The purpose of this web page is to present some interesting things the author has learned about symbolism contained in Hebrew.  Most are familiar with the creation story in the Old Testament and how language was corrupted at the Tower of Babel.  But, what was the pure language that Adam spoke?   Perhaps the closest language to the pure language is represented by proto-Hebrew, or the language in which the Old Testament was transcribed.  Perhaps it is from a study of this language (Proto-Hebrew) that the pure language of Adam can be reconstructed.

    The author does not claim to be a scholar on Hebrew or any other ancient language and acknowledges that there may be many errors in his current understanding.  The material here is presented as "food for thought" to assist others in their own personal paths of seeking for answers.

    Language as symbolism:  All things into one.    One would guess that the pure-most language would consist of the highest form of symbolism.  Thus, pure language would likely encompass all things and bring "all things into one".

    Hebrew is known to be a language without numbers.  Rather than having special symbols for numbers, the numbers are represented by the letters of the alphabet.  In this way, every word also contains an associated number.  These number associations are called the Gemetria and their symbolism within Hebrew words and sentences are the topic of intense study by Hebrew scholars and mystics.

    However,  wouldn't pure language encompass all things, such as sounds and colors as well?   Thus, all things would be integrated perfectly, so that when the language was spoken or written, then there would be no mistake about what idea would be conveyed.  When the pure language is taught to children, much more than language would be learned, such as music, history, the future, the arts, and so on.  Again, the symbolism would be embedded perfectly so that all things would be expounded into one.

    The Hebrew alphabet:  a brief introduction.  The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are consonants, except one (aleph), which may be used as a vowel.  Originally, the Old Testament was written in all consonants without vowels.  Mystic (Kabbalic) schools taught that additional levels of understanding could be attained by reading the text using different vowel insertions as well as (re)arrangement of letters.  Joseph Smith included the a study of Hebrew language into the School of the Prophets at Kirtland, Ohio, and taught that there were generally five major levels of understanding of the scriptures which can be realized through vowel insertions, (re)arrangement of letters, gemetria, etc.  Below is a representation of the Hebrew alphabet with its associated numbers and traditional Rabbinical pictographic definitions:
 

    It is important to remember that we are looking at a contemporary alphabet.  Joe Sampson, in his book Written by the Finger of God (1993, Wellspring Publishing, ISBN# 1-884312-05-5) uses a variety of sources to distill the original meanings of the Hebrew alphabet pictograms.  These distilled definitions are likely to be closest to the original definitions of the Hebrew letters and will become important later on in our look at the alphabet.

    Playing with the Hebrew alphabet:  symbols for eternity.

    Inasmuch as the Hebrew alphabet is a progression from beginning to end (single line;  one dimension), lets get rid of beginnings and ends by connecting the first to the last to make a circle (representing eternity)(a circle;  two dimensional):
 
 

     Then lets invert the circle and add it on at the top so that it is in a figure eight (8):

    A figure eight (8) contains much more symbolism than merely being an upright sign for infinity.  Words such as "as above, so below" or "on earth as it is in heaven" come to mind.