Lāmēd/lahmed (לָמֵד) is my absolute favorite Hebrew word. My Hebrew students are used to me talking about my favorites in Hebrew. I have a favorite vowel (qibbuts, ֻ ), a favorite noun (mishpat, משׁפט), a favorite particle (halo, הלא), etc. This verb, though, tops them all. Lahmed is often translated simply as “to learn.” I accepted that English gloss for years. Until one day I noticed something surpising.
The surprising thing was a simple vowel. You see, originally Hebrew distinguished between stative and non-stative verbs with a vowel in a certain position within the word. Stative verbs describe a state of being. Non-statives describe other things such as activities (e.g., ‘to run’), accomplishments (e.g., ‘to build’) , and achievements (e.g., ‘to find’). Stative verbs include things such as “be happy,” “be full,” “be honored,” “be ashamed,” and “be good. All of these describe a state that a person or thing exists in. Within pre-biblical Hebrew, a vowel in the certain position would mark the verb as either stative or not. However, as the Hebrew language continued to develop, by the time of Biblical Hebrew, many of those vowel distinctions were lost and stative verbs began, using the non-stative vowel. But, sometimes the vowel distinction remains.
One day I noticed a vowel used in a specific form of lahmed that didn’t belong. It was a vowel that marked the verb as stative. I thought it was a typo. Nope. I did a bit of digging. This Hebrew word for learning refers to being in a state of learning. It does not refer to the activity of learning. Glossing it as “to learn” – as tradition dictates – conveys the idea of the activity of learning/studying,which is something you do for a set period of time, and then you move on to another activity. Not so for the Hebrew mindset! When they used this word for “learn” they referred to being in the state of learning. This type of learning describes the way a person exists – as a learner.
So, for example in Deut 4:10, God has Moses read the law to the Israelites to hear the words so that they would live in a state of learning how to live in relation to God – not so that they would gain data to store in their brain, not so that they would sit down and study the law for periods of time, then get up and do something else.
And when the Hebrew language puts this verb in a certain form (piel stem) it (basically) means “to teach” or to cause people to be in a state of learning. There are other words that are used to covey either the gathering of data/information and the imparting of data/information. This word lahmed, though, is unique!
That this word is used so frequently in the Hebrew Bible, I find significant. This concept of living as learners – in a state of learning – and doing so in such a way that it impacts how you live your life – is exactly what the New Testament refers to as being a disciple.
There’s a tendency in our churches to focus on the New Testament as we seek to understand how to be disciples. That is an unbalanced approach. Discipleship is just as key in the First Testament as it is in the Second Testament.
This is my favorite Hebrew verb. It always will be. (Though, I do have a close second on my list.) This word epitomizes how I approach my teaching and my learning – my life and my ministry. I try to live my life in a state of learning more about God, and I try to encourage that of all my students – both academic and church students.
*For those who know Hebrew, the stative vowel has been lost in most forms, but it is preserved in the patach theme vowel of some qal yiqtol forms (e.g., יִלְמַד yilmad).
**And, yes, we traditionally pronounce the lexical form as lahmad, but I use lahmed to remind myself of the stative origin.
***And, yes the Hebrew font used on this page is annoying. But my wordpress theme won’t let me change it. At least it’s not the Arial Hebrew font.
JoAnna Hoyt 