The Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet

224 Pages·2003·0.85 MB·English

The Ancient Hebrew
Language and Alphabet

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Understanding the Ancient
Hebrew language of the
Bible based on Ancient
Hebrew Culture and
Thought

Jeff A. Benner

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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

“The Anicent Hebrew Language and Alphabet,” by Jeff A. Benner.
ISBN 1-58939-534-4.

Published 2004 by Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc., P.O. Box
9949, College Station, TX , 77842, US. 2004 Jeff A. Benner. All
rights reserved. Any part of this book may be copied for non-profit
educational purposes only, without prior permission. Otherwise, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of Jeff A. Benner.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

To my wife Denise, who has taught
me more about Hebrew thought
through her actions then all the
books I have read.

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............................................9
Why study the Ancient Hebrew language and culture?.................16
How do we study the Ancient Hebrew language and culture?......17
Two - Hebrew Thought.....................................................................19
Abstract vs. concrete thought........................................................20
Appearance vs. Functional Description.........................................21
Passive vs. Active Nouns..............................................................22
Three - Reconstructing the Original Hebrew Alphabet.....................24
Letter Characteristics.....................................................................24
Reconstruction of the Alphabet.....................................................26
Four - Hebrew Prefixes.....................................................................30
Five - The Root System of Hebrew...................................................32
Parent Roots..................................................................................32
Child Roots....................................................................................33
Adopted Roots...............................................................................34
Words............................................................................................35
Benefit of studying words from a common root............................36
Reconstructing the Parent Roots...................................................37
Methods for reconstructing the original Parent Root....................37
Six - Word Studies............................................................................40
God................................................................................................40
Creator...........................................................................................41
Voice.............................................................................................42
Ancient Hebrew Words.................................................................43
Seven - Hebrew origins of English....................................................45
Conclusion.........................................................................................49
Appendix A - Ancient Hebrew Alphabet Reconstruction.................50
Appendix B - Learn to Read Ancient Hebrew..................................66
Introduction...................................................................................66
Picture...........................................................................................66
English letter.................................................................................67
English name.................................................................................67
Hebrew name.................................................................................67
Hebrew sound................................................................................68
Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
Hebrew meaning...........................................................................68
Appendix C - History of the Hebrew Script......................................92
Appendix D – Alphabet Charts.......................................................115
Ancient Hebrew...........................................................................115
Modern Hebrew...........................................................................116
Derivatives..................................................................................116
Appendix E - Ancient Hebrew Parent Root Dictionary..................117
Purpose of the Lexicon................................................................117
Cross reference to Strong’s numbers...........................................117
How to use the Lexicon...............................................................118
Appendix F – Number Cross References........................................184
Strong's Number - Ancient Hebrew Number..............................184
Ancient Hebrew Number - Strong's Number..............................196
Bibliography....................................................................................207

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List of Illustrations

Figure 1 Pre-flood pictograph found in the pre-flood city of Kish......5
Figure 2 The scattering of the descendants of Noah's three sons......8
Figure 3 Ancient Shemitic/ Hebrew pictographic inscription on stone
boulder c. 1500 BCE...................................................................9
Figure 4 Ancient Hebrew inscription on potsherd c. 900 BCE...........9
Figure 5 Moabite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE...........................10
Figure 6 Ammonite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE......................10
Figure 7 Ugarit cuneiform inscription on clay tablet c. 1400 BCE...10
Figure 8 Aramaic inscription on stone incense altar c. 500 BCE......11
Figure 9 Aramaic inscription on stone plaque c. 20 CE....................11
Figure 10 Hebrew writings from the Dead Sea Scrolls c. 200 BCE11
Figure 11 Modern Hebrew script from the Hebrew Bible...............12
Figure 12 Pictographic Hebrew writings from the Dead Sea Scrolls
c. 100 BCE................................................................................12
Figure 13 Samaritan scripts...............................................................12
Figure 14 Greek inscription found on bowl c. 800 BCE...................13
Figure 15 Greek writing on New Testament papyrus c. 200 CE......13
Figure 16 Egyptian Hieroglyphs from the Book of the Dead c. 1350
BCE...........................................................................................14
Figure 17 Sumerian Pictograph on clay tablet c. 3000 BCE...........14
Figure 18 Sumerian Cuneiform on clay tablet c. 2500 BCE.............15
Figure 19 Hebrew root word systems................................................32
Figure 20 The Ancient Hebrew alphabet c. 1000 BCE...................45
Figure 21 The Ancient Hebrew alphabet c. 1000 BCE (mirror
image)........................................................................................46