Chapter 4: The Hebrew Language

The Hebrew language most likely derived its name from Eber, a descendent of Shem. The Hebrew language is wholly different from Indo-European dialects. Semitic language reads from right to left and in book form from the end to the beginning. For a person whose native language is English, coming to the Hebrew language is a challenging experience. Yet it is the language that God chose to reveal himself through prophets of old. Its features and characteristics are wonderfully suited to the revelation of God to be preserved from the time of its inscription until the end of the age.

There are twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet which can be dated as early as 900 B.C. The names of the letters resemble the objects they represent, similar to the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptian language. The alphabet contains four gutturals that are pronounced as a sound from the back of the throat. Written Hebrew did not contain vowel sounds, but rather consonants, until the Masoretic system was introduced in the 7th century A.D. by Jewish scholars. When compared to other Semitic languages such as Arabic or Syriac it is evident that the vowel system developed by the Masoretes is correct. Several striking features of the Hebrew language are apparent. The triliteral natures of its verbs, as with all Semitic tongues, contain a sequence of three consonants. The conjugation of verbs in Hebrew is also an interesting feature. By varying the vowels, doubling the middle letter, or by adding letters or symbols the conjugations may be found. Also unique is the ambiguity surrounding the tense, if one exists at all. Grammarians have noted that the idea of time such as past, present or future is not inherent in the form of a Hebrew verb. The Hebrew is more concerned with action than with time. The tense of a verb must be ascertained by context as the verb gives us more of the :mood” of the action than its tense. This is quit fitting for the Divine revelation which speaks of future action as though it is already accomplished. What Almighty God has decreed as future may assuredly be stated as completed.

The Indo-European languages are descriptive, logical, and sequential. To the Hebrew mind and language ideas and events are pregnant with emotions, ideals, and experience. The past may be spoken of as future because the author is reflecting on the past in the present idealizing of a future utopia. Concerning Ishmael, God declares to Abraham that He has blessed him and made him fruitful, as though already occurring, when it had not yet to come to pass. Past action may have in view the continuous action of the verb. And the future action may be conceived as already accomplished.

Hebrew nouns are given in either a masculine or feminine gender. It is not necessary that the noun be a person to carry the inflexion. Rather, it appears that whether objects of nature or other non-living things possess qualities that may be considered masculine or feminine carry the inflexion. Mountains, for example, connote strength and would be given in the masculine. Words for cites or towns would be rendered in the feminine perhaps because they were thought of as mothers or daughters of those who lived in them. This feature of the Hebrew language further illustrates the vivid mind of the Hebrew author. Hebrew is a wholly expressive language. Its letters, nouns, and verbs serve to illustrate the visible and invisible world.

The use of plural in Indo-European tongues serves to indicate number or amount, but the Hebrew seeks to convey fullness or immenseness. The tree of life mentioned in Genesis 2:9 gives the word ‘life’ in the plural. The meaning is not that the tree contained many lives, but rather that it is the fullness or completeness of life. Coupled with this vivid nature of the language is its surprising simplicity. Unlike the English language where compound sentences abound, the Hebrew rarely knows of more than two or three sentences that run together. In very simplistic and highly expressive words this language speaks to us. As a result, we find very few adjectives in Hebrew. Such descriptive terms exist in the nouns themselves and to add expressiveness the nouns are multiplied.

Turning to the styles of speech in the Hebrew we discover poetical parallelisms, anthropomorphisms, and anthropopathisms. Hebrew poetry is different from that way we think of poetry as being metrical. Its form consists of definable parallelisms which are capable of direct translations into almost any language. Synonymous Parallelisms abound in the OT Scriptures in Identical, Similar, or Inverted forms. An example of an Identical Parallelism is Proverbs 6:2 which reads, "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth." The two components of this parallelism are essentially identical to one another with only slightly different wording. Similar Parallelism can be found in Psalm 24:2, "For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." Here the two phrases are essentially similar but not necessarily identical. Inverted Parallelisms change the order of the thoughts being expressed. We find Psalm 19:1 serves as an example, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." In the first part of the verse the heavens declare the glory of God and in the second half the same idea is inverted putting the firmament first that shows His handiwork.

Antithetic Parallelism is another form of Hebrew poetry that contrasts two opposing thoughts. This is most commonly found in the Proverbs which often compare the righteous with the wicked. Proverbs 15:2 declares, "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness." This is an example of a Simple Antithetic parallelism. Compound Antithetic parallelisms may also be found in Scripture as in Isaiah 1:3, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." It is compound because the thesis is expressed by two or more sentences followed by the antithesis.

Synthetic Parallelisms are discovered more by form than by idea, thesis or antithesis. The subjects may not answer to each other, but according to Lowth's definition the form does, "…as noun answers to noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative to negative, interrogative to interrogative." Within Synthetic Parallelism we find both Correspondent and Cumulative forms. In the twenty-seventh Psalm verse one we read, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" The first part of this verse corresponds to the second although the different ideas are presented. Also within Synthetic Parallelism are passages where a series of sentences or phrases culminate to a final idea. In Psalm 1:1-2 we find an example of this Cumulative form where certain actions are described by several sentences culminating in a climax. There are also a variety of irregular forms also to be found in Hebrew poetry such as listing the lines or verses with each letter of the alphabet in order. These forms of poetry serve to exhibit that the Hebrew mind thought and wrote with great emotion, purpose, and pathos. The fact that the Hebrew Scriptures are divine revelation from God serves to illustrate the personal nature of God in contradistinction from the pagan concepts of deity.

It is important to note that the Hebrew Scriptures contain many anthropomorphisms and anthropopathisms. Anthropomorphism ascribes human characteristics to animals or non-living things while anthropopathism ascribes human emotions. Such stylistic language is used in Scripture to describe Almighty God. By not recognizing such linguistic features in the Hebrew language it is possible to come to a false understanding of God. In Exodus 15:8 God is extolled for parting the sea for the Jews by "...the blast of thy nostrils." This is an example of anthropomorphism. God did not literally exhale air through his nose, nor does God have a physical nose at all. Recognition of these styles of speech can keep the interpreter of Scripture from error and even blasphemy.

For more than a thousand years, from the time of Moses through Samuel, from David to Hezekiah, and from the end of the kingdom of Judah to shortly after the Babylonian exile, the Hebrew language has remained essentially unchanged. As the languages of the world pass through time such significant changes occur that render them altogether different dialects. Yet as we observe the Hebrew tongue through wars, apostasy, and captivity it has remained virtually unchanged and is now preserved in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. It stands as a testimony to the invisible hand of Divine Providence. In all of its beauty, emotion, rhythm, and poetry, it still stands as a living oracle saying to the skeptical world, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Luke 16:29a