The Tragedy of Babel
The story of the Tower of Babel begins thus: “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech” (Gen. 11:1). What language was this? According to the Jewish tradition, the world’s original language was none other than Hebrew. Prior to the Tower of Babel every utterance was in Hebrew. This means God created the world in Hebrew, Adam and Eve spoke Hebrew, as did Noah. But following the Tower of Babel, humanity was split into thousands of languages. Where can one go to recapture the original, primordial Hebrew? The Bible, of course!
Reverse the Sin of Babel
There is nothing quite as satisfying as reading the sacred Hebrew Scriptures in Hebrew. Perhaps you are asking yourself: how exactly will knowing Biblical Hebrew give me such an unparalleled understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures? Here is an example. In the story of the Tower of Babel we find the following verse: “That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world” (Gen. 11:9). If one reads this verse in English, it does not make very much sense. But if you go back to the original Hebrew you will find a very nice pun. The word “confused” in Hebrew is balal (בלל), which sounds very similar to the name babel (בבל). Now you understand the origin of the infamous name “Babylon”.
What are you waiting for?
The Hebrew Bible is chock full of this type of rich language. Don’t you owe it to yourself to cut through the confusion and uncover the Bible’s riches? Enroll now in eTeacher’s online Biblical Hebrew course and begin your journey today.
