat gently and you will be closer than most tourists.
| אָמֵן | Amen ah-MEN |
So be it, it is firm. From the root aman, to be steady, to be trustworthy. The same root gives emunah, faith. Every amen you have ever said was the word faith, spoken as a signature. Deuteronomy 27:15 · Revelation 22:20 |
| הַלְלוּיָה | Hallelujah hah-leh-loo-YAH |
Two words, not one. Hallelu, praise, spoken as a command to other people, plus Yah, the short form of God's name. You are not describing your feelings. You are telling the room what to do. Psalm 150:1 |
| הוֹשַׁע נָא | Hosanna ho-SHEE-ah NAH |
Save, please. It is a cry for rescue, not a cheer. The crowd on Palm Sunday was quoting a psalm and begging. Psalm 118:25 · Matthew 21:9 |
| שַׁבָּת | Sabbath shah-BAHT |
From shavat, to cease. Not a reward for finishing your work, a command to stop before it is finished. Genesis 2:2 · Exodus 20:8 |
| מָשִׁיחַ | Messiah mah-SHEE-akh |
Anointed one, from mashach, to smear with oil. Christ is the same word in Greek. Kings and priests were made by having oil poured on their heads. 1 Samuel 16:13 · John 1:41 |
| יוֹבֵל | Jubilee yo-VEL |
A ram's horn, and then the year the horn announced, when debts were cancelled and land went home to its family. Leviticus 25:10 |
| מָן הוּא | Manna MAHN hoo |
It is a question, not a name. The people looked at the bread on the ground and said man hu, what is it? So the food of forty years is called What Is It. Exodus 16:15 |
| שָׂטָן | Satan sah-TAHN |
The adversary, the one who stands in the road against you. It is a job description before it is a name. Job 1:6 · Zechariah 3:1 |
| כְּרוּב | Cherub keh-ROOV |
Not a chubby baby. A guardian creature with a sword of fire at the gate of Eden, and a face carved over the ark. Genesis 3:24 · Exodus 25:20 |
| עֵדֶן | Eden EH-den |
Delight, pleasure. The garden is named for what it felt like. Genesis 2:8 |
| רַבִּי | Rabbi rah-BEE |
My great one, my teacher, from rav, great or many. When they called Him Rabbi they were saying my teacher. John 1:38 |
| אַבָּא | Abba AH-bah |
Papa, and here is the beautiful detail: this one is Aramaic, not Hebrew, the everyday street language Yeshua spoke at home. He prayed in the word a child uses. Mark 14:36 · Romans 8:15 |
| אָלֶף־בֵּית | Alphabet AH-lef BAYT |
Alef and bet, the first two letters, borrowed by the Greeks as alpha and beta and handed to us as alphabet. The word for the whole system is just its opening two notes. · |
| גָּמָל | Camel gah-MAHL |
Gamal. The animal kept its Hebrew name all the way into English, and the letter gimel is named after it. Genesis 24:64 |
| א | Alef silent |
an ox head | Turn it on its side and the two horns appear. Strength, first, leader. אֱלֹהִים Elohim, God |
| ב | Bet b / v |
a house | A floor plan with one opening. The Bible's very first letter, because the first thing God does is build a home. בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, in the beginning |
| ג | Gimel g |
a camel | The tall neck and the walking foot. Gamal, camel. גָּן gan, garden |
| ד | Dalet d |
a door | A door on its hinge. Delet is still the word for door today. דָּוִד David |
| ה | Hey h |
a window, and a breath | Say it and you feel breath leave you. It appears twice in God's own name. The letter of breathing. הַלְלוּיָה Hallelujah |
| ו | Vav v / oo |
a tent peg | A hook that joins two things. On its own it means and, so vav is the letter that holds the Bible's sentences together. וְ and |
| ז | Zayin z |
a weapon | A sword with its handle on top. זָכוֹר zachor, remember |
| ח | Chet kh, in the throat |
a fence, a wall | Two posts and a bar. It fences a space in. חַיִּים chaim, life |
| ט | Tet t |
a basket, a coiled snake | Something curled inward, holding. טוֹב tov, good |
| י | Yod y |
a hand, an arm | The smallest letter in the alphabet, and the one Yeshua meant by not one jot shall pass away. Jot is yod. יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Jerusalem |
