Learn Hebrew – Discover the secrets
Abraham started his life as an idol worshipper in Mesopotamia, but was called by the Lord to become a follower of the one God. As a symbol of this dramatic shift, his original name Abram, meaning “mighty father” in Hebrew, needed to be changed. The Hebrew letter H (ה), which appears twice in the name of the Lord YHWH (יהוה), is a divine seal which was added to Abram (אברם), forming the name Abraham (אברהם).
In the original Hebrew, the name Avraham denotes the phrase Av Hamon Goyim (אב המון גויים) which means “father of a multitude” (Gen. 17:5). This new name is appropriate because with this new convent comes the divine promise that Abraham’s wife will finally give birth to a child. Similarly, we see the addition of a single divine letter in God’s revising of the names Sarah - שרה (Gen. 17:15) and Joshua - יהושע (Num. 13:16).
Something much more dramatic happened to the name of Jacob (יעקב), meaning “heel” (עקב, akev). God changed his name to Yisrael, meaning “struggled with God”, after he wrestled with an angel of the Lord. From this point on, God’s chosen people were known as the Children of Israel. Once you understand the holy language of the bible, there are no more veils, and not a single letter is lost in translation. Enroll in our live online Hebrew courses and discover the roots of the Bible.