Speak Hebrew – Numbers

The Value Number of Hebrew Letters

The Hebrew counting system, each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value assigned to it. This system dates back to Temple times, when the rules for the Hebrew calendar system were established, and when our Sages used “Gematria” or Hebrew letter numerical values to glean important insights or hidden meanings in the Torah and other religious texts. Here is how it works in brief: there is no notation for “zero”; the first 10 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have the numerical values 1-10; the next nine letters are valued at 20, 30, 40, et cetera; the remaining Hebrew letters take on the values of 200, 300, and 400 – the latter assigned to tav, the last letter of the Hebrew Aleph Bet.

Hebrew Calendar Year

In Israel today, the digits we are accustomed to (1, 2, 3 … 9) are used most of the time (i.e., for counting money, age, and civil calendar dates). However Hebrew numerals are sometimes used for numbering lists (much like a, b, c, d), for copyright dates, and for the Hebrew calendar. For example, “Monday” in Modern Hebrew is Yom Sheni(literally “the Second Day”); however it is indicated on Hebrew calendars as Yom Bet, referring the numerical value of two assigned to bet, the second letter of the Hebrew Aleph Bet. Similarly, the Hebrew calendar year is indicated in Hebrew letters. Keeping in mind that the current Hebrew calendar year is 5771 and that the “5000” is generally dropped on calendars, the current year in Hebrew is tav-shin-ayin-aleph, the numerical equivalent of which is 771.

Hebrew Numbers and Gender

In Hebrew, numbers are conjugated by gender, taking on the masculine or feminine form of the object they modify.

The feminine form of the Hebrew numbers 1-10 are:
achat, shtayim, shalosh, arba, chamesh, shesh, sheva, shmone, tesha, esser (Note that the number achat is always placed after the noun it qualifies and that shtayim becomes shtey before the noun it modifies)

The masculine form of the Hebrew numbers 1-10 are:
echad, shnayim, shlosha, arba’a, chamisha, shisha, Shiv’a, shmona, tish’a, assara (Note that the number echad is always placed after the noun it qualifies and that shnayim becomes shney before the noun it modifies)

Here are a few examples of counting in Hebrew using the numbers 1-10:

5 sisters: chamesh achayot (feminine)
5 brothers: chamisha achim (masculine)

6 hours: shesh sha’ot (feminine)
6 days: shisha yamim (masculine)

10 shekels: assara shkalim (feminine)
10 agurot: esser agurot (masculine)

For unspecified numbers (such as telling time, phone numbers, and bus numbers) always use the feminine form.

Hebrew Numbers 11 to 19

Here are the next Hebrew numbers to learn:

Number	Feminine	Masculine
11	Achat-esre	Achad-asar
12	Shteym-esre	Shneym-asar
13	Shlosh-esre	Shlosha-asar
14	Arba-esre	Arba’a-asar
15	Chamesh-esre	Chamisha-asar
16	Shesh-esre	Shisha-asar
17	Shva-esre	Shiv‘a-asar
18	Shmone-esre	Shmona-asar
19	Tsha-esre	Tish’a-asar

Hebrew Numbers 20 to 29

(You will use a similar format to count in Hebrew all the way up the number ladder)

Number	Feminine	Masculine
20	Esrim	Esrim
21	Esrim ve’achat	Esrim ve’echad
22	Esrim u’shtaim	Esrim u’shnaim
23	Esrim ve’shalosh	Esrim u’shlosha
24	Esrim ve’arba	Esrim ve’arba‘a
25	Esrim ve’chamesh	Esrim va’chamisha
26	Esrim ve’shesh	Esrim ve’shisha
27	Esrim ve’sheva	Esrim ve’shiv’a
28	Esrim u’shmone	Esrim u’shmona
29	Esrim ve’tesha	Esrim ve’tish’a

