The English text below is the translation of the first few verses in Genesis. Write thecorrect word or phrase beside the Hebrew words in the columns below. Check your answers on page 34.

1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the

face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from

the darkness.

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the

evening and the morning were the first day.

ית 1. בראש

ברא .2

מים ש .3

ארץ .4

תוהו .5

חש .6

תהום .7

רוח .8

מרחפת .9

מים .10

יהי .11

אור .12

טוב .13

יבדל .14

יום .15

לילה .16

ערב .17

בקר .18

ActivityActivity

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Meanings of the Names of theFive Books of Moses

The Hebrew names of the Five Books of Moses are בראשית ,שמות, ויקרא במדבר,and דברים. The English names are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. If you think the English names are direct translations of the Hebrew ones, think again. As you'll see below, the meanings of the English names are quite different from those of the Hebrew names. Sometimes, they are even more appropriate for the book. Below, you'll find some explanations for the various Hebrew and Englishnames.

Genesis (Bereshit) בראשיתThe Hebrew name of this book comes from the first word in the Bible. Theword בראשית expresses the beginning of something. This word expresses a new situation, a situation in which nothing occurred beforehand.This word comes from the Hebrew root ר-א-ש, which means head or beginning. Because of the importance of this word in the Bible, commentators strive to define it. In fact, this Biblical word has the most commentaries written about it.

Exodus (Shmot) שמותThe word Exodus means Great Leaving. As the title of the second book of the Bible, this word refers to the Israelites' leaving of Egypt. In Hebrew, the title of the book is שמות, which means names. The Hebrew name is derived from the text at the very beginning of the book, when the names of the Israelites who left Egypt are listed. Leviticus (Vayikra) ויקראThis book deals with the rules of the Priests, and the name Leviticus is an accurate description of such a list. In Hebrew, the name is much simpler; it is which means read or called out. This word appears several times in the ויקראBible, and its meaning is 'And God said'.

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Numbers (Bemidbar) במדברThe title of this book in English is Numbers. In Hebrew, however, the title of the book means In the Desert. This book deals with the history of the Jewish people in the desert. In this case, therefore, the name of the book in Hebrew suits its content better than the English title.By the way, the name of the book in Hebrew should be pronounced bemidbar, and people usually say bamidbar, but it's unclear where this error comes from.

Deuteronomy (Dvarim) דבריםThis book is primarily concerned with the speech Moses gives to the Israelites before they enter the Land of Israel. The literal meaning of the Hebrew name is things. The Hebrew title comes from the root ד-ב-ר which is also the base of the word דיבור (dibur) speaking and refers to the first verse of the book."...These are the words" (eleh ha'devarim) אלה הדבריםThe English name of the book comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew phrase in Deuteronomy 17:18 - משנה התורה הזאת (mishneh ha'torah ha'zot). What should have been "a copy of this law" was erroneously translated as "this second law".

Biblical Facts and Figures

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Biblical Firsts

~ The first shepherd: Abel

~ The first murder victim: Cain

~ The first grandson: Enoch, son of Cain and grandson of Adam and Eve

~ The first man with two wives: Lemech, husband of Adah and Tzilah

~ The first city builder: Enoch

~ The first musician: Jubal, who played the violin and organ

~ The first carpenter: Noah, who built the Ark

~ The first prophet: Abraham

~ The first metal: Gold

ActivityActivity

English Translation Pronunciation Biblical Hebrew

night and day tohu va'vohu 1. בראשית

divided yo'mar 2. ברא

moved upon erev va'voker 3. תוהו ובוהו

chaos and emptiness bereshit 4. תהום

created yehi 5. מרחפת

in the beginning tehom 6. יאמר

saw bara 7. יבדל

will be merachefet 8. ערב ובקר

say vayar 9. יהי

deep yavdel 10. וירא

Draw a line between the words that match up in every column.To help you, we've done the first one for you. Check your answers on page 34.

