Learning Hebrew for Biblical Study

Many years ago I decided to go back to school to learn Hebrew. No one understood why I wanted to do that, especially since I wasn’t trying to get a degree to get a job. Maybe you too won’t understand, but I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to study Yahweh’s word more and I felt the only way to do that was to learn the original language it was written in – Hebrew.

I had a wonderful teacher, Professor Covensky, who was extremely encouraging to all of her students. I’ve never had a better language teacher. I have also taken Spanish, Latin and Arabic. I was teaching myself Italian at one point also. As you can see I love languages. Although people told me Hebrew and Arabic were hard languages to learn and should not be taken together, I did exactly what they told me not to do. I took Arabic with Hebrew and found they made sense to me. I saw the same thing in both languages. Now I’m sure that’s not normal, but it was easier for me to learn them both that way.

Now the truth is since I had no one to speak to and to continue learning with I did not retain these languages. Although, I did find it easier for me to read and write them instead of speaking them. The one language I did retain is Hebrew because I study the Bible. I probably also retained it because learning Hebrew had a purpose whereas the other languages was just because I like languages.

The Benefits of Studying Hebrew

There are several benefits to studying Hebrew. Some of them include:

  • Recapturing the original root of a word
  • Learning the main language of Israel
  • Gaining an increased awareness of, and sensitivity to, cultural and linguistic diversity1
  • Obtaining more opportunity to communicate directly with Hebrew-speaking people1
  • Gaining a deeper insight into Israeli culture and language1
  • Obtaining a broader range of educational, career and leisure opportunities1
My Personal Benefits

I have gained several benefits from studying the scriptures in its original form. Some of them include

  • Opening up my understanding of the Word of Yahweh more
  • Giving me the ability to see where the names of Elohim are used and in what form (This alone has given me a greater appreciation for God’s word.)
  • Understanding others who teach from the Hebrew Scriptures as well as know when someone isn’t teaching properly from Hebrew (It has happened unfortunately.)
  • Giving me an ability to translate scriptures that I question from other translations or if I want a proper understanding in a matter

One example of studying the Bible from its original form that proved to be helpful can be found in my reply to a commenter on Facebook. I don’t always read from the Hebrew, but whenever I need to really study a topic I know I can go back to the Hebrew to gain a better understanding of the scriptures.

Who Should Learn Hebrew

While I think everyone who studies the Bible should learn Hebrew I do understand everyone will not want to for one reason or another. If you choose not to learn Hebrew it doesn’t mean anything except you choose not to learn Hebrew. However, I do think certain people would benefit greatly from learning Hebrew. Anyone who

  • Plans to travel to Israel one day for personal, business, or study,
  • Wants to gain a deeper understanding of the scriptures through its original Hebraic meaning,
  • Wants to challenge oneself, or
  • Loves learning new languages or anything else new.

Hebrew Aleph-Bet: An Introduction – Video

If you’re still with me, here is a video to get you started in studying Hebrew.

Was this video helpful in you getting started learning Hebrew? Do you know any free sources of learning Hebrew? Please let me know. Why do you want to learn Hebrew? Why don’t you want to learn Hebrew?

Prayer Time

Our Heavenly Father, who is in heaven,
          We ask for you to open up our understanding of Hebrew so we can gain a better understanding of your word. Help us to learn it quickly and easily.
In Yeshua the Messiah’s name, Amen.

References

Here are some places to where you can learn Hebrew for free or you can buy a product to help you.

Hebrew for Christians
Here you’ll find basic information about the Hebrew alphabet, vowels, and Biblical Hebrew grammar so that you can better understand the Scriptures from a Hebraic point of view. It also provides information about common Hebrew blessings and Jewish prayers, the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh), the Jewish holidays, and weekly Torah portions from a Messianic point of view.

I found this site to be very useful and easy to understand. For me it is a wealth of information. You can learn for free or buy products.

Greek / Hebrew interlinear Bible software
This is a free software program you can download onto your computer. It allows you to look up scripture, which will display the Hebrew or Greek wording, the translations of the Hebrew or Greek and the Strong’s number for you to look up. It also shows the KJV translation of the scripture. If you don’t want the software it also has the information in pdf format.

Hebrew World
This is mostly a product site. They have a lot of multimedia, software, music and books available for purchase. Learn to speak like Israelis. Enjoy Jewish traditions, history, culture, music, Bible and Jewish prayers tutorial with word-for-word translation and transliteration. This is a lot on this site so be patience.

Notes

1Why Learn Hebrew

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