Lesson 1 | Vocab
Memorization
In each vocabulary lesson, you’re going to work on memorizing the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 5:16–21. 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 Deuteronomy 5:16–21, 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 familiar with Deuteronomy 5:16–21 in English, although perhaps more so with the parallel text in Exodus 20. You will find it helpful to hear the vocab you’ve learned in a familiar context, and to solidify that vocab through memorizing whole sentences.
3. It will be a means of grace.
Later in Deuteronomy 5, God revealed his heart for his people:
Although we are not under the Mosaic Law as a law code, if we walk in the Spirit, we will fulfill what the Law says. And to walk in the Spirit, we need to meditate on God’s written words, including the Old Testament! May the Lord use these verses to increase your delight in his rules, his will, for your good, and for the good of your families and churches.
Setting The Stage
Here’s the process you’ll follow in each memorization step:
1. Listen to me read all of Deuteronomy 5:16–21, following along in the text below.
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2. Then listen to me read verse 16a. Do so at least five times.
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Working On Pronunciation
3. Now listen to me read each phrase of verse 16a, and then say each phrase after me.
כַּבֵּ֤ד אֶת־אָבִ֨יךָ֙ (honor your father)
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וְאֶת־אִמֶּ֔ךָ (and your mother)
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כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ (just as commanded you)
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יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ (Yahweh your God)
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