Learning the basics of Biblical Hebrew from a book

“Our knowledge of Biblical Hebrew is directly dependent upon Jewish oral tradition and thus on the state of that tradition during and following the various dispersions of the Jews from Palestine. This dependence arises from the peculiarly deficient orthography in which the biblical text was written: it is essentially vowelless, or at most, vocalically ambiguous (see below, §8). The actual pronunciation of the language was handed down orally … The written consonantal text itself achieved a final authoritative form around the end of the first century A. D.”

– The introduction to Thomas O. Lambdin’s “Introduction to Biblical Hebrew” (1971), pages xiii-xiv

For nearly three years, I have read Thomas O. Lambdin’s “Introduction to Biblical Hebrew” – some 284 pages of it. Specifically, I read it from 14 August 2022 through 25 July 2025, at which time I completely finished it – excepting the appendices, index, and the entirety of the glossaries (although I read many parts of these glossaries). I did this completely from a book, and never had the benefit of a classroom, a professor, or a native speaker – or even a recording of one, for that matter! I’ve never heard so much as one hour of audio of the language, even from non-native speakers, and this made it somewhat daunting at times. It may have increased the difficulty level in at least some ways, and I don’t recommend it to others unless other options are not available (as they were not for me).

Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”

– 8th and 9th Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1842), as written by the Prophet Joseph Smith

I am a believer in the Holy Bible – both the Old and New Testaments

I am a believer in the Holy Bible. I was raised on the stories that it contains, and still try to study them today. I’ve been trying to learn Biblical Hebrew and Greek for some time now, because I would like to one day read the Holy Bible in the original. Hebrew is the primary language of the Old Testament (or the “Hebrew Bible,” if you prefer), while Greek was the original language of the New Testament.

My deep and abiding love of the Bible

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

– The New Testament, “The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy,” Chapter 3, Verses 16 and 17 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

My childhood experiences with the Bible

I was raised in a Christian religion, and grew up going to church every Sunday with my family. Thus, my education in the Bible began at a very young age; and I was fortunate to have good Christian values planted in me at a very early age. I grew up with the great stories of the Bible, from the Creation and Exodus found in the Old Testament, to the Nativity and Easter stories found in the New Testament. The Bible is filled with great stories, and I am convinced that this is part of its great power to influence humanity to do good and become better people. Children latch on to the stories of Joseph in Egypt, David and Goliath, and Daniel and the Lions’ Den; and their power is not lost on adults – they still have the power to grab and move people, even in their old age.

My favorite painting of Jesus Christ

Cicero and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have referenced the Roman statesman Cicero a number of times, even quoting from him. Cicero was also an orator and philosopher, who wrote extensively on a number of subjects. He wrote in his native language of Latin, but these quotations are all in English translation. These references (including quotations) are as follows:

Roman statesman Cicero, who was also an orator and philosopher

How my views on government are influenced by my faith

“That our belief with regard to earthly governments and laws in general may not be misinterpreted nor misunderstood, we have thought proper to present, at the close of this volume, our opinion concerning the same.”

- Heading to Section 134 of “The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (written 1835)

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which influences how I see the world …

Since the presidential elections of 2012, Latter-Day Saint candidates have featured prominently in the United States. People who normally have no interest in hearing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would sometimes make exceptions for hearing about Latter-Day Saint candidate Mitt Romney, because of his being the Republican presidential nominee. Ironically, the church has long made it clear that it “does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms,” and that it does not “attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to.” (Source: The Mormon Newsroom). However, it does speak out on some political issues at times, and its scriptures include some prominent beliefs about governments and laws. Thus, I thought I would go over these beliefs about governments and laws here, and allow people outside the church to hear them (if they so choose) from a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

American flag

Aristotle and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

One of the great Macedonian kings was Philip II of Macedon. He fathered the boy who would become Alexander the Great, and he hired a tutor to teach this now-famous son. The tutor was another famous person that you've probably heard of, incidentally, because it was none other than Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. Our church is among a number of those whose leaders have quoted from Aristotle, incidentally, as I will show below.

Aristotle

King Philip II of Macedon, who hired Aristotle to tutor his son

Socrates and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is among a number of churches that value the wisdom of Socrates. Church leaders have even quoted from him over the years at times. I have given some of these quotes in another post about Plato, so I will try to minimize the redundancy here. Suffice it to say that Socrates is important to us, and that I will try to show this with some relevant quotes.

