Ancient Hebrew Thinking Cap

By Amie May

Stepping into the shoes of the authors and subjects of the bible, is a wonderful way to gain understanding of how that ancient people saw and understood the world around them.

They were for the most part, Hebrew. Much of the New Testament was written in Greek. Bare in mind though, that Yeshua Ha'Mashiach himself (Jesus Christ) was Hebrew, as was Saul/Paul, and the rest of the authors.

We think, many times, in an abstract, or personally removed train of thought. It is thought removed from the senses; it cannot be seen, touched, or tasted. Some examples are "faith", "believe", "eternal", "compassion", "anger", and "jealous". This train of thought is from a newer school of thinking than the Hebrew: Greek. A good example of how removed that thought can be is the old expression "that's greek to me", which expresses just how fully the individual is removed from the thought trying to be expressed. I would venture to say, that isn't a Greek expression either!

Ancient Hebrews thought connectively, and concretely concerning concepts and ideas. Their train of thought was in touch with the senses; it can be seen, touched, or tasted. Give yourself a quiz and see how you might describe an abstract thought, such as "forever" from an ancient Hebrew point of view...

It is difficult for us. We have a very Greek way of thinking. The Hebrew word is "olam", which means "forever" or as they saw it, "beyond the horizon".

How would you describe "anger", from an ancient Hebrew point of view? Hebrews chose the word "awph", which means "nose"; they described anger as they saw it with their own eyes, using words such as: "the flaring of the nose".

Although the Ancient Hebrews recorded things as they understood it, it was/is translated in an effort to help us in grasping an idea. Instead of transliterating "flaring nose", the translater records "anger".

Paul understood Greek well, among many other languages, and connected them beautifully. He knew that when he used the word "anger", that Hebrews would envision the flaring of the nose. It was sort of a reverse; almost in messages that we would miss only understanding the Greek side of things.

We describe "things" as we see them. Just for a moment, consider our description for "grass". We might think: "Long, thin, green, bendable" etc. Ancient Hebrews were different again in that they described "things" as those things function, or operate. So, if a Hebrew were asked to describe grass, the answer would be: "I feed my animals with it". "Bones" were understood and described as they functioned, for example, as in "that which endures resistance", or "strength".

An ancient Hebrew mind would describe things on a personal level, while "Greek thinking", does not. When describing grass, the Greek thinker is removed from the grass, "looking from the outside". The grass is described as it relates to itself and not how it relates to the individual.. "The grass" is "green". "Is" is connecting grass+green, within that language. Hebrews described grass as how it related to them, and their personal lives. "I feed my animals with it".

Quiz yourself and consider how you might describe the modern roadway from an ancient Hebrew point of view.. In Greek thinking; the road is flat and black...as for Hebrew, "___________".

Hebrew nouns are in reference to the action of a person, place or thing. Most of us learned in grade school the Greek noun: a person, place, or thing, so that is how we think. It is our culture. Stepping into the ancient Hebrew mindset is interesting, and alien. While Hebrews describe things on a personal level, those things are descriptive of an action. Back to the grass, or Hebrew "deshe'"...it is rooted in "dasha", meaning "to sprout", which is an action. Other things related to that same action are rooted in the same word, "dasha", such as "herb", or in Hebrew, "eseb"; they both "sprout". So, they understood a noun in relation to its's action, and describe it in relation to themselves, maybe even in how the action relates to them: "I feed my animals with that which sprouts" In the Greek, "grass" has no action.

The Hebrew noun "cloud", whether it be covering the sky, or the glory of God, or that which is brought forth by a magician/covering the magician, is taking an action: "covering" or "concealing". In Greek thought, "cloud" is an actionless noun.

There are a great many bible passages that are misunderstood by us, because our perception is so different. An eye opening example might be:

Exodus 34 14 For you shall not bow to another god, for Jehovah whose name is Jealous, He is a jealous God;

This may not sound like a God of love to us. Jealousy is such an "ugly green emotion". This sounds as if God is inconsistant and not the same, from now, and forever. A glimpse into what the Ancient Hebrew writer meant, when he chose such a word, will clear things up.

"Jealous" is the Hebrew "QaNA". Some very ancient writing sheds some insight in how they understood that word. It was written in picture form, like Egyptian heiroglyph. Each symbol, which in our modern alphabet are letters, had meaning.

"Q", the symbol for a rising and setting sun.. To the Hebrew people, the sun gathered the light to it at sunset, and the dark to it at dawn. The rising and setting sun was understood as circling the earth. The meaning of the symbol is "the circling sun which causes the gathering of light and darkness".

Seeds were understood to be the beginning of life from a parent plant, in a continuous, generational cycle. The meaning of the symbol for seed is "a continuation of life from a seed", pronounced "N".

Together, the seed placed before the rising sun, their meaning is "The gathering of materials for the building of a nest for the seeds (eggs)", pronounced "QeN".

"QaNA"/"Jealous" is written with a bull's head (symbol for strength), and then the seed and sun symbols.

When the symbols are combined, we can better understand the communication offered by the author in Exodus 34:14. It is the visual of a bird watching over the eggs and young with "jealousy" (the action, not an emotion), defending them from the enemy, preventing any other bird from entering the nest.

Just as a bird watches over and protects its' nest from predetors, so does God watch over and protect his children from predetors.

As you can see, God has not changed. To believe otherwise based on Exodus 34:14 would be to base a view on misunderstanding, and you can know that just as you feel it, when putting on that "Hebrew thinking cap".