Confession: I didn’t have some magical moment falling in love with Hebrew. My first class was online, and it was… awful. The kind of awful that makes you shut the laptop and say, “Nope, not for me.” I dropped out.
For a while I carried that sense of failure — like Hebrew was for the “real” scholars, the “smart” people . . . the people who thrive on vocab charts and parsing verbs.
It. was. Not. for. Me.
But here’s what I’ve come to see: you don’t have to master Hebrew to be changed by it. Even the little I’ve learned has opened doorways into God’s story that English translations flatten. It’s like the difference between a black-and-white sketch and a full-color painting. Same outline, but one communicates much differently than the other.
Take shalom. We translate it as “peace,” which sounds like a quiet room at a spa or a truce after an argument. But in Hebrew, shalom means wholeness. Completeness.
And check out this definition . . . . “The world set right.”
Isn’t that beautiful?!?!?!?!
Or – take hesed: in English, “loving-kindness.” Sweet, but meh. In Hebrew, it’s fierce, loyal love that doesn’t let go, even when betrayed.
Or – lastly, take ruach: we call it “spirit.” But in Hebrew it’s breath, wind, the untamed force of God blowing through creation.
The more I saw those layers, the more I realized I hadn’t failed Hebrew at all — I had just failed the class. And there’s a difference.
Here’s the thing church folks don’t talk about: every translation is an interpretation.
From Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to English, choices were made. Theology shaped words. Culture shaped meaning. And sometimes, what was rich and alive got flattened into something tame.
That doesn’t mean translations are bad. Translators have done holy work to put Scripture in our hands. But if we stop with English, we risk living on the surface when God is inviting us deeper.
This series isn’t about turning us into Hebrew scholars. It’s about recovering something we’ve lost in translation: the textures, the mystery, the grit. These words were born in real places, spoken by real people in the middle of exile and worship and survival and hope.
Over the next eight weeks, we’ll step through words like Shema (listen), Hesed (faithful love), Teshuvah (return), Shalom (wholeness), Ruach (Spirit-breath). Not to stockpile vocabulary, but to let these words re-shape us.
Because Hebrew doesn’t just tell you something — it pulls you into something. It doesn’t just describe reality — it invites you to live differently.
Takeaway:
So no, you don’t have to ace a Hebrew exam to meet God in these words. You just have to be open. Because the goal isn’t smarter faith — it’s deeper faith. The point isn’t language mastery — it’s transformation.
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
— Psalm 119:130
Grace and Peace,
Andrea