Socrates

The First Amendment: Protecting religion from government (and not the other way around)

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."

- Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association, on January 1, 1802

The most hotly debated sentence in American history

The Constitution has many passages in it that are hotly debated today, and these debates will likely continue for years to come. But if I were asked what is the most hotly debated sentence in American history, my vote might well go to this one: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." (Source: First Amendment) This is the Constitution's famous First Amendment, and it is indeed the first of the ten amendments that make up our modern "Bill of Rights." It would also seem to be the first thing that the people of that time wanted to include when they endeavored to list various "rights" in the Constitution via the Bill of Rights, and so one might surmise that these rights need to be understood today by the people who live here.

Thomas Jefferson

Establishment of religion, or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

The very first thing that this amendment mentions, I should acknowledge here, is respecting an "establishment of religion." This clause has been sometimes associated with a famous phrase by the American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, which is "a wall of separation between Church and State." This is a phrase that rings loudly in the ears of atheists today, because of the persecution that they see from the Christian majority surrounding them. Indeed, atheists love to remind society that so many Founding Fathers were actually Deists (rather than Christians), and that they were thus somewhat different from the "Christian majority" surrounding them (which they delight in pointing out often). But between the "establishment of religion" clause and the amendment's first semicolon is one other important phrase - and only one other phrase - which is the part forbidding government from "prohibiting the free exercise" of their religion. This clause has long been associated with the phrase "freedom of religion," which is a phrase that rings loudly in the ears of unabashedly-religious people in the same way; and which is similarly revered as sacred.

United States Bill of Rights

A review of Alistair Cooke's “America: A Personal History of the United States”

" ... these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ... "

- The American Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

The British writer George Bernard Shaw is supposed to have once told a joke about the relationship between Britain and America. "The United States and Great Britain," he said, "are two countries separated by a common language." We argue about how to spell words and how to pronounce them, I think, and the "common ground" between us can sometimes be a battleground. All kidding aside, though, there is something special about the relationship between our two countries; and our shared English language could just be the most obvious manifestation of this extreme closeness. In ways that we sometimes take for granted, I think, we understand each other's humor and share each other's values. Our love of democracy and liberty, furthermore, is a characteristic that is somewhat rare in the world; and though it is found abundantly in both countries, it is not often found elsewhere to the same degree.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt meets with Winston Churchill aboard the HMS Prince of Wales - Atlantic Charter, 1941

The divide between the Americans and the British

Our culture is much the same, I think, and our view of the world is identical in many ways. But there are some differences between us that cause us both to misunderstand each other at times. It is somewhat unfortunate that my fellow Americans, for example, sometimes see the British as stuffy and unemotional (perhaps even snobbish), while the British sometimes see Americans as unsophisticated rubes who can be impetuous (and even obnoxious). I suspect that these differences have their origins in the fact that our histories diverged somewhat after the American Revolution, when the colonies declared that "all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved" (in the words of our Declaration of Independence). Thus, we have some significant differences between us, it is true; but these differences are not insurmountable. Thus, the BBC made this series about the history of America in 1973. This series was hosted by the famed journalist Alistair Cooke. This series attempted to explain us Americans - and I am an American, as you may have guessed - to our valued brethren in Britain. Thus, it helped to bridge the occasional gap of misunderstanding that sometimes pops up between us. (Although the misunderstandings are still pretty minimal even without this, and we are still a common family that gets along well most of the time.)

Alistair Cooke, the series presenter

A review of PBS's “The Gold Rush”

The California Gold Rush is one of those events that tends to have been heard of by the public, but is often overlooked by popular historians today for a number of reasons,. Among them is that it is partially an economic story, and thus considered less "sexy" than the more "traditional" topics of politics and the military. Nonetheless, the Gold Rush is a monumental event in the history of America which had massive repercussions on the history of the West, causing the rapid colonization of California by White immigrants (and a handful of Chinese immigrants), and creating the ethnic mix that California is so known for today - since it is a race relations story as much as it is anything else, fraught with interest for anyone interested in American history. (But more on the particulars of that later.)