| כ | Kaf k / kh |
an open palm | A cupped hand. Kaf is still the word for palm. כֹּהֵן kohen, priest |
| ל | Lamed l |
a shepherd's staff | The tallest letter, reaching above the line. Lamad means to learn and to teach: the staff that guides. לֵב lev, heart |
| מ | Mem m |
water | Waves. Mayim is water, and the letter is the picture of it. מֶלֶךְ melech, king |
| נ | Nun n |
a fish, a seed | Life that continues. נָבִיא navi, prophet |
| ס | Samekh s |
a prop, a support | A closed circle that holds something up. סֵפֶר sefer, book |
| ע | Ayin silent, from the throat |
an eye | Ayin means both eye and spring of water, which is why so many places here are called Ein something. עַיִן ayin, eye |
| פ | Pe p / f |
a mouth | Pe is the word for mouth. The letter has an open mouth with a tooth inside. פֶּסַח Pesach, Passover |
| צ | Tsadi ts |
a fishhook | Bent, caught. Tzadik, a righteous person, comes from this letter's family. צִיּוֹן Tzion, Zion |
| ק | Qof k, deeper |
the back of a head, a needle's eye | Something with a long tail behind it. קָדוֹשׁ kadosh, holy |
| ר | Resh r, rolled back |
a head | Rosh is head, and the letter is a head and neck in profile. Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year. רוּחַ ruach, spirit |
| ש | Shin sh |
teeth | Three teeth. It is the letter for Shaddai, and it is the shape a priest's hands make when he gives the blessing. שָׁלוֹם shalom, peace |
| ת | Tav t |
a mark, a sign | The last letter, and in the oldest script it was drawn as a cross. In Ezekiel God tells an angel to put a tav on the foreheads of those who grieve. תּוֹרָה Torah, instruction |
| שָׁלוֹם | shalom | peace, and much more than peace |
| שָׁלֵם | shalem | whole, complete, all its pieces present |
| שִׁלֵּם | shillem | he paid in full, he settled the debt |
| שְׁלֹמֹה | Shlomo | Solomon, his peace |
| יְרוּשָׁלַיִם | Yerushalayim | Jerusalem, with shalem inside her name |
Look at what this family means together. Peace in Hebrew is not the absence of trouble, it is everything present and paid for. So when a Hebrew speaker wishes you shalom, he is not wishing you quiet. He is wishing you a life with nothing missing and nothing owed. And when Yeshua said at Golgotha that it is finished, the Greek word on His lips was a market word for paid in full. He was speaking shalom in another language.
| בָּרוּךְ | baruch | blessed |
| בְּרָכָה | bracha | a blessing |
| בֶּרֶךְ | berech | a knee |
| בְּרֵכָה | breicha | a pool, a place of kneeling water |
Knee and blessing are the same three letters. In this language you cannot separate blessing from kneeling. The word carries a posture. And the same Semitic root travelled into Arabic as mubarak and into names you know today, which is why a Hebrew speaker hears the word blessed in places an English speaker never would.
| כָּתַב | katav | he wrote |
| כָּתוּב | katuv | it is written |
| מִכְתָּב | michtav | a letter you send |
| כְּתוּבָה | ketubah | a marriage contract |
| כְּתָב | ktav | script, handwriting |
Every time the New Testament says as it is written, the Hebrew behind it is katuv, this family. And notice the marriage contract sitting in the same family as scripture. In Hebrew, a written thing is a committed thing. Words on a page are a promise with a signature, not information.
| יֵשׁוּעַ | Yeshua | Jesus, salvation |
| יְהוֹשֻׁעַ | Yehoshua | Joshua, the LORD saves |
| יְשַׁעְיָהוּ | Yeshayahu | Isaiah, the LORD saves |
| הוֹשַׁע נָא | hoshia na | save, please, hosanna |
| יְשׁוּעָה | yeshuah | salvation, rescue |
This is the family I most want you to remember, because one famous verse only works inside it. The angel says, you shall call his name Yeshua, for he will yoshia his people from their sins. In English that sentence is a nice statement. In Hebrew it is the same word twice, a name and its own reason. And the crowd shouting hosanna on Palm Sunday was shouting His name back at Him without knowing it.
