Thank you so much for the clear explanation. I’ve been self studying modern Hebrew for 4 years, my original motivation was my trip to Israel which I did. I read the Hebrew Bible here and there but my main focus is Modern Hebrew. I watch lots of videos related to the Hebrew language and you exceed on explaining Biblical Hebrew. Thank you so much. I am enjoying and learning watching your videos
Thank you so much for taking your time to teach us non-Hebrew speakers the Hebrew text of the Bible. I recently started learning classical /traditional Hebrew,, so I find your teaching videos fascinating. Again, thank you so much. Much blessings!
I appreciate these videos, and even more that they are in Genesis, my perennial favorite book of the Bible. I'm currently teaching on the temptation of Eve, and the subtleties in comparing what God commanded compared to the serpent's and Eve's representations. The emphasis is the literalness of "every word that proceeds from the mouth of God", and how minor changes in that exchange changed the character of God, with Eve portraying Him to be less generous - omitting "eating you may eat"/"freely eat", more harsh - adding "neither may you touch it", and questioning God's authority with "lest you die" instead of "dying you will die"/"surely die". There are many other subtleties, and I look forward to hearing your translation insights. Translators have to be careful about injecting modern idioms into Biblical Hebrew, but like fashions, sometimes what is old becomes new again. An English idiom is someone being "in your/my face". It is usually meant in an assertive sense. When God warns about putting other gods "before me", might that be an appropriate idiom hinted at in the text? The emphasis is nearness, and it doesn't have to be negative, so hovering/moving on the "face" of the waters might carry hints of both assertiveness and closeness? As for "hovered", my wife is intrigued by the word "brooded" as possibly capturing some of the meaning.
Thank you for taking the time to write. It's indeed difficult to convey the subtleties of the text in any translation. As to "before me", this is not really the best translation, in my opinion. It's more "to replace me", "instead of me". I used KJV for obvious reasons, but not because it's the most accurate. As to "merakhefet", it's anyone's guess what it might actually mean, so you're wife might be right.
There is something about this verse that calls into my core… THANK YOU, Ilan !!!! And yes, I intend to re-watch these videos to get the most I can of a free class in Hebrew, with the most incredible source material available, the Bible/Tanakh !!!!!!!!!!!!💛🙏🇮🇱
Todah, todah!😊 Thank you very much dear Moreh, that you make it possible to teach Biblical Hebrew in such a kind of structure in relationship not only with theTorah line by line, but also withthe needy interpretation in connection with the whole history of the Tenach. This is the Seder of the Holy Tongue. Todah! May Hashem be with you and with His Inspiration Power. Todah!
Shalom my brother. You have given an excellent program. I have studied these magnificent sentences for nearly forty years. It is the nearest to the Arabic RaF:RaFa past tense or yuRaF:RiFu. This means to move in and out. This has a meaning of - from the center to the circumference the Spirit of Elohiym was moving in and out over the waters. This is but a basic explanation when all the meanings of the letters are known.
Excellent teacher. I think we should all support him to make more!! Please find a way that we can support financially so this can be a full time thing for you. Like Patreon or something.
Thanks my friend . I love your work. My guess on merakephet is based on Tesla & quantum physics… since energy is vibration .. I see it as vibrating though hovering while vibrating is possible.. this also lays the groundwork for this text & the Big Bang as being the same , so both work for me (& it’s an interesting coincidence that u mention Mayim Bialik who was in the latter lol) incidentally I’m building a website & courses to show that science & spirituality can be the same .. which is probably how I found myself learning Hebrew in the 1st place)
Resonating is kinda like shaking or trembling, but has other meanings as well. So maybe the Spirit of God was resonating over the waters? This would make sense since normally when things resonate they produce a sound. But in here the Spirit of God would resonate over the water and the resonation produces light.
Thanks again for an excellent video. I’m confused about the pronunciation of reish. In the audiobook that accompanies the textbook I’m using to learn biblical Hebrew they pronounce it like an English “R”. Is that just to make it easier for us? When I listen to native Hebrew speakers it sounds the way you say it. Another thing, doesn’t al pnei mean on a face? I seem to remember that pnei is the form used in a word pair although my memory could be wrong. That’s confusing to me. Thanks so much for your previous explanation.
I get an image of God's spirit vigorously moving over the waters, as in a very strong wind storm. That would cause evaporation and cause land to appear. I see an extreamly powerful wind churning the waters and pushing the waters off the land.
This is great! I'm learning. Question, so what is the correct translation in Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me? Does this translate to "hovers" or "lands" (rests) upon Me?
Thanks for the comment! In Isaiah 61:1, the word used is עלי, which is "on me" or "upon me". There is no "rest" in the Hebrew. In fact, there is no verb at all in the original, which is something that happens quite often in Hebrew, but is grammatically incorrect in English.
I would be very glad if you answer one of my questions some day. Today I would like to know which alternatives the holy authors of the bible refused to use for the substance which received God's spirit. Water has not yet been created (separated). Tohuvabohu they didn't want to call it.
