The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

The Ancient Hebrew

Lexicon of the Bible

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hebrew Letters, Words and

Roots Defined Within Their

Ancient Cultural Context

Jeff A. Benner Cover design by Jeff A. Benner. Ancient Inscription 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.

“The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible,” by Jeff A. Benner. ISBN 1-58939-776-2.

Published 2005 by Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 9949, College

Station, TX 77842, US. uf6d92005, Jeff A. Benner. All rights reserved. Any part of this

book may be copied for non-profit educational purposes only, without prior

permission. Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005932420 Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank my wife Denise for her patience and

encouragement. I am extremely blessed to have been privileged with her

as a gift from above and the one who has been my continual companion

and confidant. She has always supported me in this endeavor and

allowed me the space and time for research and writing. Without her

devotion and inspiration this work would never have come to fruition.

I am also grateful to Dr. Larry S. Hirsch. Without his initial introduction

into Hebrew thought and language and his instruction in Biblical studies

I would never have started this journey into the Ancient Hebrew thought,

culture and language.

Also my friend Michael Calpino who continually supported my studies

in the Hebrew language, listened to my discoveries and assisted me by

working out many word and root origins and meanings.

I would also like to thank the hundreds of people who have supported

my work at the Ancient Hebrew Research Center Website with their

suggestions, corrections and encouragement.

There are also many great Hebrew scholars who, with their research and

work, have laid the foundations for me and others interested in the

Hebrew culture and language who are much deserving of our thanks. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................8

PURPOSE OF THE LEXICON...........................................................................................8

The written word.....................................................................................................8

The word meaning...................................................................................................8

Where is the Hebrew?.............................................................................................8

The original Hebrew...............................................................................................8

PERSPECTIVE OF THE LEXICON.....................................................................................9

WEBSITE....................................................................................................................10

ANCIENT HEBREW THOUGHT............................................................................11

ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE........................................................................................11

APPEARANCE AND FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTIONS........................................................12

STATIC AND DYNAMIC...............................................................................................13

THE ANCIENT HEBREW ALPHABET.................................................................14

EVOLUTION OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET...................................................................14

THEAYIN AND GHAH.................................................................................................16

One Word - Two Meanings....................................................................................16

Greek Transliterations of the Ghah.......................................................................17

Impact on Ancient Hebrew Studies........................................................................17

THESAMECH,SHIN AND SIN......................................................................................18

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL HEBREW ALPHABET.........................................18

Letter Characteristics............................................................................................19

THE RECONSTRUCTED ALPHABET...................................................................20

AL..............................................................................................................................20

BET............................................................................................................................21

GAM...........................................................................................................................22

DAL............................................................................................................................22

HEY............................................................................................................................23

WAW..........................................................................................................................23

ZAN............................................................................................................................24

HHETS........................................................................................................................25

THET..........................................................................................................................25

YAD...........................................................................................................................26

KAPH.........................................................................................................................26

LAM...........................................................................................................................27

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MAH...........................................................................................................................27

NUN...........................................................................................................................28

SIN.............................................................................................................................28

AYIN..........................................................................................................................29

PEY............................................................................................................................29

TSAD..........................................................................................................................30

QUPH.........................................................................................................................30

RESH..........................................................................................................................31

SHIN...........................................................................................................................31

TAW...........................................................................................................................32

GHAH.........................................................................................................................32

HEBREW ALPHABET CHART.......................................................................................33

THE HEBREW ROOT SYSTEM.............................................................................34

PARENTROOTS..........................................................................................................34

CHILD ROOTS.............................................................................................................34

ADOPTED ROOTS........................................................................................................35

RECONSTRUCTION OF ROOTS.....................................................................................36

THE HEBREW LANGUAGE...................................................................................37

VERBS........................................................................................................................37

Person...................................................................................................................37

Number..................................................................................................................37

Gender...................................................................................................................37

Tense.....................................................................................................................37

Voice......................................................................................................................38

Mood.....................................................................................................................38

Verb Conjugations.................................................................................................38

NOUNS.......................................................................................................................39

Noun Derivatives...................................................................................................39

Feminine Derivatives............................................................................................39

Combination Derivatives.......................................................................................39

Plural Nouns.........................................................................................................39

Grammatical Tools................................................................................................40

DETERMINING THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF HEBREW WORDS.....................................40

LETTER EVOLUTION...................................................................................................41

ANCIENTHEBREW PRONUNCIATION..........................................................................42

Spirants and Stops.................................................................................................42

Vowels...................................................................................................................42

Syllables................................................................................................................42

Masoretic Vowels..................................................................................................43

Transliterations.....................................................................................................44

LEXICON FORMAT..................................................................................................45

PARENT AND ADOPTED ROOT FORMAT......................................................................45

CHILD ROOT FORMAT................................................................................................46

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WORDFORMAT..........................................................................................................47

THE LEXICON...........................................................................................................49

PARENT AND CHILD ROOTS.......................................................................................50

Al...........................................................................................................................50

Bet.........................................................................................................................62

Gam.......................................................................................................................77

Dal.........................................................................................................................88

Hey......................................................................................................................100

Waw.....................................................................................................................107

Zan.......................................................................................................................109

Hhets...................................................................................................................117

