Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Explores the Heart of God

by Chaim Bentorah

""Thou hast ravished my heart"-in the Hebrew, this is one of the most beautiful and at the same time heartbreaking words that I have ever run across in my forty years of studying biblical Hebrew. You see, it is only one word in Hebrew: livabethini. This comes from the root word levav, which means heart. The first thing to note is that this is one of the rare cases where the double Beth is used. The Beth represents the heart. A double Beth represents God's heart and our hearts joined together in a love relationship. It is a picture of two hearts opening up to each other and becoming equally vulnerable. Do you want to understand God's heart? Look at your own; it was created in His image. Is not your heart wounded when someone you care about just ignores you? Do you not grieve when someone you look forward to being with calls five minutes before your time together and says, "Oh, sorry, I am too busy for you right now'? What do we do to God's heart when we ignore Him or are too busy to spend a moment in prayer?

Chaim Bentorah moves from his search for God's heart to now exploring the heart of God by drilling down to the very core and soul of Hebrew words. Chaim asks the question: "What good is there to applying linguistics and science to one's translation of the Bible without an emotional context?' He presents a Hebrew word study unlike any others, for he first considers a Hebrew word in the context of God's heart."

ebook

First published June 24, 2013

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, thoughtful book, and an interesting exploration. I am a beginner, learning biblical Hebrew. While I am not in agreement with some of his theology, this book has inspired me to think more deeply when I read scripture even in translation. After all, don't we learn more from books by people we do not agree with entirely? His idea of the heart of God stopped me in my tracks.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helped me understand the Hebrew approach and reverence for Yaweh, His Word, His heart, and the method upon which God dealt with the men of the Old Testament. So often and so many times we Christians overlook the foundation of our faith, the foreshadowing of Christ, the heart of our Father so vividly explained and revealed in the pre Christ Scriptures. If we think about it, these are the very passages Jesus studied, preached and read from in the synagogues, as was His custom. For the Christian who wishes to go deeper in the Word, I recommend this book. Great read!

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author took a month's supply of words and studied the Hebrew meanings of them. It was profound and some of it nearly blew me away and brought tears to my eyes. The Hebrew language is so rich with layers upon layers of meanings.Every letter and its sometimes even their numerical values were laden with the message of God's love for us. It was incredible to put it mildly. It gave me a longing for a deeper understanding of the heart of God something we won't fully comprehend on this side of eternity.

[Sharon Loring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for Those Seeking a Closer Relationship to The True God ... the God of Truth!

Reading this series of books has brought me such joy! Other languages are so lacking definition when compared to Hebrew and Aramaic. I TRULY believe Hebrew is God's chosen language. I have found nothing to compare to these books, they explain details about God's Word that I might otherwise never have known.

[Fernando Navarro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really a devotional that helped me to understand deeper some hebrew words. I like how the author describes these words; he uses a different analogies to try to give a good exegesis of different texts. There are sometimes, though, he goes further making his hermeneutics out from the kabbalah, not giving any references to make his exegesis more reliable.

[Kathy Penrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting to know what some of the original Hebrew words mean. In many instances it deepened my understanding of a passage. In a few cases it even changed my idea about what was meant in a particular verse. The Hebrew language is rich with meaning that our English translations sometimes miss. I highly recommend.