Search results
If you’re new to the Hebrew language, this chart can serve as your gateway to understanding the building blocks of the Bible’s original language. The Hebrew alphabet, known as the Aleph-Bet, consists of 22 letters, each with its own distinct shape, sound, and numerical value.
The Meaning of the Hebrew Alphabet — And a Survey per Hebrew Letter — The Hebrew alphabet is not simply a collection of abstract linguistic elements, like the English alphabet is. All Hebrew letters have names and identities, and in post-Biblical times were even rendered numerical value.
LetterNameNameMeaning Post-biblical Numerical ValueאAlephאלףThe root אלף('aleph) is rare and means to ...בBethביתThe word בית(bayit) means house in the ...גGimelגמלThe verb גמל(gamal) means to deal, or ...דDalethדלתFrom root דלה(dala), draw (water). The ...- Introduction to The Hebrew Alphabet
- Block Letters
- Rashi Letters
- Hebrew Cursive
- The Hebrew Letters
- Certain Letters at The End of Words
- The Vowels
- Gematria
- The Code to Creation
The Hebrew alphabet, the holy language of the Bible, is used for biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, Jewish Aramaic, Yiddish, and Ladino. It consists of 22 letters, all consonants, none of which are lowercase. Each letter has its own sound and numerical value. In addition, the presence of a dagesh(a dot placed within a letter to add emphasis) can modif...
Block letters are the most ancient of forms, based closely on (and including) the Ktav Ashurit, the calligraphic letters of the Torah and other sacred books. This is the most common form of printed Hebrew. Read more about the history of Ktav Ashurit, as well as another ancient (and no longer practiced) form of Hebrew script called Ktav Ivri.
This form of Hebrew was once commonly used as cursive writing and is still used among some Sepharadic Jews. However, it is most commonly used as the preferred typeface for rabbinic commentaries of a more scholarly nature. It is called “Rashi Script,” since it was first introduced (and still widely used) by printers for Rashi’s commentary on the Bib...
Widely used in Israeland the diaspora, Hebrew cursive is like its English counterpart in that it is easy to write but not commonly used in print (other than an occasional headline or advertisement). Unlike English cursive, however, the letters are not attached to each other.
Note that the final two letters, tav and sav, were differentiated. This is how it is done by Ashkenazi (European) Jews. In Modern Hebrew, however, they are pronounced as tav, even when there is no dagesh(point) within the letter.
When appearing at the end of a word, five Hebrew letters change forms. Although they look different, they are still pronounced exactly the same. Here are the final letters:
As noted, the Hebrew letters themselves consist entirely of consonants. Additional symbols (placed below or on top of letters) make vowels, known as nekkudot (dots). These nekkudot make a string of letters into pronounceable and meaningful words. The names of vowels, below, indicate how the nekkudot are pronounced by Ashkenazimas well as by Modern ...
In Hebrew every letter has a numerical value. The first 10 letters (aleph to yud) each correspond to a number, one through ten. The next nine letters (khaf to kuf) represent 20 through 100, and the final three letters (raysh, shin and tav) are from 200 to 400. Similar to Roman numerals, letters are added together to equal a given number, and the le...
The Hebrew letters are not just a handy tool to transcribe Hebrew speech. Rather, they are the vessels through which G‑d created the universe. As told in the opening chapters of Genesis, G‑d spoke ten utterances, and the world came into being. These ten statements are the “garments” through which the Divine energy is translated into physical existe...
The Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew: אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, [a] Alefbet ivri), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is traditionally an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Persian.
- 1 min
- The Alphabet (Called the Aleph-Bet) Has 22 Letters. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet (commonly referred to as the aleph-bet, after the first two letters, aleph and bet).
- It’s Related to Arabic and Aramaic — and Originally Had No Vowels. Hebrew is a Semitic language — like Arabic and Aramaic — and like most ancient Semitic languages its alphabet has no vowels.
- It’s Read from Right to Left. Unlike English, Hebrew is read and written from right to left. There are numerous types of Hebrew script. The most familiar is the block letters used in Torah scrolls and most printed texts.
- It Dates Back to the Second Millennium BCE. The earliest Hebrew texts date from the end of the second millennium BCE. Hebrew was employed as both a written and spoken language until the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE.
As a carpenter employs tools to build a home, so G-d utilized the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, the alef-beis, to form heaven and earth. Letters of Light is a unique and insightful exposition of how the letters of the alef-beis continue to be a source of creation and inspiration.
People also ask
How many letters are in the Hebrew alphabet?
What is the Hebrew alphabet called?
How are Tav and Sav pronounced in Hebrew?
What are the different types of Hebrew alphabet?
Do all letters of the Hebrew alphabet alternate?
What is the Jewish alphabet called?
The Hebrew alphabet, or the Aleph Bet, consists of 22 letters. The Aleph Bet is also used to write other Jewish languages, like Yiddish, Ladino, Aramaic, Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Arabic. In Hebrew, the letters are all consonants and the language is comprehensible when written without vowels.
