Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine
May, 2004





Word of the Day
סדר (SDR)

Continuing the Hebraic view of "order" we will examine the Hebrew root סדר. The word סדר (seder) is found in Job 10:22 "A land of darkness is like a darkness of death and without order, and the light is like darkness". This imagery is reminiscent of Genesis 1 where the heavens and the earth were in total darkness, a state of chaos. The creative power of God then "ordered" (through words as in an order and in action through the arranging of the creation) the world into a state of "order".

Another Hebrew word derived from this root is שדרה (sederah). While this word is written with a sin (The shin with the "s" sound instead of the "sh" sound), it is etymologically related to words spelled with the samech (as in סדר). The word sederah means a "row", an ordered arrangement of something such as the boards of a fence. Again we see this work in the creation narrative where all of the plants, animals, water, sky, sun, moon, etc. are placed in their proper arrangement.

Their are a couple of common modern Hebrew words from the root סדר. The first is the Passover "Seder". The meal served on Passover is called a "seder", literally meaning an "ordered arrangement". The entire Passover meal is like a symphony of many parts making one harmonious sound. The second is the "sidur". This word is often translated as "prayer book" but is literally an "ordered arrangement" of prayers.

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Name of the Day
עבר ('BR - Eber)

Abraham is the first person called a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13) in the Biblical text. What does the name Hebrew mean and where does it come from? Abraham's G,G,G,G,G Grandfather was Ever (or Eber) "And Arpakshad bore Shalach who bore Ever" (Genesis 10:24). The Hebrew spelling of the word Hebrew is עברי and the Hebrew spelling of Ever is עבר. When the letter י is placed after a name it means "one belonging to the family of ..." and in this case a Hebrew is one who belongs to the family of Eber. By definition, a Hebrew is one who is descended from Ever and this would include Abraham as well as his brothers Nahor and Haran. While the lineage's of Nahor and Haran seem to disappear, probably absorbed into other cultural groups, only Abraham and his descendents remain Hebrews to this day.

The root עבר means to "cross over" or "pass through". As names play a very significant role of the ancient peoples of the Near East, this name and its meaning is indicative of Abraham and his descendents. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were nomads who by definition are ones who travel or pass through many lands on their nomadic journey. In Genesis 12:6 we read (From the KJV) "And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." The phrase "passed through" is the Hebrew verb עבר (the same word as the noun/name Eber).



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Balance

Very few sermons in our Western synagogues and churches would include the passage "I [God] form the light and create darkness, I make peace and I create evil, I am the LORD who does all of these" (Isaiah 45:7) as our Western mind sees these two forces as opposing opposites while the Eastern mind sees them both as equals and necessary for perfect balance. In the Western mind, God is only good and therefore unable to create evil. The Eastern mind sees God as a perfect balance of all things including good and evil.

Our western mind classifies all things in two categories, either it is "good" or it is "evil". One is to be sought, cherished and protected, the other is to be rejected, spurned and discarded. Let us take light and darkness as an example. We see light as good and darkness as evil. The idea of light brings to mind such things as God, truth and love. Darkness on the other hand invokes Satan, lies and hate. To the Orientals, including the Hebrews, both are equally necessary as one cannot exist without the other. In the Bible God is seen as a God of light as well as darkness "And the people stood at a distance and Moses approached the heavy darkness where God was." (Exodus 20:21). If you stare at the sun, which is pure light, what happens? You become blind. If you are standing in a sealed room with no light, what happens? You are again blind. Therefore, both light and darkness are evil and yet, both are good. In order to see we must block out some of the light as well as some of the darkness.

The words evil and bad are synonymous in Hebrew, in fact the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is actually "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad". Can good exist without the bad? Absolutely not, how could you judge something to be good if you cannot compare it to something bad? The same is true for all other concepts. Cold cannot exist without heat, or short without tall, far without near, or large without small. Our western mind usually ignores these extremes and seeks to always find the "good" or the "bad". The Eastern mind is continually seeking both the "good" and the "bad" in order to find the balance between the two. Even Solomon recognized this when he said "Do not be overly righteous" (Ecclesiastes 7:16).

Throughout the scriptures this search for balance is found, yet ignored by Westerners who do not understand the significance of balance.


Q & A


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We receive a lot of emails asking some very good questions. We will be including some of these questions here so that all can benefit from them.

Q: Was Hebrew a common language in Israel in the first century CE?

A: One of the best arguments for proving that Hebrew was a commonly used language in Israel during the first century CE (AD) is through the evidence discovered in the archeological record. Above is a picture of a letter written by Shimon Ben Kosba (Simon Bar Kockba). His name appears in the red box at the beginning of the letter. This letter was written during the second Jewish revolt of 130-135 CE and is written in Hebrew, not Aramaic or Greek. What is also interesting about this letter is that it uses contractions, which can only come from a spoken language. We consistently use contractions such as "I'm" for "I am" or "wouldn't" for "would not". The word in the yellow box is "tashmayim" a contraction for "et hashamayim" (the heavens).





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