Hebrew Word Lessons

El Shaddai  אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י Genesis 35:11-12 [God to Jacob:] “I am God Almighty [A'ni El Shaddai אֲנִ֨י אֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙]; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a multitude of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from you. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land… Continue reading Revisiting SHADDAI: Provider, Sustainer, Defender

Heyakh: A-ha! Interjection word (Strong’s 1889) Root: הֶאָח Sounds like: hey'awkh I was a teenager in the mid to late 1980’s and I was drawn to new wave/synth pop artists such as Tears for Fears, OMD, Simple Minds, Eurythmics, Corey Hart, and the Norwegian band, A-ha. I recently made an ‘80s play-list and the A-ha… Continue reading Heyakh: An A-HA Moment.

HARD WORK/TOIL/GRIEF/SORROW: Atsav, verb (Stong’s 6087, 6088); masculine noun (Strong’s 6089, 6090, 6092, 6093); feminine noun (Strong’s 6094). Root verb: עָצַב Sounds like: atz-ahv One of the wonderful things about reading the Hebrew Bible in the original language is the discovery of long-held misinterpretations and its impact on the full story of the Gospel message.… Continue reading Atsav: TOIL & SORROW, and a New Look at Genesis 3:16

FLOURISHING/LUXURIANT/VIBRANT/GREEN: ra’anan, adjective (Strong’s 7488); Aramaic adjective: ra'anan (Strong's 7487). Root: רַעֲנָן Sounds like: rah-a'nawn Ra’anan is an adjective, which means it’s a descriptor word. It adds a description to the noun it is associated with, and in the Hebrew Bible it is always (with only one exception) associated with trees. For this reason, ra’anan… Continue reading Ra’anan: FLOURISHING Trees, VIBRANT Gardens

GALIL: the place of Galilee (Strong’s 1551);  from Galal, a verb meaning to roll or roll away (Strong’s 1556). Root: גָּלַל Sounds like: ga’leel When most people think of Galilee they think of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) ministry. This was the place where He grew up (Nazareth was in the region of Galilee) and the hub location… Continue reading Galil: Yeshua of Galilee and the Rolling Revolution

CONGREGATION/ASSEMBLY: Edah, feminine noun (Strong's 5712); Qahal, masculine noun (Strong’s 6951). Root: עֵדָה Sounds like: eh'da /a'da Root: קָהָל Sounds like: Ka'hal The concept for an assembly or a congregation is, simply, a group that assembles or congregates. It’s the result of gathering together and it’s strongly connected to community living. Just like in English, there… Continue reading Edah/Qahal: Living in CONGREGATION

Out of the Garden: mi-gan, from the noun gan (garden) (Strong’s 1588). Root: מִגַּן Sounds like: mee-gawn This week I had intended to write about midbar (wilderness) but the image of the wilderness is so prevalent and integral to the Biblical story that we’re going to have to break this down over two weeks. We’re… Continue reading Mi-gan: OUT of the GARDEN

A SHOUT, A CHEER, A CRY! Rinnah, feminine noun (Strong's 7440); Ranan, verb (Strong's 7442); Rua, verb (Strong’s 7321). See also posting on T'ruah: Give a Joyful Shout. Root: רִנָּה Sounds like: ree'nah I recently made an ‘80’s music play-list for a long road trip to Cape Breton. One song that was replayed a lot… Continue reading Rinnah: SHOUT, SHOUT, Let it All Out!

Revisiting SING (SHIR) I love singing. As a child, my earliest memories of singing was at church and in my elementary school (KTTPS) choir under the leadership of the late Mr. Dale Haldenby. I remember singing around campfires and at camp, and singing along to tunes in the car. In High School I joined the… Continue reading SHIR: Revisiting SING (Shiru l-YHWH)