Revision as of 15:57, 6 August 2019

Before God spoke and created the heavens and the earth, he did at least four things that we know of: He created an alphabet, he formed the letters into words, and he gave himself a name, and promised us eternal life ^[1]

Though many will wish to argue these points, there is no basis for an argument. If the alphabet was not formed by God, then we will be observing phenomena which occurred by chance. And argument is just a distraction from making the observations. If these things happened by chance, one must ask: at what point does the probability of it occurring by chance make it impossible?

If God created the alphabet, then even those who do not wish to learn Hebrew may wish to know why he created it.

The numbers

Hebrew does not have a number system apart from the alphabet. Each letter is also a number. The first 22 letters are the alphabet. The last six are final form letters used when the associated letter is found at the end of a word. Though a final form letter sounds like a customary letter, it's metaphor is different, since the stroke which form the meaning are different.

In the alphabet, the tov ת is the last letter. In the numbers, the final shin is the last number. It equals 1000, but there is no font character for the letter since it is never used in forming a word.

The names of the letters

Each letter not only has a symbol and a number, but it has a word which is it's name. The aleph has the symbol א and the name אלף. Since the name is a word, it also may have different meanings. Aleph אלף means 'one thousand'. Jesus and the apostles sometimes play with the name, such as "A day is like a thousand years." ^[2] Or perhaps there is another hint of word-play in "The first will be last and the last will be first" since aleph means one thousand and the final shin has a value of 1000.

There are also references to the number of a name ^[3] The number of the name of a letter is derived by reading the letters in the name as numbers. Aleph would be 1+30+800. Not many references to these have been found yet ^[4]

Metaphor

The metaphor of each letter is a big idea. All that God created, all that we can think or say is contained in twenty-seven of the twenty-eight letters. It is a mistake to think that a letter represents a word rather than an idea. There is not a simple decoder ring. You must learn to think in metaphor.

If I say "he met his Waterloo", it is a reference to Napolean's defeat at Waterloo. In the most simplistic way, it simply refers to a defeat. But understanding it in the most simple way loses much of the rich idea that is being communicated. Napolean was overconfident, he was ill-prepared, and he met an opponent that was not easily scared away by Napolean's reputation. A more subtle reference might be that the supply lines were too long. This is thinking in metaphor. The reference has many ways that it could be expressed or many subtle ideas upon which to focus.

There are primary and secondary metaphor. Distinguishing between them is not a critical skill unless a detailed proof is required. Generally, these detailed proofs will be desired by those in academic pursuits which would be tedious for the rest. Occasionally, when a metaphor is stated in a way which is not immediately recognizable, a brief explanation may be required.

The letters

Aleph א

Bet ב

Gimel ג

Dalet ד

He ה

Vav ו

Zayin ז

Chet ח

Tet ט

Yod י

Kof כ

Lamed ל

Mem מ

Nun נ

Samech ס

Ayin ע

Pe פ

Tsadi צ

Qof ק

Rosh ר

Shin ש

Tov ת

Final Kof ך

Final Mem ם

Final Nun ן

Final Pe ף

Final Tsadi ץ

Final Shin

References

1. ↑ . Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world [aeons - time] began;
2. ↑ 2Pe 3:8 ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
3. ↑ Re 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
4. ↑ This hermeneutic has only recently been discovered.