PHB: Pneumnemonics

Pneumnemonic Hebrew for Beginners [∞]

The Bible was written in Hebrew by Hebrews who thought and spoke in Hebrew. It was reinvented about 600 AD by adding modern vowels and then became a dead language. As the Zionist movement started to take root, Hebrew was reinvented again.

Now it is now studied largely in English by Westerners who adopted Greek philosophy, logic, rhetoric, debate, and even myth, or by those of other cultures influenced by such Western thought. Translations based on the re-invented Hebrew, each have their own purpose, and in any translation, there are things that are lost in translation.

In Hebrew, the letters within words have meaning, and none of that is captured in any translation. The meaning of a word is derived from the combined meaning of the letters along with a knowledge of Christ. There is a riddle and mystery built into the language itself. But few consider the loss of these things because of the additions to the Hebrew language, to be significant.

This study is based on the Hebrew that Jesus read. We can recreate it by simply ignoring all the things added to Hebrew each time it was reinvented. We do not study it for the sake of simply understanding the literal-historical record of the Bible, but to learn what God says about himself hidden in the language making up the literal record.

Mnemonics vs. Pneumnemonics

A mnemonic device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory.

Dennis Congos identifies nine types of mnemonic devices. These devices consist of ideas imposed upon the subject matter to be learned, that have no relationship to the subject, but are merely mental hooks to assist in the retrieval of information from memory. An example is the classic "Roy G. Biv" used to remember the order of colors in the rainbow. In Music theory, "Every good boy does fine always" helps remember the notes associated with the lines on the score. The mnemonic devices aid only in memory and add no new information. One must learn gibberish in order to remember the important information.

Imagine if the knowledge of "Roy G. Biv" could assist in helping you to understand more sophisticated concepts of color, rather than simple the order of colors in the rainbow. What if it told you something about how each color affects emotions, or contributes to heat retention. What if "Every good boy does fine" helped to define chords, melody, or to understand music.

Pneu-mnemonics does just that. As you learn the Hebrew alphabet, the memory tools form a catechism of doctrine. They also help one shift from a Western-Greek way of thinking, to an Eastern-Hebrew thought process. There is a look-ahead function, where the mnemonics learned for the alphabet, get built upon as you learn vocabulary.

Mnemonics are invented, based on studies of how the human mind works. Pneu-mnemonics are observed in scripture, placed there by the one who invented the human mind.

The nature of learning

The chair

Imagine you have entered a foreign land and no one speaks your language, nor do you speak theirs. The master of the house points to a chair and says "beebop". So you point to the chair and repeat "beebop" assuming he is teaching you the language. He has you beaten. He was commanding you to sit. The idea behind "beebop" was not the same in your head and his.

To pass an idea from one head to another, there must be sufficient shared experience with the idea. A servant has been assigned to teach you your manners, but he is clever enough to understand that you don't know the language. He points to the chair and says "beebop" then sits in it. He points to the rug and says "aybop" and sits on it. He points to the chair again and says "beebip" and begins to clean it. He points to the rug again and says "aybip" and starts to clean it.

You determine from this short interaction that a chair is a 'bee' and a rug is an 'ay'. You also determine that 'bop' means to sit and 'bip' means to clean. You have collected experiences around the symbols; the words, which now form the basis for the ideas.

Understanding is a process of filtering experiences in various contexts. Consider the word 'bear'. It is used in the context of carrying things, and also in the context of the zoo. The other words around it help to filter your experiences with 'bear' to understand what the current context means.

Adam

The servant who taught you 'beebop' forced four experiences into your head which helped you filter the ideas and produce understanding. Hebrew does a similar thing, but in a different way. Hebrew pneumnemonics would take the chair apart, and teach you what a leg, seat and back are, then put it all back together. Adam came from the ground and is made up of blood and spirit.

Ground

The Hebrew word for 'ground' is adamah אדמה.

The ground is where Adam אדמ came from.

The he ה means that the commandment was heard but not understood.

'Ground' אדמה is the Adam אדמ that doesn't understand ה.

Confused, the gound means Adam doesn't understand.

The ground doesn't understand, but we are told that Adam does. When Adam sinned, he was not deceived like the woman.

Adam

Adam אדם is made of the Spirit א and the blood dam דם.

Blood

Blood dam דם is the commandment ד fulfilled by the Son ם; a reference to the cross. It is a metaphor for 'life'

The mnemonics for Hebrew contain more information about the subject being learned. You will quickly see that the system of pneumnemonics is not imposed upon the language like common mnemonics, but is observed to already be there.

