David Koberstein
Active member
In Genesis 13:14 we read, "And the LORD said to Abram...Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north
and south, to the east and west," The Hebrew words for these four points of the compass are pronounced: tsefonah ("north"),
neghah ("south"), kedmah ("east"), and yamah ("west"). Nowadays the English words sound like technical navigational terms,
but in extremely physical language of Ancient Hebrew the origin of these words was closely tied to the local geographical
environment. The Hebrew word translated as "to the north" (tsefonah), is connected to Mt. Tsafon or Zaphon (see Isa. 14:13),
now known as Jebel Aqra on the border of Syria and Turkey. This mountain lay to Abram's north when God told him to look
in all directions.
The Hebrew word (neghah), traditionally translated as "to the south" literally means "to the Negev." This refers to the name of
a desert wilderness in the south of the land of Canaan/Israel.
The expression (yamah), translated as "to the west," literally means "to the sea." This refers to the Mediterranean.
Finally, (kedmah), translated as "to the east," evokes an image of "going back to something from an earlier time." Its root is
connected to the idea of "antiquity" or the distant past. From a Biblical perspective, this suggests the Garden of Eden that
God planted "in the east" at the beginning of history (Gen. 2:8).
Someone put it very well: "To read the Bible always and only in translation is like listening to Bach always and only played on
the harmonica. You will certainly get the tune, but you will miss pretty much everything else."
Shalom
and south, to the east and west," The Hebrew words for these four points of the compass are pronounced: tsefonah ("north"),
neghah ("south"), kedmah ("east"), and yamah ("west"). Nowadays the English words sound like technical navigational terms,
but in extremely physical language of Ancient Hebrew the origin of these words was closely tied to the local geographical
environment. The Hebrew word translated as "to the north" (tsefonah), is connected to Mt. Tsafon or Zaphon (see Isa. 14:13),
now known as Jebel Aqra on the border of Syria and Turkey. This mountain lay to Abram's north when God told him to look
in all directions.
The Hebrew word (neghah), traditionally translated as "to the south" literally means "to the Negev." This refers to the name of
a desert wilderness in the south of the land of Canaan/Israel.
The expression (yamah), translated as "to the west," literally means "to the sea." This refers to the Mediterranean.
Finally, (kedmah), translated as "to the east," evokes an image of "going back to something from an earlier time." Its root is
connected to the idea of "antiquity" or the distant past. From a Biblical perspective, this suggests the Garden of Eden that
God planted "in the east" at the beginning of history (Gen. 2:8).
Someone put it very well: "To read the Bible always and only in translation is like listening to Bach always and only played on
the harmonica. You will certainly get the tune, but you will miss pretty much everything else."
Shalom
