Introduction to

Ancient Hebrew

By Jeff A. Benner

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1

HEBREW PHILOSOPHY ..................................................................... 5

HEBREW PSYCHOLOGY .................................................................... 7

HEBREW CULTURE ......................................................................... 10

HEBREW VOCABULARY ................................................................. 13

HEBREW DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................ 16

HEBREW ALPHABET ....................................................................... 18

PARENT ROOTS ............................................................................. 21

CHILD ROOTS................................................................................. 26

ADOPTED ROOTS........................................................................... 27

HEBREW WORDS ........................................................................... 28

THE AARONIC BLESSING ................................................................ 30

1

Introduction

Figure 1 – The English translations and the Hebrew are like two styles of

restaurants

If you were given the choice of a fast food meal or one from a

5 star restaurant, which one would you chose? Both

restaurants provide food, but I think most people would

choose the 5 star restaurant as it provides, better food and a

better atmosphere than a fast food restaurant. This same

analogy can be used for the Hebrew Bible. Reading an English

translation of the Bible is like the fast food restaurant; you

may still get fed, but doesn't have the same impact as the

Hebrew text. Even if one doesn't know Hebrew, much can be

learned by understanding Hebraic concepts.

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Figure 2 – Image from the TV show "History Happened Here"

The above image is from the TV show "History Happened: The

Dead Sea Scrolls," narrated by Leonard Nimoy. The editor of

this segment recognized "lines" within the text and oriented

the image to reflect this. The mistake the editor made was

that he assumed our cultural perspective into the image.

In our culture, we write words on top of a line, but Hebrew

was written with the words hanging down from the line. The

image above is upside down.

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Figure 3 – Correct orientation of the image

When we make assumption about anything, based on our own

culture, we will misinterpret and mistranslate the text. There

are three keys that are essential to proper Biblical

interpretation; culture, language and thought.

When I first started learning Hebrew, I learned the Hebrew

alphabet that can be seen in any Hebrew Bible printed today.

Figure 4 – Portion of a Modern Hebrew Bible

However, while reading our local paper in 1997 I came across

the article "Evidence of Solomon's temple found."

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Figure 5 – Photograph from the article, "Evidence of Solomon's temple

found"

In this article was a photograph of a 3,000 year old receipt for

3 shekel's for a donation to the "House of Yahweh" by

"Ashyahu the King," written on a piece of pottery fragment.

What I found most interesting was that the inscription was

written in Hebrew, but this Hebrew alphabet looked nothing

like the Hebrew I had learned. I decided to learn this more

ancient alphabet and this begun my journey into the Ancient

Hebrew alphabet and language of the Bible.

5

Hebrew Philosophy

Throughout the world, past and present, there are two major

divisions of thought or philosophy; Western and Eastern.

Eastern philosophy has its roots in the ancient past and was

the predominant form of philosophy throughout the ancient

world. The beginning of Western philosophy arose in the

ancient Greek culture from such philosophers as Plato,

Socrates and Aristotle. As the Greek culture spread, so did

Western philosophy to the point that Western philosophy has

become the predominant philosophy throughout the world.

The Hebrews of the Bible wrote the Bible from the perspective

of Eastern philosophy, but today's readers are interpreting

these writings with Western philosophy, the results being

misinterpretations and mistranslations of the text. For this

reason, it is essential that we learn the philosophy of the

Ancient Hebrews in order to better understand the text we

are reading.

The language of the Hebrews is a concrete language, meaning

that it uses words that express something that can be seen,

touched, smelled, tasted or heard and all five of the senses are

used when speaking, hearing, writing and reading the Hebrew

language. An example of this can be found in Psalms 1:3; “He

is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit

in season, and whose leaf does not wither”.

In contrast to the Eastern philosophy of a concrete language,

Western philosophy uses an abstract language to express

itself. An abstract word is an expression that cannot be seen,

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touched, smelled, tasted or heard. Examples of Abstract

thought can be found in Psalms 103:8; “The LORD is

compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in

love”. The words compassion, grace, anger and love are all

abstract words, ideas that cannot be experienced by the

senses. Why do we find these abstract words in a passage of

concrete thinking Hebrews? Actually, these are abstract

English words used to translate the original Hebrew concrete

words. The translators often translate this way because the

original Hebrew makes no sense when literally translated for

Western thinkers.

