Kim, thanks for your thoughts! I understand your love of Hebrew. Long ago I wrote a book called “Listening to the Language of the Bible” that you might like. It’s got a lot more insights on delightful words like these. A newer version of the book will come out in just a few months from Focus on the Family/ Tyndale Publishing.

🙂 We’re still working on it! (I’m the reason for the delay.)

Kendyl, sorry for the wait for posting. I’m glad the poem blessed you, and I pray God’s blessings for your move to Texas!

For the past few weeks, I have been diving into Biblical Hebrew while developing a study guide around Hebrew key words in Scripture. What fascinates me most is exactly what you describe here: Hebrew words are not merely vocabulary. They feel like entire realities waiting to be discovered.

Today I was reflecting on words like Emet (truth), Derech (way), and Or (light), and I suddenly realized that I am no longer simply reading biblical verses. I am beginning to see the world behind the words.

Your example with Shema captures this beautifully. Some Hebrew words simply cannot be reduced to a single English equivalent because they carry a richness that invites us to think differently, see differently, and even live differently.

One of the discoveries that has deeply moved me is that Hebrew often makes a word come alive. It stops being a concept and becomes something tangible, relational, and experiential. A word becomes a doorway into a reality.

Reading your article felt like finding someone who had already put into words something I was only beginning to discover for myself.

Thank you for sharing this perspective. It encouraged me greatly and reminded me that learning Hebrew is not only about language—it is about learning to see Scripture with fresh eyes.

I read an article that said this reference in Isaiah was likely in the context of one castrated in captivity. When one was in captivity and elevated to place of position within the kings court, like Daniel and his friends etc, they were castrated. Could Isaiah be speaking about that situation and telling people not to hinder those who were made into a eunuch at the hands of another during a time of captivity?

I respectfully disagree with you Frank. The Bible is a historical account about people in a completely different culture than the West. One does indeed need to understand original words and languages because translators miss the nuances when they change words/sentences/ideas/ thoughts into a new language during translation. It’s the Holy Spirit that illuminates the pages and brings understanding as we study and learn and discover, not the man translating words. Hebrew had around 8000 words compared to hundreds of thousands of words available to modern day translators. The Bible is inspired not the editor. Westerners are Individualist, ancients were Collectivists. Night and day.

I am in a 6 week class about evangelism. The teacher has shown a tiny morsel of Hebrew That interests me, because of the way the Hebrew point of view magnifies the subject. I believe that having the knowledge of the Hebrew thinking can create an expanded education.