(This began as one writing, but is being divided••• more at a later time Abba willing.)
Primarily to show how we are using a relatively simple approach here•••
Now that you have somewhat seen it in action, here is some of the explanation behind it. It has never been the goal here to make Hebrew scholars. I would not have a clue how to do so.
From Genesis 3:
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ”
Genesis 3:3
3 וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בֹּ֑ו פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃
Note there isn’t actually a “but” there••• something we have added.
Genesis 3:3
3 ••• אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים
We begin with the verb, אָמַ֣ר:
אָמַ֗ר
BDB אמר_1
GLOSS qal: say; niphal: be said; be called; hiphil: declare
PARSING Hebrew, verb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular
Note BDB references sometimes have a number with the specific word, which lets you know that there are more than one way this particular set of consonants is translated. This example is “He said” אָמַ֣ר:
אָמַ֗ר
↓
אמר_1
Further details list four alternatives that BDB gives
1. Say
2. Say in the heart (= think)
3. Promise
4. Command (esp. late)
Those four BDB interpretations are all of the first of these words (h0559. אָמַר ’âmar) that are listed in Strongs looking identical except for the vowel pointing:
h0559. אָמַר ’âmar
h0560. אֲמַר ’ămar
h0561. אֵמֶר ’êmer
h0562. אֹמֶר ’ômer
h0563. אִמַּר ’imar
h0564. אִמֵּר ’imêr
For verbs, in addition to the “tense” (completed [perfect] or not completed [imperfect]), the “person” and “number” (first – I, me, my, we, us, our; second – you, your; third – they, them, their), and the “gender” (masculine or feminine – Hebrew has no neuter as some languages do), there is what is termed a “stem,” to which you have been minimally exposed on this website. There is also “voice,” which means I do something (active voice) or something is done to me (passive voice). My great goal has been to keep the entire complicated process as simple as possible for simple minds like mine. I intend to continue in that direction. This very brief, incomplete, introductory overview is to let you see the reasoning in what I have been presenting to you, hopefully on a much more basic level than how I was taught Hebrew and how it appears most Hebrew teaching is done. I am not teaching in order to tell you this is preferred over what the scholars tell you. I am no scholar. I am approaching it in this manner because the traditional teaching is too complex for my brain connections. I am using just a couple of simple methods. The following website we have referred to before. I think their methods with good graphics help a lot.
https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Ten/Introduction/introduction.html
This is a graphic from that link. Get this mental picture.
And recall some basic, foundational rules:
① the basic building blocks of Hebrew words are letters which themselves have meaning, unlike English
⒜ the most common Hebrew word for “word” is דבר, from the root דבר (p.46 combine separate items into one) – a “word” takes the individuals, each of which have character/nature of their own, and forms a new character/nature, which includes attributes from each of the individual consonants, but they have to work together to make something new. How they interact is very important.
⒝ you may be able to see why Benner uses a two-letter root system* and calls them “parent” and child. The דבר concept definitely describes family. You have seen we use two-letter words a lot on this website, but show them as derived from a “family” of Variants and have maintained Judaism’s three-letter perspective. There is not a “right” or “wrong” here. There is always opportunity for learning when there are different perspectives. (Multiple Witnesses concept, which defines “truth.”)
[[*N.B. I am quoting Benner’s book The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible. I have read a recent writing of his**, where he now indicates the roots are three-letters, but still refers to the parent/child system of two letters. I appreciate (as you have seen in the work shared here) that we all continue to learn and grow and change, otherwise we how can we teach? (**retrieved from ancient_hebrew.org on 03272021)]]
② Shoresh (Hebrew: שורש, שֹׁרֶשׁ, lit. Root) is the root, the root שׁרשׁ is a verb. See this word underneath the tree, at its roots. Good mental picture. Everything of the tree comes from and is nourished by the roots. Many other influences affect how the tree grows. But there is nothing without the roots.
⒜ Strongs:
h8328. שֶׁרֶשׁ šereš; from h8327. שָׁרַשׁ šâraš; a root (literally or figuratively): — bottom, deep, heel, root.