Thet......................................................................................................................134

Yad.......................................................................................................................140

Kaph....................................................................................................................144

Lam......................................................................................................................155

Mah.....................................................................................................................165

Nun......................................................................................................................179

Sin........................................................................................................................193

Ayin.....................................................................................................................206

Pey.......................................................................................................................218

Tsad.....................................................................................................................229

Quph....................................................................................................................241

Resh.....................................................................................................................253

Shin......................................................................................................................271

Taw......................................................................................................................289

Ghah....................................................................................................................296

ADOPTED ROOTS (THREE LETTER)...........................................................................301

Al.........................................................................................................................301

Bet.......................................................................................................................303

Gam.....................................................................................................................312

Dal.......................................................................................................................320

Zan.......................................................................................................................324

Hhets...................................................................................................................329

Thet......................................................................................................................348

Kaph....................................................................................................................351

Lam......................................................................................................................361

Mah.....................................................................................................................366

Nun......................................................................................................................373

Sin........................................................................................................................388

Ayin.....................................................................................................................399

Pey.......................................................................................................................413

Tsad.....................................................................................................................424

Quph....................................................................................................................431

Resh.....................................................................................................................440

Shin......................................................................................................................451

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Taw......................................................................................................................469

Ghah....................................................................................................................472

ADOPTED ROOTS (FOUR LETTER).............................................................................474

FOREIGN WORDS.....................................................................................................481

INDEXES...................................................................................................................483

ENGLISH DEFINITIONS..............................................................................................483

KINGJAMES TRANSLATION......................................................................................505

STRONG'SNUMBER..................................................................................................555

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS........................................................................................577

NOTES.......................................................................................................................612

7 The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

Introduction

Purpose of the Lexicon

In order to demonstrate the need for an Ancient Hebrew lexicon let us examine the

word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) (halel), how it is written and what it means.

The written word

The Hebrew word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73), as it appears here, in Hebrew dictionaries and in Hebrew

Bibles, is written with the Modern Hebrew script. But where did the Modern Hebrew

script come from? Hebrew was originally written with a pictographic script similar to

Egyptian Hieroglyphs but, when Israel was taken into captivity in Babylon they

adopted the Aramaic script of the region and used it to write Hebrew. The Modern

Hebrew script used today is in fact Aramaic in origin, not Hebrew.

The word meaning

According to Hebrew dictionaries and lexicons the word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) is translated as "praise".

The Ancient Hebrew language is a concrete oriented language meaning that the

meaning of Hebrew words are rooted in something that can be sensed by the five senses

such as a tree which can be seen, sweet which can be tasted and noise which can be

heard. Abstract concepts such as "praise" have no foundation in the concrete and are a

product of ancient Greek philosophy.

Where is the Hebrew?

If the word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) is written with the Aramaic script and the definition "praise" is from

the Greek, where is the Hebrew in this word? The purpose of the "Ancient Hebrew

Lexicon of the Bible" is to restore the original Hebrew to the Hebrew language of the

Bible.

The original Hebrew

The word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) would have been written as (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) in the Early Hebrew script (over 3200

years ago) or as (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) in the Middle Hebrew script (between 3200 and 2500 years ago).

The original pictographic letters of the parent root (cid:80)(cid:73) is a man with his arms raised

"looking" at something spectacular and a shepherd staff that is used to move the flock

8 The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

"toward" a place. When these are combined the idea of "looking toward" something is

represented. The original meaning of (cid:80)(cid:73) is the North Star, a bright light in the night

sky that is "looked toward" to guide one on the journey.

If we are going to read the Bible correctly it must be through the perspective of the

Ancient Hebrews who wrote it, not from a Modern Aramaic or Greek perspective. The

word (cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:73) in its original concrete meaning is a bright light that guides the journey and

we "praise" Yah by looking at him to guide us on our journey through life.

Perspective of the Lexicon

The first and foremost concept that a reader of the Biblical text must learn is that the

ancient Hebrews were products of an eastern culture while you as the reader are the

product of a western culture. These two cultures are as different as oil and vinegar, they

do not mix very well. What may seem rational in our western minds would be

considered irrational to an easterner of an ancient Near East culture. The same is true in

the reverse, what may be rational to an ancient Easterner would be completely irrational

in our western mind.

The authors of the Biblical text are writing from within their culture to those of the

same culture. In order to fully understand the text one needs to understand the culture

and thought processes of the Hebrew people.

All existing Hebrew Lexicons of the Bible convert the vocabulary of the ancient

Hebrews into a vocabulary compatible to our modern western language. The greatest

problem with this is that it promotes western thought when reading the Biblical text. In

this Lexicon the mind of the reader is transformed into an eastern one in order to

understand the text through the eyes of the ancient Hebrews who penned the words of

the Bible.

One of the greatest differences between this lexicon and others is the use of the ancient

pictographic script which Hebrew was originally written in. Because the Ancient

Hebrew language is based on these pictographs, they are used rather than the Modern

Hebrew script.

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Website

The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible has its own website with additional material

and information such as verb charts, listing of Biblical Hebrew words in order of their

frequency, common Hebrew roots and updates to the lexicon and much more. The

author is also available for questions, comments and requests.

Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible website

http://ahlb.ancient-hebrew.org

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