AND GOD SAID: do this and this if you want success, Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Psalms 146:3 “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Psalms 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Psalms 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” It’s quite obvious no man was able to do Gods law, even Moses for one transgression did not get into the “ promised Land, Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” Proverbs 30:4 “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?” Hosea 12:10 “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
I find myself puzzled by a statement made in part 1 of this Video, which is continued here. We were told in this video that its purpose was to guide us through the authentic Hebrew text. An explanation was given about the meaning of a few words in Genesis 1:2. A brief comment was also made that “This channel is not about theology”. I do appreciate that an explanation was given of the Hebrew words in the text, but I wish to express confidently that the Bible was written so that we might know who God is - and not just for us to study the Hebrew language. I believe that we might rightfully say that the Bible is primarily, or even only, about theology. If we are not concerned about the theology of the Bible, then we have misunderstood it completely. Who is God? This question is answered many times in the Bible, where we find God’s own words recorded, which He spoke to the prophets. God revealed many things about Himself to Moses whom God had specifically called, and there were multiple occasions where God used the phrase “I am the Lord your God” or “I am the Lord”. One of these instances is found in Exodus 20:2. He said, “=== I === am the Lord your God”. He was speaking about Himself, and not about anyone else. He said, “I === AM === the Lord your God”. He did not say “I could be”, or “I should be”, or “I might be” your God. With this statement He said emphatically that He IS God. He said, “I am === THE === Lord your God”. He did not say that there were various Gods from whom a choice could be made, because He was in effect saying “I am THE ONE AND ONLY God”. He said, “I am the === LORD === your God”. He is the Lord who has noble rank or high office, to whom we are accountable. We could express the thought that He is our Lord and Master, and that we are His servants. He said, “I am the Lord === YOUR === God”. He did not say that He was the Lord and God of somebody else. It is very evident from the scriptures that this statement applies to everyone - the whole of mankind. He said, “I am the Lord your === GOD ===”. He was emphasizing His position as GOD, and not just as creator, provider, or benefactor. It was not just a statement of fact, but a COMMAND that we shall honour Him as the ONE AND ONLY GOD whom we shall worship.
Gods Spirit hovered over protecting , sounds like a Holy feminine Ghost, Galatians 4:26 “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” God is not feminine, but mothers do nurture / protect , don’t they?
First of all, I wish to say thank you for the thoughtful way in which this material has been presented. Perhaps my next comment needs to be about language- or should I say the languages which are spoken around the world. Many of us do not speak or understand the Hebrew language, and already in the few days since this video is available on RU-vid, people have made reference to other languages - Arabic, Spanish, Slavic languages, German. The Bible is the source material which we have, through which God has revealed His will and plan for us. For those of us who do not know Hebrew (for Old Testament) or Greek (for New Testament), we need a translation in the language which we do know. There are several reasons why there are difficulties in understanding, or why there are debates about meanings, when various translations of the Bible are discussed. The task of Bible translation involves real difficulties, because it is not always possible to find exact translation words. Another difficulty is that in Hebrew, and in other languages as well, words can have more than one meaning. Under these circumstances it becomes necessary for the translator to choose the best words they can find, to convey the intended meaning of the original Hebrew. I also have a number of questions which I would like to ask, so that I may have greater clarity of understanding, about some things in the Bible. One of these questions concerns the use of hyperbole, or extreme exaggeration, which seems to be part of the Hebrew language. For example, Genesis 22:17, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” It is easy to show that the number of grains of sand on the seashore is far larger than the number of people who have ever lived, and we know now that the number of stars is also absolutely huge. Perhaps it is something like an English language person saying, “I have told you a million times, do not to exaggerate!” Maybe I have said something many times, or maybe more times than I can remember, but I do not think that I have ever said something a MILLION times!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Translation is indeed much harder than many people realize. As to Genesis 22:17, based on a simple reading, the English you quoted reflects the Hebrew text in essence.
@@TheBibleInHebrew I understand your response, “the English you quoted reflects the Hebrew text in essence”, but that is not what I was asking. I would like to have a better understanding, if that is possible, of WHY this kind of hyperbole exists in the Bible. It seems to me that humans use exaggeration when they do not understand how to communicate clearly what they mean. Sometimes people say, “I am lost for words”, or “Words fail me!” If a person has a good understanding of their language, then it is usually possible to find suitable words to express what they feel, or what they mean. Sometimes it may require the use of many words, but it is still possible. My understanding of the Bible is that it is the only source of information which we have, which tells of the relationship which God wants us to have with Him. There is much in the Bible which is of a historical nature, but there is also very much which God has inspired the prophets to write. We read in 2 Peter 1:21 (KJV) “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. ” If it is possible, I hope that you may advise me how I could contact you privately.
Deut 32:11 As an eagle/vulture stirreth up his nest, he flies over his chicks/young pigeons. He spreads his wings, takes them, carries them over his feathers.
