The Language and Culture of the Hebrew People

Class Objectives

•To acquire knowledge and understanding of the language and culture of the Hebrews

•To apply the knowledge learned•To encourage the building of families•To strengthen and build the Qahal•To prepare ourselves to receive the reign of Yahuah

Class Assignments & Assessments

•Weekly readings

•Informal assessments (content handouts, short essays, collaborative learning sessions)

•Formal assessments (quizzes, tests, projects)

NOW AT THIS TIME

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy

Alahym, I will also forget thy children.” Husha 4:6

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

George Orwell

What is a Hebrew…• Ethnically, a Hebrew is a descendent of Abar (Eber), the great-

grandson of Sham. (Barashyth 10: 22-31; 11:10-32)

• A descendent of Sham

• A descendent of Adam

Arpakshad

Shelah

ABAR

Peleg

Yoqtan

ABRAHAM

SHAM

B-r`ashyth (Genesis) 10:1-2,5-6,20-22,31

And this is the genealogy of the sons of Nach: Sham, Cham, and Yaphath. And

sons were born to them after the flood. The sons of Yaphath: Gamar, and

Magug, and Mady, and Ya`un, and Tubal, and Mashak, and Tyras.

...

From these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their

lands, everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their

nations. And the sons of Cham: Kush, and Mytsrym, and Put, and Kana`an.

...

These were the sons of Cham, according to their clans, according to their

languages, in their lands, in their nations. And also to Sham, the father of all

the children of `Abar, the brother of Yaphath the elder, children were born.

The sons of Sham: `Aylam, and `Ashur, and `Arpakshad, and Lud, and `Aram.

...

And their dwelling place was from Mysha as you go toward Saphar, a mountain

of the east. These were the sons of Sham, according to their clans,

according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

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Sham [pr. m. noun]: Sham H8035 mv Shahm

mv the eldest [second] son of Nach and progenitor of the Shamitic tribes, i.e.

the western nations of Asia, the Persians, Assyrians, and Aramaeans, and part

of the Arabs have sprung

from mwv (verb): shum H7760 mwv shoom

mwv to set, ordain, establish, found, appoint, constitute, make, determine, fix; to set,

station, put, set in place, plant, fix

Shamitic: of or relating to the people who speak Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic

and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian

Afro-Asiatic: relating to or denoting a family of languages spoken in the Middle

East and North Africa; the family is commonly divided into five groups: Shamitic,

Omotic, Berber, Cushitic, and Chadic; Ancient Egyptian was also a member of this

family; also called Hamito-Semitic

station: put in or assign to a specified place for a particular purpose

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lip [f. noun]: shaphah H8193 hpv shah-fah

hpv lip, language, speech; a lip – tongue, dialect

clean (verb): barar H1305 rrb bah-rar

rrb to purify, select, polish, choose, purge; to separate and remove impure

things, to cleanse – applied to pure and upright speech

pure: of unmixed origin or descent

tongue: a particular language

dialect: a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific

region or social group

TsaphanYah (Zephaniah) 3:9“For then I [hwhy] shall turn unto the peoples a

clean lip, so that they all call on the Name of

hwhy, to serve Him with one shoulder.

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Language

The Entrance to Any Culture

What is Language?

The method of human

communication

Attributes of Language• Communicates Meaning

• Symbolic

• Sounds are Finite; Sentences are Unlimited.

• Spoken or Written Words

• Body Movements (Sign Language/Gestures)

• Giving & Receiving

• Connects or Excludes

• Describes Reality

• Experience

• Sometimes Universal; Ex. laughter, smiles, hugs, kisses, etc.

Why is it Important to Learn the Language of the Hebrews?

• It’s the language the Creator gave to humanity.

• It is a language that expresses real time and provides internal connection to our natural root system.

• Strengthens Bonds: The Creator & The Believer

• Connects: Culture and History

• Accurate understanding of the historical text

• It’s critical: Building Community & Rebuilding the Nation.

• It is a safeguard for our children and for future generations.

Language is…

language [m. noun]: lashun H3956 nwvl lah-shoon

nwvl tongue (of men; literal; organ of speech); language; tongue – of a nation, a

people, which used peculiar language

Abar [pr. m. noun]: `Abar H5677 rb[ Ah-bar

rb[ the ancestor of the race of the Hebrews; myrb[ Hebrews

peculiar: particular; special – belonging specifically to a particular person

language: the system (method) of communication used by a particular community

or country

father [m. noun]: `ab H1 ba ahb

ba father of an individual; head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan;

ancestor – grandfather, forefather (of people); used of the founder, or first

ancestor of a nation

nation: a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture,

and language, inhabiting a particular country or territory

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Northern Africa & Middle

East (Afro-Asiatic)

A. Western Sahara

B. Morocco

C. Algeria

D. Tunisia

E. Libya

F. Egypt

G. Israel

H. Lebanon

I. Syria

J. Jordan

K. Iraq

L. Iran

M. Kuwait

N. Saudi Arabia

O. Bahrain

P. Qatar

Q. United Arab Emirates

R. Oman

S. Yemen 6

“Language” in Scripture

•Yahawada’yt tyduwhy

•Shapah hpv

•Lashawan nwvl

De-Evolution of the Shamitic Language

Dabarym 11:13-21So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today — to love Yahuah your Alahym and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other mighty ones and bow down to them. Then Yahuah’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land Yahuah is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land Yahuah swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

What is Culture?

Culture is the customs by which a people govern themselves.

Culture is not something you know, culture is something you do.

Question: What are some customs you have?

Husha 4:6“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Alahym, I will also forget thy children.”

Da’ath (H1847) – knowledge; from H3045 yadah, a verb, signifying that something must be done, action

t[dEntrance to knowledge and understanding that

identifies who you are.

[ d yyadH3027dalathH1817aynH5869

yada H3045 yah-dah

to see – hence, to perceive, to acquire knowledge, to know

Yada

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“Custom” in ScriptureH1983 הלך klh halak (Aramaic) custom

H2706 חק qx choq

statute, ordinance,

decree, due, law, portion,

bounds, custom,

appointed,

commandments, misc

H2708 חקה hqx chuqqahstatute,

ordinance, custom,

appointed, manners, rites

H4941 פט מש jpvm mishpat

judgment, manner, right,

cause, ordinance, lawful,

order, worthy,

fashion, custom,

discretion, law, measure,

sentence, misc

The original pictograph b is representative of a

house or tent, but specifically a tent which represents

the nomadic tents of the Hebrews. Therefore, the

word tyb (byth) means house or tent as well as

family. A common designation for a family is to

identify the “house” of the family patriarch such as in

“The house of Ya`aqub.” The meanings of this letter

are house, tent, family as well as in, with, inside or

within as the family resides within the house or tent.

tyb (Bayat)

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Assignments

• Read chapters 1-3 in Manners and Customs (22 pages)

• Read chapter 1 in Ancient Hebrew Language

• Choose one of the four words for ‘custom’ and translate the word in the ancient Shamitic. Determine if your definition aligns with how the word is used in the Scriptures.