ActivityBiblical Facts and Figures

Judges~ The judge who ruled for the longest time: Tolah Ben Puah - 23 years

~ The judge who ruled for the shortest time: Yiftach HaGiladi - 6 years

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Word of the Month

בראשיתNo other word in the Bible has been analyzed and discussed as much as the word בראשית (bereshit). Earlier in this study book (see page 9) we read about the meaning of this word in the Bible. Now let's learn a little bit more about this word in other contexts.First of all, let's start with the letter ב, that isn't actually related to the base word, ראשית. In Hebrew, when the letter ב is added to a base word, the meaning of the prefix is בתו (betoch) inside. In this case, we'll translate the phrase as inside the beginning.

Now that we have reached the base word, let's understand its root. The word head. In Hebrew, this word (rosh) ראש is based upon the main word בראשיתdoesn't just mean the head of a person, but can mean the head of many things.In the Bible, the word ראש symbolizes the beginning of the creation. In Hebrew, there are many pairs of words with the word ראש, which indicate the beginning of something. For example:

the first (rosh chodesh) ראש חודש day of the month, which is essentially thebeginning of the month. השנה the first (rosh hashanah) ראש day of the new year, which is the beginning of the new year.

In addition, the word ראש indicates something important, something that leads and comes before everything else, for example:

ממשלה prime minister, head of the government (rosh memshalah) ראש

ראש chairperson (yoshev rosh) יושב

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ActivityDid You Know?The word ראש (rosh) head appears 880 times in the Bible, in various forms. As we've already mentioned, the first time the word appears is in thefirst word of the Bible, in the word .בראשיתThe second time the word appears is in Genesis 2:10, when the river that came out of the Garden of Eden is described as being parted into four .heads (roshim) ראשיםThe third time the word appears is in Genesis 3:15 when God curses the snake, referring to man who will ראש ישופ (yeshufcha rosh) bruise your head.

The word ראשית appears in the Bible 28 times. Below are a few examples:

Genesis 10:10 בבל... ממלכתו �אש�ית ו�תהיAnd the beginning of his kingdom was Babel

Genesis 23:19 תביא אדמת בכו�י �אש�יתThe choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring

Leviticus 23:10 �אש�ית קצי�כם את-עמר ו�הבאתםthen ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest

Numbers 24:20 גוי�ם עמלק �אש�יתAmalek was the first of the nations

Psalms 111:10 י�הו�ה י��את חכמה, �אש�יתThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

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The Letters of the Hebrew AlphabetSecrets, Mysticism, and Wisdom

According to ancient traditions, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are God's creation. These letters were created even before the creation of the world. In fact, Kabbalah sources say it was through these letters that God created the entire world.

Every Hebrew letter has a meaning of its own, both in its shape and its pronunciation, and these letters are the best bridge between humanity and God. The power of Hebrew letters can be learned from the following story which is from ancient Jewish sources:

There was once a man who really wanted to pray, but he didn't know how to say blessings, and he didn't know any prayers. In fact, this man only knew one thing: the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Instead of praying, the man said every letter of the alphabet, one after the other. When he finished reciting theAleph-Bet, he said, "God, I don't know a single thing aside from the letters of the Aleph-Bet. Take them and make a prayer with them." And so it was. God took the letters from the Aleph-Bet that the man had said, and made a prayer out of them.

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ActivityBiblical Facts and Figures

Prophets

~ The longest book in Prophets: Jeremiah, with 66 chapters

~ The shortest book in Prophets: Obadiah, with 1 chapter

~ The first prophet mentioned in the Bible: Abraham.

~ The prophet who stood before the largest number of kings: Hoseah, who

prophesied before Isaiah, Jotham, Achaz, Hezekiah, the Kings of Judah,

and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Nevat, king of Israel.

~ The first prophetess mentioned in the Bible: Miriam.

Every Hebrew letter also has a meaning of its own. For example, the first letter of the alphabet is א (aleph). This letter symbolizes God. It symbolizes the only one. The second letter is ב (bet). It symbolizes many.