Hebrew Numbers 30 and Up

From the number 30 and up, Hebrew numbers are conjugated only one way (using the feminine form):
30 shloshim; 40 arba’im; 50 chamishim; 60 shishim; 70 shiv’im; 80 sh’monim; 90 tish’im; 100 me’ah
200 ma’tayim
300 sh’losh me’ot
400 arba me’ot
500 chamesh me’ot
600 shesh me’ot
700 sh’va me’ot
800 sh’mona me’ot
900 t’sha me’ot
1000 elef
2000 alpayim
3000 shloshet alafim
4000 arba’at alafim
5000 chameshet alafim
6000 sheshet alafim
7000 shiv’at alafim (commonly pronounced: shvat alafim)
8000 sh’monat alafim
9000 tish’at alafim (commonly pronounced: tshat alafim)
10,000 asseret alafim
11,000 echad esre elef
50 000 chamishim elef
100,000 me’ah elef
250,000 ma’tayim chamishim elef
1,000,000 milione

Telling Time in Hebrew

When asked Ma ha’sha’a? (What time is it?), the answer might be (for example, 6 o’clock, 10 o’clock, and 12 o’clock): ha’sha’a shesh; ha’sha’a eser; ha’sha’a shtem-esre.

To indicate minutes after the hour, a half hour, or quarter of an hour, practice saying the following (7:20, 9:43, 6:30, 3:30, 2:15, 4:15): sheva ve’esrim, tesha arba’im ve’shalosh, shesh va’chetzi, shalosh va’chetzi, shtayim va’reva, arba va’reva.

 

Phrase	Transcription		Translation
Numbers	mispareem		מִסְפָּרִים
one	exad (axat)		1 אֶחָד (אַחַת)
two	sh’nayeem (sh’tayeem)		2 שְׁנַיִם (שְׁתַּיִם)
three	shalosh		3 שָׁלֹשׁ
four	arba		4 אַרְבַּע
five	xamesh		5 חָמֵשׁ
six	shesh		6 שֵׁשׁ
seven	sheva		7 שֶׁבַע
eight	she’mone		8 שְׁמוֹנֶה
nine	tesha		9 תֵּשַׁע
ten	eser		10 עֶשֶֹר
eleven	axat׳esrei		11 אַחַת-עֶשְֹרֵה
twelve	shteim׳esrei		12 שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְֹרֵה
thirteen	shlosh׳esrei		13 שְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְֹרֵה
fou rteen	arba׳esrei		14 אַרְבַּע-עֶשְֹרֵה
fifte en	xamesh׳esrei		15 חֲמֵשׁ-עֶשְֹרֵה
sixteen	shesh׳esrei		16 שֵׁשׁ-עֶשְֹרֵה
seventeen	shva׳esrei		17 שְׁבַע-עֶשְֹרֵה
eight een	shmone׳esrei		18 שְׁמוֹנֶה-עֶשְֹרֵה
nineteen	tsha׳esrei		19 תְּשַׁע-עֶשְֹרֵה
twenty	esreem		20 עֶשְֹרִים
twenty-one	esreem ve’axat		21 עֶשְֹרִים וְאַחַת
twenty-two	esreem ush’tayeem		22 עֶשְֹרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם
twenty-three	esreem ve’shalosh		23 עֶשְֹרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ
twenty-four	esreem ve’arba		24 עֶשְֹרִים וְאַרְבַּע
twenty-five	esreem ve’xamesh		25 עֶשְֹרִים וְחָמֵשׁ
twenty-six	esreem vashesh		26 עֶשְֹרִים וָשֵׁשׁ
twenty-seven	esreem vasheva		27 עֶשְֹרִים וָשֶׁבַע
twenty-eight	esreem ush’moneh		28 עֶשְֹרִים וּשְׁמוֹנֶה
twenty-nine	esreem vatesha		29 עֶשְֹרִים וָתֵשַׁע
thirty	shlosheem		30 שְׁלֹשִׁים
forty	arba׳eem		40 אַרְבָּעִים
fifty	xameesheem		50 חֲמִשִּׁים
sixty	sheesheem		60 שִׁשִּׁים
seventy	sheeveem		70 שִׁבְעִים
eighty	shmo’neem		80 שְׁמוֹנִים
ninety	teesh’eem		90 תִּשְׁעִים
one hundred	me׳a		100 מֵאָה
two hundred	matayeem		200 מָאתַיִם
three hundred	shlosh me׳ot		300 שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת
four hundred	arba me׳ot		400 אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת
five hundred	xamesh me׳ot		500 חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת
one thousand	elef		1000 אֶלֶף
nineteen eighty eight	elef te’sha me׳ot shmo’neem ush’moneh		1988 אֶלֶף תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת שְׁמוֹנִים וּשְׁמוֹנֶה
two thousand	alpayeem		2,000 אַלְפַּיִם
three thousand	shloshet alafeem		3,000 שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים
four thousand	arba׳at alafeem		4,000 אַרְבַּעַת אֲלָפִים
five thousand	xameshet alafeem		5,000 חֲמֵשֶׁת אֲלָפִים
ten thousand	aseret alafeem		10,000 עֲשֶֹרֶת אֲלָפִים
one hundred thousand	me׳a elef		100,000 מֵאָה אֶלֶף
one million	meelyon		1,000,000 מִילְיוֹן
first	reeshon		רִאשׁוֹן
second	shenee		שֵׁנִי
third	shleeshee		שְׁלִישִׁי
fourth	re’vee׳ee		רְבִיעִי
fifth	xameeshee		חֲמִישִׁי
sixth	shee׳shee		שִׁשִּׁי
seventh	shvee׳ee		שְׁבִיעִי
eighth	shmee׳nee		שְׁמִינִי
ninth	tshee׳ee		תְּשִׁיעִי
tenth	aseer׳ee		עֲשִֹירִי
once	pa׳am axat		פַּעַם אַחַת
twice	pa׳amayeem		פַּעֲמַיִם
three times	shalosh pe’ameem		שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים
half	xatzee		חֲצִי
one quarter	reva		רֶבַע
one third	shleesh		שְׁלִישׁ
percent	axuz

