| ת | ש | ר | ק | צ | פ | ע | ס | נ | מ | ל | כ | י | ט | ח | ז | ו | ה | ד | ג | ב | א |
Some believe the Original Hebrew script was invented by Israelites in Egypt, however once you learn the alphabet and see how the Hebrew letters are used to show the meaning of Hebrew words, you’ll see it’s impossible for any man to take credit for it.
The Invented-in-Egypt theory says that when Israel was in Egypt, they picked 22 symbols from Egyptian hieroglyphs and used them to represent the sounds of the Hebrew language that they were already speaking.
As one example, according to the theory, the arm symbol was chosen for the Hebrew “y-” sound because in Hebrew an arm is a “yad.”
Here’s the problem:
The Israelites in Egypt would have had over 700 hieroglyphic symbols to choose from.
If they only cared about the sounds, they could have chosen one of Egypt’s many bird hieroglyphs for the “y-” sound since yonah in Hebrew means dove. They also could have used Egypt’s water symbol since yam means sea. And they could have picked a moon symbol since yareach means moon.
If the only thing that matters is the sound, it makes no difference which symbol you pick.
But, in Hebrew, the symbols themselves display the meanings of words. And whenever you see a picture of an arm (yad) in a Hebrew word, it has something to do with the meaning of the word!
This is only possible because the Hebrew language and Hebrew alphabet were created at the same time. And the Creator of the language and alphabet is none other than GOD our Father who possesses unfathomably advanced intelligence, wisdom, and foresight.
It’s written that HE has books in heaven (Exodus 32:32-33, Psalm 139:16, et al.), so we know HE has invented at least one writing system for His own use. For us, it’s no stretch to believe that HE also invented the Hebrew writing system. Israelites didn’t create this alphabet, GOD did. That’s why we call it Father’s Alphabet.
Despite our Father’s intelligence being way above our heads, HE made His alphabet quite simple for us to learn and understand. And learning His alphabet helps us to better investigate His words.
If you’re new to Paleo Hebrew and want to start learning, see our articles on the first three letters of the alphabet, or watch any video in our free Paleo Hebrew Alphabet Series.
