על (al)
A common word that we have looked at many times before meaning "upon", "on" or "above".

כן (keyn)
The original meaning of this word is a base as a firm support and is used to mean "so" and is the Modern Hebrew word for "yes" in the sense of "it is so" or "it will be firm". When the words על כן are used to together they mean "upon so" or "therefore".

יעזב (ya-a-zav)
The verb עזב means "to leave". The י prefixed to the verb identifies the verb as masculine, singular, imperfect tense. The perfect tense means completed action and is similar to our past tense. This verb is translated as "he will leave" where the "he" is the subject of the verb.

איש (iysh)
This word means "man" and is the subject of the verb. In Hebrew the subject of the verb follows the verb rather than precede it as is done in English.

את (et)
Another word we have looked at before which indicates that a direct object of the verb follows.

אביו (a-vav)
The word אב means "father". The suffix יו, pronounced "av", is the pronoun "him". Combined these mean "father of him" or "his father". Normally the suffix ו, pronounced "o", is used for the pronoun but do to grammatical reasons the suffix יו is used.

ואת (v-et)
The prefix ו means "and" and again we have the word את .

אמו (iy-mo)
The word אם means "mother" and the suffix ו means "him". Combined they mean "mother of him" or "his mother".

ודבק (v-da-vaq)
The verb דבק means "to adhere" and is identified as masculine, singular, imperfect tense. The imperfect tense means incomplete action and is similar to the English present or future tense. When the ו is prefixed to a verb it means "and" but also reverses the tense of the verb. Therefore, the word דבק means "he adhered" but, ודבק means "and he will adhere".

באשתו (b-iysh-to)
The prefix to this word is ב meaning "in" or "with". The suffix to this word is ו, the pronoun meaning "him". The root word is אשה, pronounced "iyshah" (but the original spelling of this word is אישה) and means "woman". This is the same word as the one above, איש meaning "man", but written in the feminine form by adding the ה. Wherever a feminine word ending with the ה is used in the construct state, the ה is changed to a ת. The full meaning of this word is "in woman of him" or "in his woman". There is no Biblical Hebrew word for "wife" instead it is "his woman", "my woman", etc.

והיו (v-hay-u)
The root word here is היה meaning "to exist" and is commonly translated with the English verb "to be" or one of its conjugations such as is, was, are, etc. The verb היוwyh (hay-u) identifies the verb as masculine, plural, perfect tense and would be translated as "they were". Even though the subject of the verb is "masculine plural" it is referring to the man and his woman. When a plural is of both genders the masculine takes precedence. Because the ו is prefixed, the tense is reversed to imperfect and is therefore translated as "they will be". You may also notice that the last letter, ה, from the root היה is missing. When a verb root ending with a ה is conjugated, the ה is dropped.

לבשר (l-va-sar)
The prefix ל means "to" or "for" and the word בשר means "flesh" and is idiomatically used for a "person".

אחד (e-hhad)
This word is commonly translated as "one" but, the idea of "one" is an individual, single entity. This word actually means "a unit" or "unified", a combined entity. We think of "one tree" as a single entity but, in the Ancient Hebrew mind it is a unit of many parts; roots, trunk, branches and leaves.

Below is a translation of this verse from a Hebraic perspective.

Q: Is there a difference between heaven and heavens? Is one spiritual and the other physical?

A: The first thing to keep in mind is that in Ancient Hebrew thought there is no separation between the physical and non-physical, they are the one and the same. An example of this is in Psalm 24:4 where "clean hands" and "pure heart" are one and the same thing. A common form of Hebrew poetry the "and" connects two phrases as one and the same thing. Clean hands are a sign of a pure hearth and visa versa.

The heavens is the physical skies and it is also the place of God, one and the same thing. It is the western (i.e.: Greek) thinking that separates the two realms. We often see the "spirit" as spirtual and the "body" as physical but in Hebrew thought they are one and the same thing. Without the spirit (actually breath in Hebrew) the body cannot survive and with the body the spirit cannot survive.

In Hebrew the word shamayim (Strong's #8064) is in the plural (the "yim" ending is the plural suffix). This word is always written in the plural. You may see "heaven" or "heavens" in your Bible but they are both the word shamayim. There are several Hebrew words that are always written in the plural - water is mayim and face is paniym (yim and iym are both plural endings). Personally, I prefer to translate the Hebrew word shamayim as "skies". This eliminates any confusion between heaven, heavens and sky.

From a Ancient Hebrew perspective, who know nothing about gas giants which, we call the sun and stars, millions or billions of miles away called the sun or stars or the vast expanse of space. They saw the "heavens" as a "sheet" that covers the earth just like the Hebrews nomadic tent that covers the family. In fact, from the inside of a nomadic tent the cover looks just like the night sky, stars and all.

I believe the connection that the Hebrews made between God and his "host" is that they can see the "sheet" of the skies but they cannot see beyond it, neither can they see or even speculate on what is beyond that sheet. The Ancient Hebrew mind did not concern itself with things they could not see, hear, feel, smell or touch. It is Greek thinking that delves into the philosophy of the unknown. The Hebrew word "olam" is usually translated as "eternity" or "forever". This word literally means "what is beyond the horizon" or "hidden". To the Hebrews God is olam, not eternal but "unknown" or "hidden".

Please feel free to use, copy or distribute any material within the "Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine" for non-profit educational purposes only.