I found two different graphics of the word “love” in Hebrew:
http://school-alumni.rootsweb.com/~in-aths-indianapolis/ahavaloveinhebrew.jpg and http://www.newcovenant-teaching.org/images/love.gif
Could someone explain to me the difference between the two?
Also, on the first one, if the characters were all written out in a straight line, what order should they go in?
Thanks!
One, the first link, is AHVH (ahavah) which is the noun form of the verb.
The other is the root or “shoresh” of the verb “to love”, AHV, although it also may be the third person male verb tense, as in “He loved me.”
Then again, it’s been six years since college Hebrew.
It could also be the present tense male verb “love” (“I love him”) or “loves” (“he loves me”). Edwino’s case would be pronounced “Uh-Hav”, mine would be pronouned “Oh-haiv”, but they are spelled the same.
In the first graphic the letters are read right to left, line one and then line two (the setup in this case is purely artisitc - there is no linguistic reason to put the letters on two lines).
My guess on the two-line arrangement (to elaborate on IzzyR’s “purely artistic” comment) is that it’s a takeoff from Robert Indiana’s sculpture “LOVE,” in which the letters in the English word are stacked, two on two. There have been many ripoffs of Indiana’s work, some of which he has pursued in court.
It occurred to me that I should qualify that this is the traditional Ashkenazic pronunciation. The Sefardic - and modern Israeli - pronunciation would be “Ah-hav”.
[sub]This post is dedicated to Alessan ;j[sub]
I’ll also nitpick and say that in modern Hebrew, generally, when written without vowels, it is common practice to put a vav in the present tense “ohev” (i.e. AHV becomes AOHV). But, it can be omitted. It just usually isn’t unless words are written with vowels.
But I am just nitpicking tiny details. Good pickup, Izzy.
The first link is, I believe, relating to the famous “Ahava” sculpture at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. You can see a picture of it here:
http://staff.washington.edu/shalom/Roll4/r4n08.jpg
The museum’s site is:
Thanks everybody!
So, is it aleph he beth he? (I’m looking at the letters in the back of our dictionary, now…
He brew, she brew, we brew
I brew, you brew, they brew
Be brew, be bop-a-loo
Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew
-Cyndi Laupstein;j
Or is it aleph heth beth heth? I can’t figure out whether the leg on the one character is supposed to go all the way to the top.
Okay, I’ve got two different versions here. Which one is right?
The second.
Just to clarify,
aleph hay bet hay
