The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Biblebeast. One of the most common uses of the qualitative plural is the word QMIJPE
(elohiym) which can be translated as "gods" (quantitative) or as "God" (qualitative).
Grammatical Tools................................................................................................
Hebrew uses nouns for other functions within the sentence. They can be used as
adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjuctions, etc. The noun FUS (eqev) can be the
"heel" of the foot but, it can also mean "because" in the sense of being on the heel of
the previous phrase. Because the Ancient Hebrew language does not make distinctions
between these types of words the Lexicon lists them all as nouns and noun derivatives.
DETERMINING THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF HEBREW WORDS.....................................
As it has been mentioned, Hebrew words are commonly defined from a western
perspective. How is the original meaning of words from an Hebraic perspective
determined? A Hebrew word that is often translated in an abstract manner will many
times be used in a concrete manner somewhere in the text (most often in the book of
Job, the oldest book of the Bible and therefore using the most ancient meanings of
words). An example of this is the word ML (hhay). This word is usually translated as
life but in one place, Job 38:39, this word is best translated as "stomach"; "Can you
hunt the prey of the lion or fill the stomach of the young lion?". From this we see that
life to the Ancient Hebrew is related to a full stomach.
By comparing the word in question with other words derived from the same or related
roots the original meaning can be determined. The word RIJO (kohen) meaning
"priest" is related to other words meaning base, foundation and level. From this we
discover that the priests of the community are the foundation or the firm base of that
community.
The pictographs also help to determine the original meaning of a word such as the
Hebrew word for "mother", QE (eym). The E is a picture of an ox representing
strength and the Q is a picture of water. Combined these mean "strong water" or glue.
The mother is understood by the ancient Hebrews as one who binds the family together.
Other devices used is to compare the use of this word with synonyms and antonyms in
poetical passages, the context in which the word is used and the use of the word in other
Semitic languages.