Notice the amazingly beautiful symbolism here. The primary two witnesses are Heaven and Earth. The tree is the result of those two witnesses working together. The “Word” connection is how God chose to connect those two witnesses, Heaven and Earth. Scripture makes it very clear that we do not worship the tree, but we can use it as a means to connect what is occurring here on Earth with what is happening in Heaven. The root is the foundation of it all.
⒝ I encourage you to look particularly at #3 linked chain, and the two verses listed. It helps to know the entire Joseph story, but a quick synopsis would be that lots of bad stuff happens in Joseph’s life that none realize will eventually turn to good. AFTER you have read Ex28:14 and Gn37:36, read Gn50:26. ((another time we can discuss #1 and birds))
This is how God is active in our lives. There is the ongoing nurturing which oftentimes feels like a storm is going to uproot us, but the storm makes the roots and the trunk stronger. Occasionally a limb is lost, but the roots and the trunk are the key. They must be strong; life is full of storms.
One branch of Christianity has found a name to put on what Joseph was describing, and what we are describing here. It obviously does not belong to any denomination, but is a universal concept. The name is a helpful one, I think, because it gives us words by which we can communicate. That name is called “Prevenient Grace,” the “grace that goes before.” It is the preparation in our lives, the doors we thought were closed that lead to a better way, the testing, the challenges that we don’t like when we are living them, but afterwards can look back to see the Wisdom behind it all.
⒞ Let’s briefly look at a different consideration, as we have been doing, just to help broaden the perspective a little. Use שורש and separate it as שן + רש, some connections could be:
p.257 שוה level; set evenly and smoothly;; CM control movement/action (E5)
+
p.250 רשה control; act arbitrarily;; CM satisfy/harm (E84)
In what way is God “in control” of our lives? God, again, is outside of time, seeing the “big picture.” What seems to us like harm may bring a leveling. What seems to us like being satisfied may simply make us weak, if it goes on too long. (The whole complacency issue.) God has to level out the influences in our lives, so that we are both nurtured and grow strong. Our country’s system of “checks and balances” is built upon the same idea. Half of the US was devastated by the most recent presidential election. The other half was devastated by the one before. Always getting “our way” leads to disaster. This is why we are not to eat (partake) of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God sees the “big picture.” We have no perspective but “I, me mine.” Be very clear, it is not the Tree of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong, but Knowledge of Good and Evil.
③ Hebrew verbs are “action verbs”
From the graphic above, in #4, note, “The most basic form of the verbal root is known as the Pa’al פעל…” The Hebrew word for verb is פעל. And the root פעל:
p.204 פעל work hard toward a goal;; CM פעל have/lack control (B11)
As you look at all of the stems below, notice they all have “action.” Again, we are, in our simplistic approach, for specific reasons, paying no attention to the Masoretic markings, with the vowels. The goal is to look at what was there in Scripture before the vowels were added, hundreds to thousands of years later than the writing. See the screenshot below from a video explaining the stems. Again, no attempt here to make you Hebrew grammarians. We are not going to talk about “weak and strong” and what follows what rules, etc. here. Just giving some basic concepts to see if they work for you.
[[ An aside here that will likely get your temperature rising. I am asking no one to change their foundational beliefs. I am asking everyone to be willing to cross over (עבר) the lines that were drawn in the sand two thousand years ago and talk to one another, just like I’m asking Trumpites and Bidenites to cross over lines drawn in the sand. Communication, calm speaking (not shouting) is the key to understanding and forward movement.
Again many of you will call me a blasphemer and read no further. Some things just need to be said. There was a man who lived two thousand years ago named Yeshua that many currently call Jesus. Some believe the man was God. Some believe the man was Messiah. Some believe he was a sage. A few things perhaps we could agree upon are: first that his life changed the world; second (we have covered this all earlier in the website, but time now for a revisit) the man was Jewish; third, his teachings astounded, amazed people; and finally, all of the teachings this man gave were straight from the word of God, which was the Hebrew Bible (which, by the way, had no Masoretic markings, those added hundreds of years later). The point I am trying to make is that his followers were simple people, one example being fishermen. And people’s “hearts burned” when the Scriptures were opened up to them by this man (e.g. Luke 24:32). It is these same Scriptures we speak of now. And they must speak to simple people without knowing all of the grammatical details (to my simple mind’s way of thinking). So, while the rules of the use of Scripture are very helpful for preserving them (a huge accomplishment over thousands of years, thank you, thank you!), is there a simpler way to look at it that will get us in the right ballpark for understanding how it touches our individual lives? ]]
About stems: (a video a little over 11 and a half minutes long)
If you don’t want to watch the entire video, with the man’s delightful accent, here is a screenshot. Just get the concept first off that there are terms for action and voice, as listed, and then that there are vowel and consonant changes that indicate those. I am not certain why he does not include the “nun” נ in the changes that you see for Niphal. See the more orangey column of examples.