Let's take a look at the word אב (av) father. It is made from the first two letters of the Aleph-Bet. After a son is born to a man, the man becomes an אב and he goes from being an א, the only one, to being many. Therefore, we add the ב, which symbolizes many, to the letter א.

In upcoming issues, we'll learn about each and every letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and its meaning. We'll also learn about the graphic significance of every letter. With these lessons, you won't just learn about how to use the Hebrew letters, you'll also learn about their secrets, and their mystical meanings.

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Modern Words with Biblical Roots ?

Drill and Pistol (makdecha and ekdach) מקדחה ואקדחThere are many modern tools that we use in our daily lives. The names of some of these tools are taken from Biblical sources that were written thousands of years ago, long before these tools were invented.

Let's look at the words אקדח (ekdach) pistol and מקדחה (makdecha) drill. As you can see in the text above, the word אקדח is found in the Bible, in Isaiah 54:12.First, let's start with the word אקדח. A pistol makes holes and from this connection and function the word מקדחה was formed, as it's purpose is to make holes, as well.

The above text is part of the Prophet Isaiah's prophesy of a good future for Israel and Jerusalem. He prophesizes about the salvation that God will bring to Israel and describes magnificent construction in Jerusalem. Isaiah evendescribes the rocks that will be used to build the city of Jerusalem, and what will be used to make the borders of the future country.

א נחמה; סע�ה, עני�ה

בספי�ים. ,ו�יסדתי ,�אבני ,בפו מ�ביץ אנכי הנה

אקדח; לאבני �וש�ע�י ,�ש�מש�תי כדכד ו�ש�מתי

לאבני-חפץ. ,ו�כל-גבול

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O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,

behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles,

and all thy border of precious stones.

(Isaiah 54)

ActivityBiblical Facts and Figures

Among other things, Isaiah says that walls around Jerusalem will be built with אבני אקדח (avney ekdach) rocks that have been drilled. These rocks are precious and can only be extracted from the stone through the use of special quarrying techniques. This quarrying is done using strong drills that cut through the sturdy rock. In other words, it is impossible to cleave stone made from precious rocks with simple hammers. Therefore, the prophet uses the term אקדח to describe the technique of how of the rocks are formed and shaped.

Unfortunately, nowadays the word אקדח, only has negative connotations as it refers to pistol and violence.

The Western Wall's drilled rocks

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The Bible was originally written in the language in which you are learning it, a language known today as Biblical Hebrew. This version of the Bible was the only version for many years, but during the third century BCE, a Greek-Egyptian emperor named Ptolemy II Philadelphus decided that he wanted the Bible translated into Greek.

According to ancient sources, Ptolemy gathered seventy (some sources say seventy-two) Jewish sages and ordered them to undertake the task. They were sent to the Island of Pharos, not far from Alexandria, and lived there while they translated the text. Each sage was sequestered in his own room, and worked completely on his own, never meeting with the other sages. The sages presented their translations on the same day. The remarkable thing about the translations was that they were almost entirely identical. In fact, only thirteen differences were found throughout the entire texts of all of the sages.

These seventy translations became known as the Septuagint, a Greek word which means "translation of the seventy interpreters". The text is often referred to with the abbreviation LXX, and this is the version of the Bible many people came to use afterwards. In fact, although Jewish people base their study of the Bible on the original Hebrew text, most Christian versions of the Bible are based on the Septuagint.

The day in which the translations were finished was a day of great celebration.And for many years afterwards, festivals were held at the Island of Pharos marking this special occasion.

The SeptuagintOne Book, Seventy Translations

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השבעים תרגום מתוך Page from the Septuagintדף

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Picture of the Month ?

�הים, בין האור ובין החשו�י�בדל אva'yavdel Elohim beyn ha'or u'veyn hachoshech

and God divided the light from the darkness

One of the things created on the first day of Creation was the light. In order to make light, one must differentiate it from darkness. Therefore, the Bible says that God הבדיל (hivdil) differentiated from the light and dark.

Painting by Gustave Doré

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