7

Hebrew Psychology

Figure 6 – Different cultures view the same picture differently

If you were to ask a Westerner, such as from the Americas or

Europe, what they see in the picture above, they would

probably say "a deer." However, if you were to ask an

Easterner, such as from Japan or China, what they see, they

will probably say "a grove." The difference is that the Western

thinker focuses in on one point, while the Eastern thinker

looks at the whole of the image.

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Figure 7 – An experiment demonstrating the different between Western

and Eastern thought

In an extensive study on these different forms of philosophy, a

wide range of people from America, Canada and Europe were

asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on

the left was happy or sad, they all said "happy." They were

then asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture

on the right was happy or sad, they all said "happy." Then a

wide range of people from Asia, including Japan and China,

were asked the same questions. When asked if the boy on the

left was happy or sad, they all said "happy." When they were

asked if the boy on the right was happy or sad, they all said

"sad."

Again, Western thinkers focus on one point, the boy in the

middle. Eastern thinkers on the other hand focus on the

picture as a whole and because the majority of the children in

the picture on the right were sad, their answer was "sad,"

regardless of the smile on the boy in the middle.

The Psychology of the Ancient Hebrews is very different from

our own and when we read the Bible we must learn to read it

from the Hebrew's perspective rather than our own.

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When we use a word like "name," we focus in on how it is

written and pronounced.

I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of

the congregation I will praise thee. (Psalm 22:23)

What does it mean to "tell someone about another's name?"

Does it mean to tell others how to write or pronounce the

name? From a Western perspective yes, but from a Hebraic

perspective a name is much more than its pronunciation; it is

the character of the individual, his ethics, workmanship,

attitude, dependability, resourcefulness, compassion, honor,

etc. When the Bible teaches us to "tell others the name of

Yahweh," it isn't telling us to teach others how to write or

pronounce it correctly; it is telling us to teach Yahweh's

character.

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Hebrew Culture

A language is always closely connected to the culture of the

people using that language. This is not only true for different

languages, but for different cultures using the same language.

We can never assume people from one culture will always

understand a people from another culture in the same way.

Figure 8 – The results of rain

Take for example the word "rain." In an agricultural

community, "rain" takes on a much different nuance than in

an urban setting.

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Figure 9 – A goat hair tent of the Bedouin, modern day nomads of the Near

East

[He] stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads

them like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)

The above passage from Isaiah is making an analogy between

the heavens and a tent. In order to properly understand this

analogy, one must understand the unique quality of the tents

of the Ancient Hebrews. These tents were generally from

woven black goat hair. When sitting inside the tent, it is very

dark, but pin holes of light can be seen coming through the

panels and appear like the stars of the night sky. When it rains,

the hair fibers swell and seal the tent and the pin holes of light

disappear, just as they do when the clouds come, blocking the

view of the stars. When an Ancient Hebrew looks up at the

night sky he sees God's tent over him, in the same way his tent

covers over and protects his family.

In America, a biscuit is a soft raised bread, while in England it

is a small hard flat cake, what we call in America a cracker or

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cookie. When an American orders his first cup of coffee in

Europe, he may be shocked at what he is given and surprised

at the small size of the coffee cup and the extreme potency of

the coffee.

This is not only true for the many cultures of today, but even

more so when we are translating ideas and concepts from an

Ancient culture to a modern one. We know today that a star a

giant ball of gas burning at millions of degrees, but ancient

man did not have this understanding and we cannot use our

modern definition of a star for an ancient peoples

understanding of what a star is.

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Hebrew Vocabulary

What do all of the words, astronaut, astrology, astronomy,

asteroid, starlet, starfish, stellar and asterisk have in common?

They are all related to "stars" and each of these words is

derived out of the ancient Greek word "aster," meaning "star."

These same types of connections between words can be found

in the Hebrew language, however, from our modern Western

perspective, the connections between the words may not be

as apparent? We may understand the connection between

hot and sun, but would we connect these two words with bag,

cheese, crave and shake? Most likely not, but someone from

the ancient Near East, the land of the Bible, most certainly

would have.

Figure 10 – Bedouin making cheese from a Goat skin bag

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Cheese, a craved delicacy of the ancient Near East, was made

by placing the milk of a sheep or goat in a bag made from the

skin of a sheep or goat. The bag is then hung out in the heat of

the sun, and shaken. The skins of sheep and goats have a

natural enzyme that is released when heated and shaken that

separates the whey (water) from the curds (cheese).

