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Dear friends,
With the hot summer season here in Israel still in its prime (although it will soon be over), we will discuss one of the wonders of nature: Water. In Hebrew, water is called
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, mayim. It is a unique form, because it is in the plural, and is always used in the |
plural - regardless of the context.
Creation versus Destruction
The first waters we hear about in the Bible are the initial waters on which God's spirit moved, and the waters which were separated in order to create the upper and lower waters, in Genesis 1.
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Like the Earth is created by the separation of waters – first upper from lower, and then the gathering of the waters so as to reveal the land, it can also be destroyed by the opposite process. The flood in Noah's time brings out all the waters hidden underground and in the heavens: "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life . . . on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened" (Genesis 7:11) |
| The expression |
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, literally "live water", is used in the Bible for running water |
(Genesis 26:19, Leviticus 14:5, Song of Solomon 4:15 and more). The literal meaning reveals the basic essence of water: it is the source of life. Many biblical stories tell us of people who were in need of water in order to survive and various miracles that happened to them: Hagar and Ishmael, who are shown a well in the desert when sent away from Abraham's home (Genesis 21); Elijah, to whom an angel showed a jar of water and a cake when he was in the desert after fleeing from Jezebel and Ahab (1 Kings 19); and more.
Elijah is nourished by an angel, Gustave Doré
In some cases, undrinkable water is miraculously sweetened or cured. One of the most common complaints of the Israelites when traveling in the desert for forty years was the scarceness of water. Right after the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites arrived in Mara
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, mar, means bitter. |
God shows Moses a piece of wood, which he throws in to the water, and the water becomes sweet (Exodus 15:22-27). Not long after that, when the Israelites cry for water, Moses provides it, according to God's command, by striking a rock, causing water to come out of it (Exodus 17:1-7). However, towards the end of the desert journey, when a similar situation occurs, Moses and Aaron are commanded to speak to the rock so as to cause water to flow from it. Rather than speaking to the rock, Moses speaks angrily to the people: "Hear now, you rebels, will we bring water for you out of this rock?"
(Numbers 20:10)
He then strikes the rock twice, and water flows from it. Because Moses and Aaron failed to fulfill God's command, and hit the rock rather than speaking to it, they are punished and not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Exegetes throughout the generations have tried to understand what exactly the sin was, other than disobedience, and why it merited such a harsh punishment.
Water in the City
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One of the most important assets for a city, in ancient and modern times, is a local source of water. The city of Jerusalem has springs surrounding it. However, at first, none of these sources of water were inside the city walls.
Towards the end of the eighth century BCE, the Assyrians were waging wars in the entire Middle East region. King Hezekiah realized that Jerusalem could not sustain a long Assyrian siege in the state it was at: most of the inhabitants lived outside the city walls, which were built some 200 years earlier in the days of David and Solomon, when the city was much smaller. There was also no access to a source of water from inside the walls. He therefore built new walls, now including a much larger area, and he built the Siloam Tunnel, to bring water from the Gihon spring into the city walls, to a pool called the Siloam Pool. |
When summarizing his reign, the Book of Kings tells us of Hezekiah:
"And all the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah" (2 Kings 20:20).
The Siloam Tunnel |
The Siloam Tunnel is especially interesting, because it is a unique case where we have external evidence confirming what is written in the Bible. 19th century archaeologists found, towards the middle of the tunnel, the famous Siloam inscription, celebrating the fact that two teams of workers who were building the tunnel from both ends met and thus completed the tunnel. This inscription is extremely important because it is one of the only written artifacts we have from the First Temple Period. From it, we learn important details about Biblical Hebrew otherwise not known to us: it teaches us about writing and spelling conventions, vocabulary, pronunciation and more. |
The Siloam Inscription (Source: http://www.bibleage.com/inscription/siloam.html)
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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| Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words |
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Transcription: Yam
Literal Meaning: Sea
The seas were thus named by God when created on the second day.
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Transcription: Yoreh
Literal Meaning: First rain of the season, or early rain of the season.
As a country dependant on rain, the different rains have special names in Canaan. The early rain, the falling of which is a sign of a plentiful rain season, has a special name together with its special symbolic importance. It is mentioned in two biblical passages: in Deuteronomy 11, there is a description of what will happen if the Israelites obey God, and among other normal occurrences which will not be disrupted, rain is mentioned as a sign of prosperity. The other mention is in Jeremiah 5:24, when Jeremiah preaches to the people that they must fear God, and realize that it is he who controls the world, including the rain.
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A famous Israeli folk song which is accompanied by a traditional Hora-type dance is in fact a quote from Isaiah 12:3:
"And you shall draw water with joy from the wells of salvation"
u-she-av-tem ma-yim be-sa-son mi-ma-ay-ney ha-ye-shu-ah
The dance, which is danced in a circle, includes a step commonly called "the she-av-tem ma-yim step". After singing the entire verse twice while dancing around in a circle, everyone goes in to the middle of the circle, singing "ma-yim ma-yim ma-yim ma-yim!" It is a dance and a song glorifying water and danced with much enthusiasm.
Watch the dance and listen to the song here
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| ClassicalHebrew Newsletter - Readers' Feedback |
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Feedback on fig tree and Amos
I loved the explanation of how the Prophet Amos perceived a warning about an end for some people, because the name of the fig was the same as the word "end". I've correctly warned of things in the same way including a recent world event. You can't help noticing things in English, like "Knower" sounds like someone who would know that there was going to be a flood. Noah and knower. Likewise altar & alter, rewrite & re-right, and echoed and a code. Or desease, dizzies & decease? I'd love to hear more historic examples of word plays from the Bible.
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Thank you so much, toda!
Best regards
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I would like to express my thanks to you for receiving your September 2008 newsletter #6. I am blessed through the teachings of the fig tree and its fruits especially learning basic Hebrew word "fig ree.".
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I am struggling to learn Hebrew as part of my seminary education.
The newsletter not only helps me relate what I am learning but also expands the my experiences, like this week's letter about figs and the different words used nd examples from scriptures.
Bless all of you for your work.
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Since i signed in to study Hebrew through this medium, i have enjoyed and have been enriched by what i read. Keep up the good job of educating and enlightening the public.
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