Study the Hebrew bible through the KJV

2.2. Study the Hebrew bible through the KJV
2.2.1. Hebrew word behind English
In Genesis 1:1 we read that God ‘created’ the heavens and the earth. The word ‘createdH1254[H8804]’ has two numbers assigned to it in the KJV+TVM. The first number, H1254, provides a lexical explanation. The ‘H’ indicates that it is a Hebrew word. In the New Testament the number will be preceded by ‘G’ (Greek). The number refers to a Hebrew root word. These root words are explained in the Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries (Strong) and Brown Driver and Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions (BDB).
When I click on the number H1254, the BDB dictionary will give me the Hebrew word behind ‘created’. It is the word bārā'. In Hebrew the ‘ā’ is pronounced as the ‘a’ in ‘father.’ We will come back to the pronunciation of Hebrew words. Strong’s definition here is very basic.
A primitive root; (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes): - choose, create (creator), cut down, dispatch, do, make (fat).
BDB gives the following definition of bārā':
1) To create, shape, form
2) To be fat
What does BDB offer? It gives a subdivision of the use of the word in the Old Testament. Under ‘1a’, it indicates that when the word is in the Qal (a Hebrew verbal form), God is always the subject. The word is used when God shaped, fashioned, or created heaven and earth, individual man, new conditions, and circumstances. In Genesis 1:1, the reference is to God’s creation of heaven and earth.
BDB refers to another tool that has a more detailed study of this word, TWOT (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). This book is not available in ES or TW.
2.2.2. Concordance search for Hebrew word
What can be the next step? It might be interesting to see how this Hebrew word is used in the rest of the Old Testament or in Genesis. A search on the Hebrew word can be done based on Strong’s number. The quick search on the Hebrew word reveals that God is the subject of the verb in all its appearances in Genesis. It refers to God’s creation of heaven and earth (1:1; 2:4), every living creature in the sea (1:21), man (1:27; 2:4; 5:2; 6:7), and everything (2:3).
2.2.3. Establish the meaning of a Hebrew word
I will try to establish the meaning of another word that I came across while reading different translations. It concerns Potiphar. Who was he? According to the KJV, he was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard (Gen. 37:36). The Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) translated the word for ‘official’ as ‘eunuch’, a castrated man. The Strong’s number for this word is H5631. According to BDB the Hebrew word is saris and means ‘official, eunuch’. A quick concordance search reveals that the word saris appears 42 times in the Old Testament. The KJV translates the word a few times as ‘eunuch’ (see 2 Kgs 9:32, 20:18; Isa. 39:7; 56:3,4) and ‘chamberlain’ in Esther (1:10, 12, 15; 2:3, 14, 15; 4:4,5; 6:14, 7:9). The KJV translators, like all translators, had to make a choice. Was Potiphar ‘an official’, ‘a chamberlain’, or was he ‘a eunuch’? Neither of the two other words excludes his being a eunuch. In a case like this the student needs more than the meaning of the Hebrew word. He should consider more advanced resources, such as commentaries and theological dictionaries. Keil and Delitzsch said the following in their commentary, which is available in ES and TW.
Saris (eunuch) is used here, as in 1Sam. 8:15 and in most of the passages of the Old Testament, for courtier or chamberlain, without regard to the primary meaning, as Potiphar was married.
This explanation, however, is not conclusive but is possible. Potiphar was married, but the behaviour of his wife may suggest that something was not right in their marriage. The more advanced and modern Hebrew lexicon HALOT suggests the meaning of the word in this verse is ‘eunuch’. This is also the suggestion of the full BDB dictionary.
If a bible teacher works only from a translation, he might miss some of these issues. Translators cannot add all the different meanings and possible translations of the original word in the text. They have to make choices based on the context.
2.2.4. How to analyse a Hebrew verb
The King James Version with Strong’s Tense Voice and Mood allows the student to do more than just word studies and concordance searches. With this tool it is possible to study the grammatical form of the verbs in the original languages. The software comes with a TVM dictionary (Strong’s with Tense Voice and Mood). This tool is only available for the verbs. I will go back to the word ‘created’ in Genesis 1:1 to illustrate this.
[See image04]
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The word has three Strong’s numbers (H1254 [H8804] H853), which are highlighted. We looked at the first number in the previous section. The third number actually is not related to the word ‘created’. It is a particle in Hebrew which is not translated into English. It refers to the object of the verb. The grammatical code is the number between brackets: [H8804]. The TVM dictionary selected explains this number. It says that the stem of the verb is Qal and the mood is perfect.
English word|Hebrew|Stem|Mood|
Created|bārā'|Qal|Perfect|
Can you recall what BDB said about the word for ‘created’ in the Qal form? It said it always refers to God. What is Qal and what is Perfect? On the screenshot you will see that TVM refers to two other numbers. These numbers will give an explanation for the Qal and the Perfect. The Qal stem [H8851] is explained as follows:
Qal is the most frequently used verb pattern. It expresses the ‘simple’ or ‘causal’ action of the root in the active voice.
The Perfect tense [H8816] has a simple explanation, ‘the Perfect expresses a completed action’. This is followed by a more detailed elaboration. This elaboration is necessary, because of the complexity of the Hebrew verbal system. If we use this simple explanation we may explain ‘created’ in Genesis 1:1 as a simple completed act of God in the past. The judgment of the student should not be based on his or her own analysis alone. It is critical to consult other advanced resources. As stated earlier, there are not enough resources for Hebrew and Aramaic to guide the beginner reader through ES and TW. The student should tread cautiously. For now it is important to rely on the Keil and Delitzsch commentary (K&D) and other technical commentaries which explain the Hebrew and Aramaic text. I will refer to some helpful works in the final chapter of the book. K&D made the following remarks about ‘created’:
In Qal…( bārā') always means to create, and is only applied to a divine creation, the production of that which had no existence before.
What can we learn from this? God created heaven and earth. They did not come into being due to a big bang or through the process of evolution. It was a direct act of God.
In conclusion, then, it is possible to study the Hebrew bible through the KJV. The resources in ES and TW allow the student to do word studies, concordance searches of the original texts and grammatical analysis of the verbs. In the next section, this is illustrated for the New Testament.