Shabbat Shalom

Like the Alphabet,

The letters in Hebrew are called the Alef - Beyt and they are presented on my blog from bottom to the top so you can learn them order, then to read them right to left. You will see what the original "Bible" said and what the names meant as they went through the stories of old.

Here is Mem: Symbolizing water (it can also mean chaos (stormy water), mighty, or blood .

It's the 13th letter. It is a consonant . It is also the number 40 when used as a number.

It' sounds like an English "M" but has two forms it can take. The one above is anywhere in a word.

Today we find ourselves learning our second Sofit letter.

The one on the left is "Mem Sofit" (final M). Then we have the normal "Mem" and a letter that can sometimes be confused with Mem, "Tet". They do look somewhat similar. Tet is the one on the right with the mustache.

Another important thing about the Mem Sofit: It usually is added to make the plural form for masculine words.

Review: What is a Sofit letter?

Some letters in Hebrew change shape when they appear as the last letter in a word. That's all it means.
Mem Sofit at the end usually makes the word plural. Sometimes instead of making it plural, the Mem at the end can signify "ultra completeness".

Here is a word that is spelled Mem Yod Mem and it means "Water" or "Waters". The word Water is always in plural. Sometimes I wonder why. Water is always plural and God is always plural...

Elohim (God) is is almost always in plural when referring to the God of Israel.

Could it be the size or quantity of water on the earth? It's everywhere!
Could it be the three forms that water can take (water, ice, steam)?
Could it be that it's completely necessary - without it there is no life?

Could it be the sheer size of Elohim? He's everywhere!
Could it be the three forms he takes as Father, Son, and Spirit?
Could it be that He is completely necessary - without Him there would be no life.

An example of a normal masculine plural.

In polytheistic religions elohim means gods because the other cultures had many of them.

Here is one vocabulary word - but you already know it.

"and he shall be called God with us..." a loose quote from some interpretation... well here...

King James Bible
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name >Immanuel.

Matthew 1:23
"Behold! The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" (which means, "God >with us").

One last thing.
You will also note that there are a lot of variations in style of writing these letters, especially Mem. With some practice, you will Identify the differences easily, and read them smoothly.

---

Where we are so far

source

Only 9 more letters and you will be reading!

the vowels only have about five sounds - and I will keep telling you how they sound as we go

• don't worry about the names of the vowels unless you plan to teach Hebrew.

I hope to add meaning to these little lessons each Shabbath as we go. Then we can read together with the vowel points in place and see how it all jives with English.

Thanks for taking the time to read.