The Mystery of the God (ALEPH to TAV – A to Z)

Revelation 21:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

From Aleph to Tav

The most common word in the Hebrew Bible is the word את (et). The first letter is the א, called an aleph, and is the first letter of the Hebrew alephbet. The second letter in the word את (et) is the ת, called a tav, and is the last letter of the Hebrew alephbet. These two letters are the “first and the last,” the “beginning and the end” and the “Aleph and the Tav” (which is translated as “the alpha and the omega,” the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, in the book of Revelation).

Joel 3:10 King James Version (KJV) 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

The word “plowshares,” in the passage above, is the Hebrew word את (et). A plowshare is the metal point of the plow which digs into the soil creating a furrow for planting seeds. When we examine the original pictographic script used in ancient times to write Hebrew, we can see a clear connection between the letters of this word and its meaning.

The modern Hebrew form of the letter aleph is א, but is an evolved form of the original pictograph , a picture of an ox head. The ancient pictographic form of the letter ת is , a picture of two crossed sticks which are used as a marker. When these two pictographs are combined we have the meaning “an ox toward the mark.” Fields were plowed with a plow pulled behind an ox (or pair of oxen). In order to keep the furrows straight the driver of the ox would aim toward a mark, such as a tree or rock outcropping in the far distance. As we can see, this meaning of driving the ox toward a mark, can be seen in the letters of the Hebrew word את (et).

The word את is also used very frequently (over 7,000 times) in the Hebrew language such as can be seen in the very first verse of the Bible.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

Because the word את has no equivalent in the English language, it is not translated, but to demonstrate its meaning in this verse I will translate Genesis 1:1 into English, but retain the word את in its correct position.

In the beginning Elohiym filled את the sky and את the land

The word את is used as a grammatical tool to identify the definite object of the verb. In the example of Genesis 1:1 the verb is the Hebrew word ברא (bara), meaning “to fill,” and the definite objects, the ones receiving the action of the verb, are the sky and the land. Just as the “ox” moved toward the “mark” when plowing, the word את (the plowshare) plows the path from the verb of a sentence (the ox) to the definite object (the mark).

Just as the phrase “heaven and earth” is an idiomatic expression meaning “all of creation,” the phrase “aleph and tav” is an idiomatic expression meaning “the whole of the alephbet.” It is the mission of the Ancient Hebrew Research Center to search out the history and meanings of the Ancient Hebrew alephbet, as well as the roots and words which are created out of them.

“In the beginning was את…”

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org