Sutter's Fort - California, 1849 (not to be confused with Sutter's Mill)

Aramaic: The OTHER Bible language

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

- The Hebrew Bible, "The Book of Daniel," Chapter 3, Verses 16 through 18 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible) - one of the rare parts of the Hebrew Bible that was originally written in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew

I've talked to a number of Christians over the years who were surprised to learn that the New Testament was not originally written in Hebrew, but in Greek. This blows their mind, because people associate the Christian Bible's original language with Hebrew. This is understandable, because most of the Christian Bible really was written in Hebrew. The Old Testament (or "Hebrew Bible," if you prefer) was written almost exclusively in Hebrew - all but about 250 verses of it, which were originally written in Aramaic. Besides Hebrew and Greek, there is one other language for Christian scholars, who want to read the Christian Bible in the original. (And you thought your mind wasn't blown enough ... )

What the heck is Aramaic?

I can guess what most of you are probably thinking: "What the heck is Aramaic, and why did the authors of the Bible choose to write in it?" If the ancestral language of the Jews was Hebrew (and it was), why did the Jewish authors of what we today call the "Old Testament" not write everything in Hebrew?

Map of the Ancient Near East

A review of Ken Burns’ “The West”

"Nevada Territory is fabulously rich in gold, silver, lead, coal, iron, quicksilver... thieves, murderers, desperadoes ... lawyers, Christians, Indians, [Chinese], Spaniards, gamblers, sharpers, coyotes, poets, preachers and jackass rabbits."

- Samuel Clemens, who would later become known as "Mark Twain"

I have had a strong love-hate relationship with Ken Burns' "The West" ever since I first saw it, perhaps having more mixed feelings about it than any other documentary that I've ever seen. There is so much good in it, and there is so much bad in it. I sometimes remember parts of it fondly when coming into contact with the history that it covers, but I also remember an overall negative impression that I received from much of the series. This is one of those series where political correctness is taken to levels that are a bit on the extreme side, which is strong enough to detract from the quality of some parts of it. Some parts of it are also quite good, which makes it hard for me to reject it outright; but my overall impression of this series has been generally negative since first watching it. It has much of value in it, but my memory of this series has tended to be negative.

Hernán Cortés

My search for the Hebrew Bible in the original

"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left."

- The Hebrew Bible, "The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus," Chapter 14, Verses 21 and 22 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

I am an amateur Biblical scholar (emphasis on the "amateur"). I have been trying to learn Greek so that I can read the New Testament in the original one day. (Any observations about being a shameless nerd are readily agreed with.) Many are surprised to learn that the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament were originally written in Greek (rather than Hebrew), and a number have asked me why. The reason is actually that Greek was the international language of the time. It was the language that people published in if they wanted to reach a wide audience, and that was the case with the early New Testament.

By contrast, the Old Testament really was written in Hebrew - or at least, most of it was. Scholars believe that some of it may have originally been written in Aramaic - a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. In the words of my church's Bible Dictionary: "The original language of most of the Old Testament is Hebrew, but a few portions ... were written in what is popularly called Chaldee, but more correctly Aramaic." (Source: Entry on Bible itself)

My church's edition of the Holy Bible

I then didn't have any plans to learn either Hebrew or Aramaic; as they are difficult languages for English speakers, and my primary Biblical interest was in the New Testament. Nonetheless, I thought that as long as I had a copy of the New Testament in the original Greek, I might as well complement it with a copy of the Old Testament in the original as well. Thus, I looked into what version to get; and found that this was easier said than done.

Learning Spanish from doing missionary work

"... every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power ..."

– The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Section 90, Verse 11

I once mentioned to my Spanish professor in 2012 that I was reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish to practice the language. Although this particular professor was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints herself, she approved of this endeavor on the grounds of its tendency to improve my Spanish. She then asked me point-blank if I had served a mission for my church. I actually got the same question a year later from my employer of that time (specifically, my boss's boss). The man asking me the question this time around was not a Latter-Day Saint, either - which is probably an indication of what visible symbols of the church its missionaries are; with the young men in white shirts and ties being an internationally recognized symbol of my church's proselyting efforts.

Photo obtained from church website

The answer to their question is actually a complicated one (although it was probably less so then), and this is probably the first time that I have ventured to go into detail on this question. This answer depends somewhat on what your definition of a "mission" is, since it is not as straightforward as it sometimes seems. Thus, I will attempt to explain clearly what my religion means by that term, before I go into any sort of detail about whether my service would qualify for this honor.