As we have demonstrated each of these words are culturally

related, but in addition, they are all etymologically related as

they each come from the same root word חם (hham), meaning

"hot."

hham Hot חם

hham’mah Sun חמה

hhey’met Skin-bag חמת

hhem’ah Cheese חמה

hha’mad To Crave חמד

hha’mas To Shake חמס

Each Hebrew word is related in meaning to other words, and

these words are themselves related in meaning to other words

and roots. By studying related words and their histories, we

can better define them within their original context.

The just shall live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)

The English word "faith," is defined as "confidence or trust in a

person or thing; belief that is not based on proof," but this is

not the meaning of the Hebrew word אמונה (emunah), which

the King James Version translates as "faith." The root of

emunah is אמן (aman) meaning to be "firm." Emunah means

"steady" in the sense of firmness and is in fact translated this

way in the King James Version in the following passage.

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...And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one

side, and the other on the other side; so his hands

were steady until the going down of the sun. (Exodus

17:12)

English definitions to Biblical words will not suffice for

interpreting the words of the Bible. If we assume the English

definition of "faith" to the Bible, we are going to misinterpret

it. From a Hebraic perspective, Habakkuk 2:4 should be

interpreted as "the just shall live by their steadiness."

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Hebrew Descriptions

Figure 11 – An oak tree and a ram

In our minds we would never relate an oak tree to a ram or

view them as the same. The reason being is that we relate to

features and appearances. However, the Hebrews relate to

the function and in the case of the oak and the ram, they

function in the same way. An oak tree is a very hard wood and

the horns and skull of a ram are equally as hard. For this

reason, the Hebrew word איל (ayil) is used for a ram (see

Genesis 22:13) and an oak (see Isaiah 1:29).

This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark

three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its

height thirty cubits. (Genesis 6:15)

From our Modern Western mindset, we assume that this

passage is describing the "appearance" of the ark. But this is

not so, the dimensions are not given to tell us what it "looked

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like," but instead to tell us that it is very large as it is going to

hold a large number of animals.

Another example of differing cultural perspectives is how

different cultures perceive time. In our modern Western world

we view the past as behind us and the future as ahead of us.

In Biblical Hebrew, the word for "yesterday" (the past) is תמול

(temol), which comes from the root מול (mul) meaning "in

front." The Biblical Hebrew word for "tomorrow" (the future)

is מחר (mahher), which comes from the root אחר (ahher)

meaning "in back." Therefore, from a Biblical Hebrew

perspective, the past is in front and the future is behind. We

see time from the perspective of passing through it. As we

have walked through the past, we see it as behind us and the

future, which we have not yet walked in, is in front of us. The

Hebrews saw time from the perspective of observance. The

past is known and therefore can be seen (in front of the

observer), but the future is not known and therefore cannot

be seen (behind the observer).

Another major difference between the modern Western view

and the ancient Eastern one is how something is described. A

westerner would describe a pencil in relationship to its

appearance, such as long and yellow. An ancient easterner on

the other hand, would describe it by its function, such as "you

write with it." Notice that the western description uses

adjectives, but the eastern description uses verbs. Biblical

Hebrew rarely uses adjectives; instead it much more prefers to

use verbs.

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Hebrew Alphabet

The Modern Hebrew alphabet looks like this;

Figure 12 – Modern Hebrew Alphabet

But in ancient times, this alphabet was written with pictures,

much like Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

Figure 13 – Ancient Hebrew Alphabet

Each letter represents a sound and a concept. The first letter,

(Note that Hebrew is read from right to left), is the aleph

(pronounced ah-leph) and represents the "Ah" and "Eh"

sounds. Aleph is a Hebrew word meaning "ox," and this letter

is a picture of an ox head and represents the concept of

"strength," from the strength of the ox.

The letter lamed, , is a picture of a shepherd staff and

represents the sound "L" as well as the concept of "authority,"

from the authority of the shepherd over the flock.

When these two letters are combined, we have the Hebrew

word (EL, written as אל in the Modern Hebrew

alphabet), the "strong authority."

It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. (Genesis

31:29, KJV)

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This passage includes the Hebrew word EL, which in the King

James Version is translated as "power." However, a better

translation, based on the pictures of the word EL, would be

"There is strength and authority in my hand to do you hurt."

Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of

heaven and earth. (Genesis 14:19, KJV)

This passage also uses the same Hebrew word EL, but in the

King James Version it is translated as "God." Based on the

pictures of the word El, a better translation would be "Blessed

be Abram of the most high strength and authority, possessor

of heaven and earth." When we see the word "God" from a

western perspective we see an old bearded man sitting on a

throne in the clouds. When the ancient Hebrew's see the word

"EL," they see the strength of an ox and the authority of a

shepherd.

The following chart is the Ancient Hebrew Alphabet with each

letter's name, the sound that letter represents, a description

of the picture and the meaning associated with that picture.

Aleph Ah. Eh אHead of an

ox strong, power,

authority

Beyt B, Bh (v) בTent

floorplan family, house, in

Gimel G Foot gather, walk, carry ג

Dalet D Tent door move, hang, enter ד

Hey H Arms raised look, reveal, sigh ה

Waw W, O, U Tent peg add, secure, hook ו

Zayin Z Mattock food, cut, weapon ז

Hhet Hh Tent wall outside, divide, half ח

Tet T Clay basket טsurround, contain,

mud

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Yud Y, Ee Closed hand יwork, throw,

worship

Kaph K, Kh Open palm bend, allow, tame כ

Lamed L לShepherd

staff teach, yoke, to, bind

Mem M Water chaos, mighty, blood מ

Nun N נSprouting

seed continue, heir, son

Samehh S Thorn grab, hate, protect ס

Ayin Silent Eye watch, know, shade ע

Pey P, Ph Open mouth blow, scatter, edge פ

Tsade Ts Trail chase, hunt, path צ

Quph Q Horizon קcondense, circle,

time

Resh R רHead of a

man first, beginning, top

Shin Sh שTwo front

teeth sharp, press, eat,

two

Tav T תCrossed

sticks mark, sign, signature

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Parent roots

When two letters are put together, such as with the word

"EL," a two-letter, or "parent" root is formed. Below are a few

more examples of common parent roots found within the

Bible.

el God אל אל

av Father אב אב

em Mother אם אם

ahh Brother אח אח

ben Son בן בן

lakh Walk לך לך

radl Go Down רד רד

al Go Up על על

qahh Take קח קח

shav Return שב כב

qar Call Out קר קר

da Know דע דע

Because each letter has a meaning, the meaning of these

letters will assist in providing the Hebraic meaning of a word.

Below are a few examples of parent roots whose meanings

can be closely connected to the meanings of the letters

contained within these words.

a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אב

of an ox head representing strength. The

second letter is the ב (beyt - B), the picture of

the tent or house where the family resides.

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When combined these letters form a word

meaning "the strength of the house," who is

the "father."

a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אם

of an ox head representing strength. The

second letter, מ (mem - M) is a picture of

water. The two letters give us the meaning of

"strong water." The Hebrews made glue by

boiling animal skins in water. As the skin

broke down, a sticky thick liquid formed at the

surface of the water. This thick liquid was

removed and used as a binding agent -

"strong water". This is the Hebrew word AM

meaning "mother", the one who "binds" the

family together.

a picture ,(aleph - A) א The first letter is the אח

of an ox head representing strength. The

second letter, ח (hhet - Hh), is the picture of a

tent wall. The wall is a wall of protection

which protects what is inside from what is

outside. When combined these letters form

the word AHh meaning "the strong wall" or

"the strong protector," and represents the

"brother" as the protector of the family.

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a picture of a ,(bet - B) ב The first letter is the בן

tent or house. The second letter, נ (nun - N)

is the picture of a seed. The seed is a new

generation of life that will grow and produce a

new generation therefore, this letter can

mean "to continue." When combined these

two letters form the word BeN meaning "to

continue the house" and is the Hebrew word

for a "son."

a picture ,(lamed - L) ל The first letter is the לך

of a staff. The second letter, כ (kaph - K), is

the picture of the palm of the hand. When the

staff is placed in the palm one is going to go

walk. The verb LaK means to walk or to go.

a picture of ,(resh - R) ר The first letter is the רד

the head of a man. The second letter, ד (dalet

- D), is the picture of the tent door. The roof

of the nomad's tent was low and one needed

to stoop down to enter or exit through the

dooway and the verb RaD means to go down.

a picture of ,(ayin - A) ע The first letter is the על

an eye representing the idea of experience.

