Saturday, January 25, 2014

The significance of aleph as the 1st letter in the Hebrew alphabet


This is one of those posts that has much more to do with linguistic significance than possible theological relevance, but since some readers might find this subject interesting, I'll go forward. From what I've read, the majority of religiously oriented Classical Hebrew scholars believe that the language is inherently divine, or at a minimum divinely inspired in its orthography (use of written symbols to depict sounds) and its phonology (system of sounds represented by graphemes). I don't know that I completely by into that view, but what I do know is that the language must be especially significant to God since (1) He revealed Himself to the Patriarchs under various Hebrew name-titles and, (2) in Mormon theology, He continues to refer to Himself to modern-day prophets by those same names in many cases.

Aleph - First Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (click link to view video)

The video that I've imbedded gives some detailed information on the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet א (aleph) and its preeminent significance as the initial letter in the majority of God’s titles. The commentator, Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman, didn’t cite any examples, so I’ve listed the most obvious ones here. (Note to beginning Hebrew students: Hebrew is written from right to left, so in reading the examples I’ve provided below you’ll notice the initial alephs are at the far right of each word.)


Titles of Deity
God (The Father, Eloheemאלוהים
God (Eloh, El [abbreviated form]) אֱלוֹהַ, אֵל
Lord God (Adonai אֲדוֹנָיִ


In addition to what the Rabbi details in the video, it's interesting to note that the letter aleph seems to be associated with all living beings, both Supreme and mortal, since it initializes many references to humanity in general in the Hebrew language. I don’t know why this is, but perhaps, as Rabbi Trugman alluded to, placing the 1st letter at the head of this class of words is a way of emphasizing the preeminent place of God and his offspring in the Universe, above all other kinds of creation. He mentions the fact that a common word for “man” (adam) also begins with aleph. There are more examples that he didn’t mention, so please refer to the list below.


Titles for Humankind
man (adamאָדָם
people (anasheem) אֲנָשִׁים
humanity (enosheeyootאֶנוֹשִׁיוּת  
race, people (eemאֹם
(a) man (ishאִישׁ
(a) woman (ishaאִשָׁה

One omission from the video that ties into the commentator's observations is that fact that an initial aleph also begins all 1st and 2nd person personal pronouns. However, 3rd person pronouns (he, she, they, and it) all begin with the letter ה (heh). I can’t speculate as to why the initial aleph was abandoned in favor of heh when the person(s) speaking (1st person) or the person(s) addressed (2nd person) aren't being referenced in the language, but it’s interesting to note that only interpersonal communication can only take place when an "I" and a "you" are involved. Again, an emphasizing of interpersonal relationships may be at play here.


1st and 2nd Person Personal Pronouns

I (aneeאֲנִי
I, archaic form (anokhee) אָנוֹכִי
We (anakhnu, anu [abbreviated form]) אֲנַחנוּ, אָנוּ
you, masc. singular (ataאַתָה
you, fem. singular (atאַת
you, masc. plural (atemאַתֶם
you, fem. plural (atenאַתֶן

3rd Person Personal and Object Pronouns
he/it, masc. (huהוא
she/it, fem. (heeהיא
they, masc. (hemהֵם
they, fem. (henהֵן

One final observation: The key role of parents in the family also seems to be emphasized in the language since the titles mother and father both begin with aleph. In contrast, the titles of son and daughter both begin with ב (bet), the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps illustrating that in the family order children are subject to their parents.

Family Members
father (avאָב 
dad, daddy (ahbah) אַבָּא 
mother (emאֵם
mom, mommy (eema) אִמָא
son (benבֵּן
daughter (batבַּת

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