| אוֹר | or sounds like the English word ore |
light God's first recorded command is two words: yehi or, let there be light. You can say the whole sentence after one minute of Hebrew. Genesis 1:3 |
| רוּחַ | ruach clear your throat: ROO-akh |
spirit, wind, breath One word for all three, which is why Genesis 1:2 can be the Spirit of God or a wind from God, and both are the same Hebrew. Say it out loud and you will notice the word itself is a breath. Genesis 1:2 · John 3:8 |
| מַיִם | mayim MY-eem, like my in a hurry |
water Always plural in Hebrew, as though water were a crowd. The letter mem is a picture of it. Genesis 1:6 |
| לֵב | lev like the first part of level |
heart In Hebrew the heart is not the feelings, it is the whole inner person, mind and will together. When Scripture says love God with all your lev, it means with your thinking too. Deuteronomy 6:5 |
| שֵׁם | shem like the English shem in shemale? no: like shame without the a-sound |
name, reputation Jews often say HaShem, The Name, rather than pronounce God's name. Yad Vashem means a hand and a name, a memorial and a name. Isaiah 56:5 |
| דָּבָר | davar dah-VAR |
word, and also thing One word for both, because in this language a word from God is not a sound, it is an event. Ten Commandments in Hebrew are the Ten Devarim, the Ten Words. Exodus 20:1 |
| חֶסֶד | chesed KHEH-sed |
loyal love, covenant kindness The Bible's biggest small word. Love that acts first and keeps its promise afterwards. Usually translated mercy or steadfast love, and never quite captured. Psalm 136 (every verse) |
| אֱמֶת | emet eh-MET |
truth, faithfulness Made of the first, middle and last letters of the alphabet, which the old teachers loved: truth runs from beginning to end. Psalm 117:2 |
| קָדוֹשׁ | kadosh kah-DOSH |
holy, set apart The angels in Isaiah say it three times. Not holy meaning nice. Holy meaning belonging to another category entirely. Isaiah 6:3 |
| אֶחָד | echad eh-KHAHD |
one The last word of the Shema, and the word Yeshua quoted when asked for the greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:4 |
| שְׁמַע | shema sh'MAH |
hear, listen, obey One word for hearing and obeying, because in Hebrew you have not heard until you have done something about it. Deuteronomy 6:4 |
| הִנֵּנִי | hineni hee-NEH-nee |
here I am One word, and it is the answer Abraham, Moses, Samuel and Isaiah all gave. Not I am here in a room. Here I am, send me. Isaiah 6:8 |
| תְּשׁוּבָה | teshuva teh-shoo-VAH |
return, repentance Not sorrow. Turning around and walking back. The word is a direction, not a feeling. Hosea 14:1 |
| צְדָקָה | tzedakah tz'dah-KAH |
charity, and also righteousness The same word for both. In Hebrew, giving to someone in need is not generosity added to righteousness. It is righteousness. Deuteronomy 15:7-8 |
| בְּרִית | brit breet |
covenant You do not sign a covenant in Hebrew, you cut it, because covenants cost blood. This cup is the new brit in my blood. Genesis 15:18 · Luke 22:20 |
| תּוֹרָה | Torah toh-RAH |
instruction, teaching Many teachers connect it to yarah, to shoot an arrow, so Torah is aiming. Not a rule book, a direction of travel. Psalm 19:7 |
| עַם | am like the English am |
a people Am echad means one people. Am Yisrael chai, the people of Israel lives, is what you will hear sung here. Exodus 6:7 |
| אֶרֶץ | eretz EH-retz |
land, earth, country Ha'aretz, The Land. When Israelis say it with no other word attached, they mean this one. Genesis 1:1 |
| מִדְבָּר | midbar meed-BAHR |
wilderness, desert Some hear the word davar, word, hiding inside it, and preach that the wilderness is where God speaks. That is a sermon, not etymology, but it is a good sermon and the desert agrees with it. Exodus 3:1 |
| אָדָם | adam ah-DAHM |
a human being From adamah, ground, soil. Human out of humus, exactly as in Latin. The first man's name is a reminder of where he came from, said every time you say it. Genesis 2:7 |
| בֵּית לֶחֶם | Beit Lechem | Bethlehem | house of bread and the Bread of Life was laid there in a feeding trough |
| בֵּית אֵל | Beit El | Bethel | house of God named by Jacob before there was a house on it, only a stone and a dream |