The second letter, ל (lamed - L), is the picture

of a staff but also represents a yoke as the

staff on the shoulders. When combined, these

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two letters form the word AL meaning to

experience the yoke and as the yoke is lifted

up onto the shoulders this verb means to go

up. When used as a noun this same two letter

root means a yoke.

and is a (quph - Q) ק The first letter is the קח

picture of the rising or setting sun at the

horizon meaning to come together, or gather,

from the gathering of the light at the horizon.

The second letter, ח (hhet - Hh), is the picture

of a wall which separates. Combined, these

two letters form the word QaHh meaning to

gather what is separated, to take.

a picture ,(shin - Sh) ש The first letter is the בש

of the teeth meaning to press. The second

letter, ב (beyt - B), is the picture of the tent or

home. Combined, these two letters form the

word ShaB representing a pressing to the tent

and means to return.

and is a (quph - Q) ק The first letter is the קר

picture of the rising or setting sun at the

horizon meaning to come together, or gather,

from the gathering of the light at the horizon.

The second letter, ר (resh- R), is the picture

of the head of a man. Combined, these two

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letters form the word QaR, a gathering of

men, and means to meet or call out.

and is a (dalet - D) ד The first letter is the דע

picture of the tent door, used for going back

and forth. The second letter, ע (ayin - A), is

the picture of the eye. Combined, these two

letters form the word DA, the going back and

forth movement of the eye in the sense of

taking it all in and means to know.

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Child Roots

While all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are consonants,

four of them also served as vowels, much like our letter "Y,"

which may be a vowel like in the word "fly," or a consonant

like in the word "yellow." These four letters are א (aleph), ה

(hey), ו (vav) and י (yud).

When one of these vowels is placed in front, between or at

the end of the parent root, a three letter or "child" root is

formed and will have a meaning that is related to the meaning

of its parent root.

From the parent root אל (el), meaning strength and

authority, comes the child root איל (ayil), meaning a buck,

the strong one of the flock. From the parent root בנ (ben),

meaning son, comes the child root בנה (banah), meaning to

build, through the idea that the sons build a house, literally

and figuratively. From the parent root לכ (lakh), meaning

walk, comes the child root הלכ (halakh), meaning a journey.

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Adopted Roots

Another form of three letter, or "adopted root," is the

addition of another consonant in front, between or at the end

of a parent root. Below are some adopted roots derived out of

the parent root פר (par), a Hebrew word meaning "bull."

parahh Break forth פרח

parakh Break apart פרך

paras Break in pieces פרס

paraq Break off פרק

parats Break open פרץ

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Hebrew Words

Other words are then formed by attaching specific letters to a

parent, child or adopted root.

Figure 14 – The parent root לך and its derivatives

For demonstration, let's begin with the parent root לך (lakh)

meaning "walk." By adding the letter ה (h) to the front the

child root הלך (halakh) is formed and also means "walk." By

adding the מ (m) to the front of this child root, the noun

is formed and means "passage." By (mahalakh) מהלך

adding the letter ה (h) to the end of this child root, the noun

is formed and means "custom" (a way of (halakhah) הלכה

walking).

By adding the letter מ (m) to the front of the parent root לך

(lakh), the adopted root מלך (melekh) is formed and means

"king," one who walks among the people. By adding the letter

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מלכה to the end of this adopted root, the noun (h) ה

(malkah) is formed and means "queen." By adding the letters

is (malkut) מלכות to the adopted root, the noun (ut) ות

formed and means "kingdom."

Once we understand how to properly interpret and define

Hebrew words based on their relationships to their roots and

the culture in which the words were used, we can then

properly interpret Biblical passages from a Hebraic

perspective.

And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love

me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:6)

Our normal understanding of the word "keep" within this

verse is to "obey," however this is not the case. The Hebrew

verb used here is שמר (shamar), which literally means "to

guard" or "to protect."

They will turn to other gods and serve them, and

despise me and break my covenant. (Deuteronomy

31:20)

Similarly, our normal understanding of "break" within this

verse is to "disobey," but again this is not the case. The

Hebrew verb here is פרר (parar) and means "to trample

underfoot."

The "keeping" or "breaking" of the commandments of God is

not about obedience and disobedience; it is about one's

attitude toward them. Will we guard and protect them as we

would our family, or will we throw it on the ground and

trample them as we would garbage?

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The Aaronic Blessing

Now that we have a basic understanding of Hebrew

philosophy, vocabulary, language and the alphabet, we can

now begin to interpret the Bible from an Ancient Hebrew

perspective rather than from a Western one.