I did not include the “Yod” ‘ that is in the Hiphil, making the difference between the active and passive voices of Hiphil and Hophal for a couple of reasons. As you have seen, the Yod and Vav very often do not really change the meaning of the root. And, the Yod being creation or the work of the hand, pretty clearly indicates an active voice, that is, I or you or they are (with their hand) clearly causing something to happen.
י – work, make and throw, functions of the hand
י – The symbol of creation and the metaphysical
Recall the meaning of the root פעל, work hard toward a goal. CM have/lack control. We are trying to make this “common sense.” Think of the “offspring or heir” concept of the Nun נ. The child or offspring receives “passively” from the parent the traits of the parent. [[see below at ● a fuller explanation of this.]] The action occurs to them. Niphal.
You see how Clark/Hirsch explain Hiphil, Hophal, Hithpael (or Hitpael) by the Hey ה addition. It is the “causative element.” And then in the Hitpael/Hithpael it is the combined action of the Tav ת “marking the action to oneself” with the causation idea that leads to reflexive idea, doing to oneself.
The only other thing to point out is that if one ignores the Masoretic markings, the three stems Qal (Pa’al), Piel, and Pual are not distinguishable from one another. Undoubtedly this was one of the reasons the Masoretes thought it important to devise a system that helped to delineate inflection, etc., that was present in the speaking of the language. Undoubtedly that is something we miss with the technique shared here. Once again, as relayed here before, “intensity” is dependent a great deal on the translator and there are pluses and minuses to that. The technique here helps one see many connections. It likely loses some specificity. That is why we share together the witness from both directions. It is very easy with our Greek background to want to get too black and white in interpreting Hebrew, where answers are much more often “both/and” rather than “either/or.” The Hebrew is quite organic.
אָמַ֗ר
BDB אמר_1
GLOSS qal: say; niphal: be said; be called; hiphil: declare
PARSING Hebrew, verb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular
Here we have shared the simplest form, a qal masculine singular. Which is the same as the root. Other derivatives not spelled with exactly the same consonants include (from TWOT):
118b † אִמְרָה (aimrâ) utterance, speech.
118c אֶמְרָה (aemrâ) utterance, speech.
118d אָמִיר (aāmîr) top, summit of tree.
118e מַאֲמַר (maaămar) word, command.
Other derived words would include names, such as names like
h0568. אֲמַרְיָה ’ămaryâ
h0569. אַמְרָפֶל ’amrâp̱el
And likely h8559. תָּמָר ṯâmâr
And recall that אמר is a Derivational Variant in a family, with related words:
• מַר-[phrase] angry, bitter(-ly, -ness), chafed, discontented, [idiom] great, heavy.
• מַר-drop.
• מֹר-myrrh.
h4751. מַר mar; or (feminine) מָרָה marah; from h4843. מָרַר mârar
GV p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.143 מרא expand [enlarge]; p.137 מור exchange; p.105 יםר exchange; (p.157 נמר spotting) CM ימר effect change
DV אמר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.137 מור exchange > p.12 אמר organize speech to be heard and understood
DV מאר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose > p.135 מאר perforate; destroy
DV מהר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.137 מור exchange > p.136 מהר hasten to act, usually to cement a relationship
CM (מרר no cognates); מרה spread (B69); מרא spread (B69); (מור no cognates); ימר effect change (C33); אמר bring together (A52); מאר and מהר move in directed manner (B51); (נמר no cognates)
And p.296, the Derivational Variant targets or individualizes the action.
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There is much more, so I am stopping here to get this posted. Another part to follow. It seems always to grow beyond my anticipation. The later entry will include the ● reference from above… Apologies. For the later part(s?) you will need to keep in mind the tree graphic from above.
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