Photo obtained from church website

A review of PBS's “Transcontinental Railroad” movie

"[The Congress shall have the power] To establish post-offices and post-roads ..."

- The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 7

It allowed a continent to be crossed in just a week, where before it had taken six months or more. It enabled fast transport for trade goods of all kinds, connecting the economies of the continent's East and West coasts. And it unleashed a wave of settlement and colonization, which would have massive effects on the population spread and distribution in the West - and by extension, the history, politics, economics, and even geography of the country.

Snow gallery (a portion of the railroad), while under construction

Plato and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Aristotle

"Have you ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates?" "Yes." "Morons." (Or were they?)

Plato

I felt inspired to write this piece about Plato and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. These subjects might seem to be unconnected, but there are a few quotes from Latter-Day Saints' General Conferences about the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Most of them are favorable, while one of them is critical of his philosopher-king idea. Mostly they're favorable, though, and I will discuss these General Conference quotes in detail now.

Some thoughts about Biblical education

"And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked."

- The Hebrew Bible, "The First Book of the Kings," Chapter 18, Verses 25 through 27 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

When I was a student at Yavapai College (the little school in my hometown), I was fortunate to take a class about world religions, in which we learned about everything from Judaism to Islam to Buddhism. The class was called "comparative religions" at our school, and it was the only time that I took a class about religion from a secular college. (We covered some world religions stuff in high school history, but I didn't have an entire class in world religions until early college.)

The value of religion classes at secular schools

My church offers some fine world religions classes through its Institute program, which are well-recommended to those with access to them. But it was good to get some instruction about this from a secular school, where I could hear perspectives from people outside of my faith. The class was taught by a Jewish lady, incidentally - someone who brought an interesting perspective to the class. We also had a Hindu student in the class, who could read the Hindu holy language of Sanskrit. It all combined together to make an interesting class.

The value of religion classes at private religious schools

But the finest classes that I've taken in religion were not the comparative ones offered by secular schools, but the ones taught by my church about its own beliefs. I'm sure devotees of other religions can understand a bias toward one's own faith, and I am no exception to the rule - I am a great fan of my church's religion classes. I took some classes through my church's Seminary in high school, and then some classes through its Institute in college. (In our faith, Seminary classes are geared towards high school students, while Institute classes are geared towards college students.) The classes focused on topics like the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as scriptures unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints such as the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants. Thus, I learned a lot from these classes. There are also many classes about church history as well, including one for church history since 1900. This was a little unusual, given the church's more typical focus on earlier history; but it was an excellent class, and I greatly enjoyed it.

America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

"And for this purpose have I [the Lord] established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood."

- "The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Section 101, Verse 80 (written 1833)

The Book of Mormon has some scriptures about America, which have special meaning to American members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Ezra Taft Benson

It is fitting to acknowledge here that we are a worldwide church, with members in many different countries; and that in the words of President Benson, we "cherish patriotism and love of country in all lands." (see April 1976 General Conference talk) But today, I would like to talk about these scriptures which have special meaning to American members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My search for the Greek New Testament

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

- The New Testament, "The Gospel According to St. Matthew," Chapter 7, Verses 7 and 8 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)

Many of you have heard that I am learning Ancient Greek, and that part of the reason for doing so is to be able to read the New Testament in the original. I was curious to see how hard it is to obtain a copy of that online (emphasis on "copy" - not to be confused with original manuscripts), and so I typed it into Google. I discovered that there are a large variety of different editions, some published by one group, some by another. This was a bit of a problem, as I needed to commit to one version for price reasons, and it's hard to know which one to pick.

Going to church in a foreign language

"We would … hope that every missionary learning a new … language would master it in every way possible. … And as you do so, your [teaching] and testifying skills will improve. You will be better received by and more spiritually impressive to [the people you teach]. … Don’t be satisfied with what we call a missionary vocabulary only. Stretch yourself in the language, and you will gain greater access to the hearts of the people ... "

– Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in a missionary satellite broadcast from August 1998, as quoted in "Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service," Chapter 7

I once regularly attended services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in both English and Spanish. My native language is English, and I did not take a real Spanish class until January 2012, when I was in my twenties. I had only taken Spanish 101 when I started going to Spanish Branch (branch being the word that Latter-Day Saints use for a small congregation). It was a difficult (albeit fascinating) experience when I started going.

The local church building where Spanish services were held