Shalom!
(Shalom means “hello — peace to you”.)

Gimel (also written as Gimmel) is the third letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It sounds like our letter “G” as in “God is good”. Every line in Psalm 119:17-24 starts with this letter. Gimel looks like this:

The Hebrew language is read from right to left across the page, which seems backward to us. There is a general rule in Judaism that the right side gets precedence because it represents strength. “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things.” (Ps. 118:15) Even today, a father gives his children a blessing by putting his right hand on their heads.

So, the first four letters of the Aleph-Bet look like this:

That’s important because it helps us see the story the Aleph-Bet is telling. God, in the form of Jesus (Aleph) is the God-Man reaching up to heaven and down to earth. The Son was sent to be master of the house (Bet).

Gimel means “giver” and the letter is a picture of a person with his foot stretched out in motion; the person is running toward Dalet to give it gifts. The Hebrew word for Redeemer starts with gimel, so Jews believed the Messiah would be the One who runs from the house to bestow redemption, chasing after poor sinners with lovingkindness. The Messiah came to give His life for the life of the world.

Another definition of gimel is “to lift up” and the animal associated with this letter is a camel, which was a beast of burden that carried goods across the known world. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” (Isa. 53:4) As a camel must bow down to let people get on, so Jesus made Himself low. (“He made himself nothing.” Phil. 2:7) But when the camel gets up, it lifts its rider, as Jesus was lifted up on the cross to bring us redemption. (“The Son of Man must be lifted up.” John 3:14)

In fact, the Hebrew word for Golgotha also starts with gimel, which is followed by a letter that means “shepherd”, followed by a letter that means “cross”. Golgotha = where the shepherd was lifted up on the cross. *shiver* 

Gimel’s motion serves as a reminder that we should keep running after the truth of God’s Word and to be givers of lovingkindness to those around us. We should always be quickly going toward those who are in need of help and lifting up. In this way, the third letter is identified with the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things.” (John 14:26)

Jesus told a parable of a prodigal son who left home after demanding his inheritance. After living it up and losing everything, he decided to go back home and offer to be a servant in his father’s house.

“But while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him;
he ran to his son,
threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
(Luke 15:20)

We have a Father who runs to us.
You can see Him right there in the third letter of the Aleph-Bet.

Shalom!
(Shalom also means “good-bye — peace to you”.)

Next: My favorite word in the Bible that starts with C.

Ready for your Hebrew lesson?
I bet you are!

Bet (also written as Beth/Beit) is the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet, or Aleph-Bet. It sounds like our letter “B.” Every line in Psalm 119:9-16 starts with this letter. Bet looks like this:

Bet means “house.”
For example, Beth – lehem means “house of bread.”
The letter signifies a house with the front door opened.

See the roof on top?
We can’t see the heavens that are beyond our world.
The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to man. Ps. 115:16

See the floor on the bottom?
God built us a house with a solid foundation.
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth. Ps. 102:25

See the wall behind on the right?
We can’t see what came before the creation of our world.
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Job 38:4

See the open door on the left?
For now, the way is open to the future – a new heaven and a new earth.
Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. Isa. 65:17

Now let’s look for Jesus in the letter “bet.”

This letter has the distinct honor of being the first letter of the first word in the Hebrew Bible. (“In the beginning” in Hebrew is “B’resheet.”) This reveals that God created the world because He wanted to dwell in a house with us. In Jewish culture, the father’s house was given to the first-born son.

See where we’re going here?

God sent His Son, Jesus, to be the master of this house. The Messiah was the fulfillment of the promise made to King David, “The Lord Himself will establish a house…that will endure forever.” (2 Sam. 7:11, 16) Christ Himself is the Chief Cornerstone and all believers are members of the household of faith. (Eph. 2:19-20) We are, even now, living stones being built into a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:5)

One more thing.

“There are many stories as to why Bet is the first letter of the Hebrew Bible and not Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. While some say it was due to Aleph’s humility, another theory explains that God decided to start the Bible with the letter Bet in order to show man that he did not know the first thing about how the world works!” (hebrewtoday.com)

To reflect that understanding, all ancient Jewish literature written as commentary on God’s Word begins on page two (beit); the first page is left blank, to show that we can’t assume to know how the beginning began.

So when Jesus said “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” He was saying “I was here before the beginning of creation, before Bet, before the house was built.”

Selah.
That’s Hebrew for “stop and think about that for awhile.”

Next: My favorite word that starts with “B”.

I’m going full nerd-mode now.
We’re gonna learn Hebrew.
Don’t be scared.
It’ll be fun.

Most Bibles have a heading before every eight-verse section of Psalm 119 (although paraphrased versions might not). Each of the twenty-two stanzas of this psalm are introduced by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in order from A to Z, or more accurately, from Aleph to Tav.

Aleph looks like this:

According to Jewish tradition,
each letter was divinely created by God
and contains revelation about the Messiah.
Do you see Jesus in the letter Aleph?
He’s in there.

See that diagonal line in the middle?
It’s a position of humility.
“Taking the very nature of a servant…he humbled himself.” Phil. 2:7-8

See that arm reaching up to the right?
It shows His deity, His connection to the divine realm.
“Who being in very nature God…” Phil. 2:6

See that arm reaching down to the left?
It shows His humanity, His connection to the earthly realm.
“…did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” Phil. 2:6

 This is a dramatic picture of Jesus with two outstretched arms,
one to His heavenly Father, one to us.
He is the link between heaven and earth.

Wait. There’s more.

Despite the fact that Aleph, a consonant, is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, it is a silent letter. It takes on the sound of a vowel, depending on the marks attached to it. There is a story in Jewish folklore that says all the letters of the alphabet came before the Lord to give reasons why they should be the first letter of the first word in the Torah, or Bible. All except for Aleph. The Lord asked Aleph why it didn’t come and Aleph explained that it was silent and had nothing to say. So the Lord honored Aleph’s humility and placed it at the beginning of all the letters.

Wait. There’s more.

Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” which is the Greek way of saying, “I am the Aleph and the Taw.” Like the humble letter, Jesus came in humility as a human being and suffered in silence.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.”
Isaiah 53:7

“Then Pilate asked him,
‘Don’t you hear how many things they are accusing you of?’
But Jesus make no reply, not even to a single charge —
to the amazement of the governor.”
Matt. 27:13-14

So God the Father honored His Son’s humility and gave Him His rightful place.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name.”
Phil. 2:9

And that’s just the first letter.

Next: My favorite words.