Most people are familiar with the English translation of the

Aaronic blessing.

The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make his

face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The

LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you

peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 RSV)

Notice that many of the words in this translation are abstract;

bless, keep, gracious, countenance, grant and peace. Each of

the Hebrew words behind the English in this passage is filled

with images that are lost when translated into the English

language. When we examine each of these words from their

original cultural and linguistic perspectives, the message in

this passage comes alive.

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Bless

Figure 15 – Camels kneeling down

The Hebrew verb ברך (Barakh, Strong's #1288) means to kneel

as seen in Genesis 24:11. However, when written in the piel

form, such as it is in Aaronic blessing, it means to show

respect (usually translated as bless). However, as "respect" is

an abstract word, we need to uncover its original concrete

meaning, which we can do by examining other words related

to this verb. One such related word is the noun ברך (berekh,

Strong's #1288) meaning "knee." Another related Hebrew

word is ברכה (berakhah, Strong's #1293) meaning a gift or

present. From this we can see the concrete meaning behind

the piel form of the verb barak. It is to bring a gift to another

while kneeling out of respect. The extended meaning of this

word is to do or give something of value to another. Elohiym

"respects" us by providing for our needs and we in turn

"respect" Elohiym by giving him of ourselves as his servants.

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Keep

Figure 16 - Thorns

The Hebrews were a nomadic people raising livestock. It

would not be uncommon for a shepherd to be out with his

flock, away from the camp, over the night. In order to protect

the flock, the shepherd would construct a corral of thorn

bushes. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the

corral would be a hedge of protection around them. The

Hebrew word for a thorn is רישמ (shamiyr, Strong's #8068)

and derived from the verb רשמ (shamar, Strong's #8104),

which literally means to guard and protect and is the word

used in the Aaronic blessing.

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Face

Figure 17 – Norman Rockwell's painting of a girl's expression

In the painting above you can "read" the faces of each of the

people within the painting. The face reflects the many

different moods, emotions, and thoughts of the person. The

Hebrew word פנים (paniym, Strong's #6440), means "face,"

but is always written in the plural form (the ים suffix identifies

this word as plural), reflecting this idea of multiple faces of

each person. This word can also mean “presence” or the

“wholeness of being” of an individual.

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Shine

Figure 18 – Light brings order to chaos

The word אור (or, Strong's #215), as a noun means "light" and

as a verb, as it is used here, means to "give light" or "shine"

and is equated with bringing about order as light illuminates

or reveals what has been dark.

Gracious

Figure 19 – A nomadic camp

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Most theologians will define “grace” as “unmerited favor,” but

notice the abstractness of these words. The Hebrew verb

translated as gracious in the Aaronic blessing is the verb ןנח

(hhanan, Strong's #2603) and is often paralleled with other

Hebrew words meaning healing, help, being lifted up, finding

refuge, strength and rescue. From a concrete Hebraic

perspective this verb means to “provide protection.” Where

does one run to for protection? The camp, which in Hebrew is

.(hhanan) חנן a word related to ,(hanah, Strong's #2583) חנה

Grant

Figure 20 – A meal that is set and arranged

The Hebrew verb שים (siym, Strong's #7760), literally

means to "set down in a fixed and arranged place."

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Peace

Figure 21 – A windmill that is "not complete."

When we hear the word peace we usually associate this to

mean an absence of war or strife. However, the Hebrew word

.has a very different meaning (shalom, Strong's #7965) שלום

The root of this word is שלם (shalam, Strong's #7999) and is

usually used in the context of making restitution. When a

person has caused another to become deficient in some way,

such as a loss of livestock, it is the responsibility of the person

who created the deficiency to restore what has been taken,

lost or stolen. The verb shalam literally means to make whole

or complete. The noun shalom has the more literal meaning of

being in a state of wholeness, or being without deficiency.

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A Hebraic interpretation of the Aaronic Blessing

With the Hebraic understanding of each of these Hebrew

words, we can better understand the true meaning of the

Aaronic blessing as it was understood by the Ancient Hebrews.

YHWH will kneel before you presenting

gifts and will guard you with a hedge of

protection.

YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of

his being toward you bringing order and

he will give you comfort and

sustenance.

YHWH will lift up his wholeness of being

and look upon you and he will set in

place all you need to be whole and

complete.