Linguistics

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The pictographic system which many call Paleo-Hebrew is actually Proto-Sinaitic.  Yoel walks us through the history and development of the Hebrew script, distinguishing between theory vs. actual evidence of a pictographic precursor to Hebrew. 

We are now deep into winter in the land of Israel, and there are several good Hebrew words worth discussing which appear in the Hebrew Bible. 

וַיִּקְחוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים אֶת–אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים, וַיָּבִאוּ אֹתוֹ בֵּית דָּגוֹן; וַיַּצִּיגוּ אֹתוֹ, אֵצֶל דָּגוֹן

“The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon” 1Sam 5:2

The name Dagon has been always associated with the fish like god which many try to depict as a merman–a half man, half fish.  It is understood that the word דָּג-Dag-fish is incorporated into his name.  However, this is probably a misunderstanding and the name is actually דָּגָן-Dagan-Grain.

A key point to consider when discussing the Hoshana ceremony is the historical context: by the time this practice was taking shape, many Jews had already refrained from vocalizing the divine name. This is critical in understanding the subtle ways the name of God was hinted at in prayers and rituals. The custom of not uttering God’s name is thought by some scholars to have developed as early as the 3rd or even 4th centuries BCE, although it is often mistakenly attributed to later rabbinic decrees.

Who doesn’t love a freshly baked slice of bread?  With the exception of people who have health problems, most of us see bread as a basic staple of our food.  In Hebrew the word for bread is לֶחֶם – Lechem.  Bread was the basic food in grain-based societies, and had many forms beginning with more porridge like food to sophisticated breads (in Egypt they had many types of baked goods).