Shalom, John!

 

I get regular e-mails on learning Hebrew from Israel. Below is a note from

 

Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg,
Research Professor of Jewish and Christian Studies
Email: Eli.Lizorkin@eteachergroup.com


Dr. Eli from Israel is here again with the next insight from Biblical Hebrew and Jewish History. Are you ready? I trust you are.

We all have heard of Bethlehem. Both King David and Jesus Christ were born there. However, what does the word Bethlehem� mean in Hebrew and Aramaic? Why is what happened there in history? The famed city lies south of Jerusalem. It was often called Bethlehem of Judea, because there was also Bethlehem of Galilee. Rachel, one of Israel's matriarchs, was laid to rest there. Ruth the Moabite (David's grandmother) made her famous declaration about joining Israel there as well (Ruth 4:13, 22). Samuel, the prophet who anointed David to rule over Israel, was from Bethlehem (1 Sam.1). The water that three soldiers brought to David's cave which sustained his life was also from Bethlehem (2 Sam.23:13-17). The prophet Micah declared that the ultimate King of Israel would also be born in this town (Micah 5:2). So clearly, this town was of enormous spiritual significance in Israelite history.

Ok, so that's the history, but is there something in the original language that we cannot see in translation? There answer is a resounding YES!

The word Bethlehem is actually made up of two Hebrew words: Beit (House) and Lechem (Bread). The meaning emerges clearly. Bethlehem is nothing short of - that's right - the House of Bread! It is interesting that in Aramaic (a parallel to Hebrew Semitic tongue) the word Lechem� does not mean bread, but rather meat. This tells us that the idea behind the House of Bread is an idea of food, nourishment and life sustenance!

Isn't it fascinating?! Please, pass this email to your friends! Let Jewish History and Biblical Hebrew continue to enlighten our study of these Ancient Scriptures.

It is just lately that I have this compelling need to understand, and perhaps learn to speak Hebrew. IT MAYBE THE LANGUAGE OF HEAVEN.

One shall have to make a plan to to get a special keyboard, and software if one is going to respond in the language in which our Lord JESUS  spoke.

 

YbIC,

Keith Davidson