Robert Baker Girdlestone

Hebrew - The Rich Language

"The Hebrew language, though poor in some respects, for example, in tenses, is rich in others; and probably no better language could have been selected for the purpose of preparing the way for Christ. Its variations of stem give shades of meaning that cannot be found in the Indo-European languages. Its definite article, the way in which genders are marked in the verb as well as the noun, its mode of marking emphasis and comparison, the gravity and solemnity of its structure, the massive dignity of its style, the picturesqueness of its idiom - these make it peculiarly fitting for the expression of sacred truth. Indeed, it is often a lesson in moral philosophy to take a Hebrew dictionary and trace the gradual growth meaning in certain words as their signification advances from things that are seen and temporal to those which are not seen and eternal. Persons who have made this point a study can well sympathize with the saying of Luther; that he would not part with his knowledge of Hebrew for untold gold."