| כְּפַר נַחוּם | Kfar Nachum | Capernaum | village of comfort the town's own name was a promise before He healed anyone in it |
| גַּת שֶׁמֶן | Gat Shemen | Gethsemane | the oil press the garden named for crushing, where the Anointed was pressed |
| גֻּלְגֹּלֶת | Gulgolet | Golgotha | a skull John translated the Hebrew for his readers, and the name stuck |
| מִגְדָּל | Migdal | Magdala | a tower Mary of Magdala is Mary the Tower |
| בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע | Be'er Sheva | Beersheba | well of the oath, and of seven seven lambs and a promise, at the southern edge of the land |
| עֵין גֶּדִי | Ein Gedi | Ein Gedi | spring of the wild goat where David held the knife and put it down |
| הַר מְגִדּוֹ | Har Megiddo | Armageddon | the mountain of Megiddo say it fast and you hear the word the whole world knows |
| יַרְדֵּן | Yarden | Jordan | the descender everyone who enters it goes down |
| נֵצֶר | Netzer | Nazareth | a branch, a shoot Isaiah's green shoot out of a cut-down stump, hiding in a village name |
| כִּנּוֹר | Kinnor | Kinneret, Sea of Galilee | a harp the lake is named for its shape |
| מְצוּדָה | Metzuda | Masada | a fortress a word straight out of David's psalms |
| בֵּית עַנְיָה | Beit Anya | Bethany | house of the afflicted and He made His home there |
| בֵּית חֶסֶד | Beit Chesda | Bethesda | house of mercy named for chesed centuries before mercy walked in on two feet |
| שִׁלוֹחַ | Shiloach | Siloam | sent a sent man washed in a pool called Sent, healed by the One who was Sent |
| יְרוּשָׁלַיִם | Yerushalayim | Jerusalem | city of wholeness, in the dual form two of her, the one below and the one above, and the name ends in the form Hebrew keeps for pairs |
| שָׁלוֹם | Shalom shah-LOME |
Hello, goodbye, and peace. One word for arriving, leaving and being whole. Use it for everything. |
| תּוֹדָה רַבָּה | Toda raba toh-DAH rah-BAH |
Thank you very much. Toda alone is fine. Say it to every driver, every waiter, every soldier. |
| בְּבַקָּשָׁה | Bevakasha beh-vah-kah-SHAH |
Please, and also you're welcome, and also here you are. A very useful word. |
| בֹּקֶר טוֹב | Boker tov BOH-ker TOV |
Good morning. Evening is erev tov, night is layla tov. |
| מָה נִשְׁמָע | Ma nishma mah neesh-MAH |
How's it going? Literally what is heard. The normal street greeting. |
| בְּסֵדֶר | Beseder beh-SEH-der |
Okay, fine, all right. Literally in order. You will hear it forty times a day. |
| כֵּן / לֹא | Ken / Lo ken / lo |
Yes and no. Ken like the name Ken, lo like the English low. |
| עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי | Am Yisrael chai ahm yis-rah-EL KHAI |
The people of Israel lives. Say it here and watch what happens to the face of the person you say it to. |
Priests have spoken these three lines over this people for three and a half thousand years, and the oldest silver amulets ever found carrying Bible text carry these very words. One line a day is enough.
Notice how it ends. Not with success, not with comfort. With shalom, the word for a thing that has all its pieces.
One more thing, and I want to say it carefully, because it is the most sensitive word in the language.
God's own name is written with four letters: יְהוָה. Yod, hey, vav, hey. You will see it in every Hebrew Bible thousands of times. Nobody living knows for certain how it was pronounced, because for more than two thousand years Jews have honoured it by not saying it. When a reader reaches those four letters, he says Adonai, my Lord, instead. In conversation people often say simply HaShem, The Name.
You will hear Christians say it aloud in two or three different ways, and I am not going to police anybody's prayers. But if you are standing in this land, among this people, it is worth knowing that the silence is not superstition. It is the way a people who were given a name decided to handle it: carefully, and with their shoes off.
And notice what the letters are made of. Yod, hey, vav, hey are among the softest sounds in Hebrew, mostly breath. The most powerful name in the universe is built almost entirely out of breathing. Which means that every living thing, in every language, is saying something close to it with every breath it takes, from the first one to the last.