Lesson 1 | Vocab: Numbers
Memorization
In each vocabulary lesson, you’re going to work on memorizing the Hebrew of Isaiah 53:4-6. There are three reasons why we have included Bible memorization in this course, and in our other language courses:
1. It will help you learn inductively.
You have already been given new vocabulary to memorize in a list. But that’s not the most natural way to learn a language. As children, we learned words as adults talked with us. We learned phrases and idioms that we didn’t understand, but could use—our full understanding came later. The best way to learn a language isn’t through paradigms and rules but through extensive exposure.
So in Isaiah 53:4-6, you’ll learn words as they occur “in the wild”—that is, in the text of Scripture itself. The more you memorize and even just read, the more words and syntactical constructions (groups of words) you’ll absorb in the process.
2. It will help you quickly improve your Hebrew through a passage you’re already familiar with.
Most of you will be quite familiar with Isaiah 53:4-6 in English, especially verse 6. You will find that learning it in Hebrew helps you understand the passage more deeply, and so worship the Lord more joyfully. Other passages in our Hebrew courses will be some of the most important passages in the תנ״ך, which you will be familiar with and which are quoted frequently in the NT.
3. It will be a means of grace.
Paul wrote to the Colossian church,
Internalizing God’s words through memorization will help you obey this exhortation, so that his wisdom and his works guide your steps, fill your advice to others, and increase your joy in singing “spiritual songs.” May God “equip you with everything good that you may do his will ... through Jesus Christ” as you memorize these verses (Heb 13:21).
Setting The Stage
Here’s the process you’ll follow in each memorization step:
1. Listen to me read all of Isaiah 53:4-6, following along in the text below.
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2. Then listen to me read verse 4a. Do so at least five times.
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Working On Pronunciation
3. Now listen to me read each phrase of verse 4a, and then say each phrase after me.
אָכֵ֤ן חֳלָיֵ֨נוּ֙ (surely our sicknesses)
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ה֣וּא נָשָׂ֔א (he carried)
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וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ (and our pains)
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סְבָלָ֑ם (he carried them)
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