The Source of All Existence
In the original Hebrew, the phrase “let there be light” is yehi ohr יְהִי אוֹר. The first word, yehi means “let there be” and is based on the root היה Yahweh which is God’s most sacred name. Both words are directly connected to the idea of existing. Other nations see their gods as mighty warriors or kings, but Hebrew teaches us that the all-powerful God of Israel is the source of all existence.
A Dazzling Light
The second word God spoke, ohr (אור), means “light.” Throughout the Bible, ohr is a blessed word associated with joy, clarity and revelation, as opposed to choshech (חושך) (“darkness”) which symbolizes confusion and ignorance. In many famous biblical stories, such as the Burning Bush, God reveals himself to humanity by means of dazzling light.
Get Back to the Source
Humanity is created in “God’s image” and the phrase yehi ohr shows what it means to live a Biblically infused life. As humans, we cannot create the world, but we can create order in the world by means of speech. Words are powerful and there is no language more potent than the original language of the Bible: Hebrew. Get back to the source of Scripture by enrolling in our online Biblical Hebrew course.