Apostles used pneumnemonics

Three in heaven

1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1Jo 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

John is using the pneumnemonics of the words 'heaven' shamayim שמים and 'earth' eretz ארץ to derive the doctrine that he is teaching.

Father - מ

Word (Son) - ם

Spirit - ש

Spirit - א

Water - ר

Blood - ץ

Mountain to the sea

Mt 21:21 ...if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Joh 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

The word for water is mayim מים. See above that the mems represent the Father מ (Who is Spirit) and Son ם (Who is the Truth)

Jesus used the pneumnemonics of the word for water as he taught that religion would be replaced with true worship of God through Christ.

The word 'mountain' har הר means - not understanding ה the revelation ר. It is the place people worship who do not understand God.

Formations

Jots and tittles

Mt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus could have said that not one commandment would pass from the law, but he chose to say that not one dot nor stroke would disappear.

Jesus was introducing pneumnemonics to his hearers. Even the dots and strokes within the letters have meaning which are protected. All letters are formed by first drawing a yod, or jot. And then it is combined with vavs and yods to form each letter. The letters derive their meaning from the dots and strokes withing a square template.

Formation, name, number, metaphor

The letters have four sources for meaning:

Formation is the meaning derived from the dots and strokes within the letter, and from gates and words found within. The example of 'ground' and 'Adam' above is 'formation'.

name is the meaning of the words when the name of the letter is spelled out (ex. the aleph א has the Hebrew name alef which is spelled אלף which means one thousand .

number - each letter is also a number. The aleph is the number one. Consider the play in pneumnemonics when it is said that one day is like a 1000 years. The aleph represents 1 by it's number and 1000 by it's name.

metaphor - metaphor when one of the meanings of the letter is used as a symbol for something completely different (ex. 1000 is a metaphor for king, so the aleph can also represent a king).

It may seem a bit complicated with so many sources for meaning. Be encouraged that the one who designed pneumnemonics wants you to know him.

Letters

Another evidence that pneumnemonics is natural to the language is the message that is derived by reading the letters of the alphabet in numerical order. It is the short catechism of Christ. It not only helps you learn the alphabet, but teaches the doctrine of Christ. It is the Index for God's Systematic Theology, which you will build on as you continue to learn Hebrew words and read scripture.

Aleph א - God spoke and created the heavens and the earth

Bet ב - He revealed to man

Gimel ג - that he pursued them

Dalet ד- with a commandment

He ה - which they did not understand

Vav ו - They were distinguished

Zayin ז - as the bride

Chet ח - when they did understand it

Tet ט - Through a marriage

Yod י - they became a new creation

Kof כ - The Son of God

Lamed ל - taught

Mem מ the promise of the Father

Nun נ - The Son of Man

Samech ס - fulfilled the promise

Ayin ע - He was made to be flesh and bore our sin

Pe פ - taught in parables, prophecies and riddles

Tsadi צ - and exchanged his righteousness for our sin

Qof ק- The Son of God died and rose again

Rosh ר - revealing

Shin ש - his word returned with an increase

Tov ת - His revelation produced new life. It was finished.

Final kof ך - The Son of God died

Final mem ם - completing the promise of the Father

Final nun ן - The Son of Man was restored to Glory

Final pe ף - Prophecy was fulfilled

Final tsadi ץ - Judgement is ended

Final shin - We became co-heirs with Christ

Words

Hebrew words derive their meaning from the shorter words and letters within, as we saw in adamah for ground. From he ה in the word we understand that things of the ground do not understand spiritual things. The flesh is earthly. Pneumnemonics gives us more than a memory aid, it is foundational to understanding doctrine.

The combination of two letters is called a 'gate'. The word 'father' ab אב means -- after God spoke and created the heavens and the earth א he revealed himself to man ב. If the letters are reversed forming ba בא, the meaning is reversed.

What is the opposite of 'father'? Go back to the meaning by formation: The father revealed himself to man. He took the initiative to be made known. So the opposite is to make an invitation: ba means 'come'. In Hebrew, ab ba means 'Father, come'.

Not only do the gates provide more pneumnemonics to aid in learning, but also provides an addition to the Systematic Theology. Man cannot find God on his own. We can find the things of God that he has first taken the initiative in, to make himself known.

Furthermore, the word ab, also means 'green shoot' and 'fruit on a tree'. The main thing that makes a father a father is that he is the source for new life. The green shoot is not a father, but evidence that the father gave the first life. The fruit on the tree is not a father, but evidence that the father is the source of the second life. Implied in the word ab for father is that there are two lives to be had. Have you been born again?

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