Things I Never Knew (TINK)
The Hebrew language is very interesting. First, it is written from right to left. (So strange for us, right?)
Secondly, there is such a thing as Hebrew acrostics: QUICK DEFINITION: An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter (or syllable) of each line spells out a word, message, or the alphabet. Such acrostics can aid as a mnemonic device to aid in memory retrieval. It’s where we get our word “acronym”.
You still with me?
Ok. Check out your Bible, Psalms 119. You will see that every eight verses are set apart by the next occurring letter of the Hebrew alphabet….AND each letter in each section begins with the letter of the corresponding section. (See first photo). Go look up Psalm 119 in your Bible. I’ll wait.
That’s pretty neat in and of itself, right? Hold on. We haven’t gotten to the good part yet.
Let’s go back to that inscription Pilate put on the cross. Remember, he wrote “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews” and the Jewish priests didn’t like it. The Jewish language doesn’t include the little articles and such that the English language has, so to most of us it would have read
“The Jews The King The Nazarene Jesus”
In Hebrew it would read
“HaYehudim v Melech HaNazarei Yeshua”
So if we take the first letter of each word to form the acrostic (or acronym as we call it) we have the word HVHY. But WAIT…..Hebrew reads RIGHT to LEFT!! So then we would have what letters??? YHVH. Where have we heard that????
Are you still with me??
YHVH is the tetragrammaton of the Jewish language (YHWH-W is only in the modern) . It’s how they wrote down the name of God. They did not use vowels so it is only consonants. It’s where we get our word Jehovah or YehWeh.
“Then said the CHIEF PRIESTS OF THE JEWS to Pilate….” Don’t write that!!! (My translation) (John 19:21)
Oh my goodness, friends, do you see it? Those Jewish priests knew the acrostic system. They knew exactly what that spelled out when Pilate wrote it. Don’t you wonder if that’s why they got upset….they didn’t want a sign on the cross that labeled Jesus as Jehovah or YehWeh!! Pilate, however, said, “What I have written I have written.” Meaning….”I’m not changing it.” “It is written…” And so once more Jesus proved who He was through language, through the alphabet, through His Word.
AMAZINGNESS!!!!! ARE YOU EXCITED YET??? WAIT TILL YOU READ PART 3!!!!
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Amazing!!! Great writing and I have to say that I’ve been fascinated by the Torah, the Hebrew language, and the Jewish perspective ever since I read a book called “Betrayed!” If you haven’t read it look it up. I highly recommend it. So far your posts are compelling and I can’t wait to read and learn more. I am indeed excited! Thank you.
Oh I haven’t heard of that book! I will check it out. Thank you for your comment. Please come again!
Did you know that in Moses’ days under the original picture language a Yoo represented a hand. Hey represented a window meaning look or behold and a Vav was a tent peg or a nail.
So the name of God was Hand behold, nail behold.
See ya in class Sunday.
I did know this but had forgotten! I think I actually did a write up on this at one time. I will have to go dig it up. Thanks!