Hebrew Letter Learning Tool
Discover the ancient meanings and divine wisdom in each letter
Modern Hebrew (Post-Babylonian Exile) as it appears today. The ancient meanings remain.
We can easily see the importance Yehova places on these letters as He frequently inserts or deletes a letter from names in order to change the meaning of a name. We see this in the change from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. By adding the "heh" God bestowed grace upon them both: Abraham received grace as a forerunner to redemption through his line and Sarai, being a masculine name, was changed into a feminine name with ending "heh" making a barren woman into a mother. Another example is Saul to Paul wherein God took away the destruction of "shin" and added to him the mouthpiece of "phe". God's chosen language is amazing!
Tip: Find Hebrew words in Blue Letter Bible, then copy and paste them into the form below to see the meaning of each letter.
Enter Hebrew letters or a word to see their meanings and calculate gematria
English to Hebrew Translation
Note: This will open Google Translate in a new window with your text ready to translate.
You can also open Google Translate directly
Tip: After translating to Hebrew in Google Translate, copy the Hebrew text and paste it into the lookup form above to see letter meanings.
Other Hebrew Translation Resources:
- Pealim - Hebrew Verb Conjugator
- Do It In Hebrew - Translation Tool
Nikkud (נִקּוּד) refers to the system of dots and dashes used to indicate vowels in Hebrew text.
What is Nikkud?
While modern Hebrew is often written without these marks, they are essential for:
- Learning to read Hebrew correctly
- Reading religious texts and poetry
- Clarifying pronunciation in ambiguous cases
- Children's books and educational materials
Placement Rules
- Below the letter: Patach (ַ), Kamatz (ָ), Segol (ֶ), Tzere (ֵ), Chirik (ִ), Kubutz (ֻ)
- Above the letter: Cholam (ֹ) - appears as a dot above
- Inside the letter: Shuruk (וּ) - a vav with a dot inside
- Special case: Shva (ְ) can indicate a very brief vowel or no vowel
Reading Direction
Hebrew is read from right to left. When reading with nikkud:
- Start with the consonant on the right
- Add the vowel sound indicated by the nikkud
- Move to the next consonant to the left
Hover over each word to see its pronunciation:
Paleo Hebrew was essentially the Phoenician alphabet that added semantic meaning through the novel use of dual-purpose "vowel letters" (i.e., Aleph, Hey, Vav). This script was used during the First Temple Period (though it was also used as a symbol of nationalistic revival in the Second Temple Period). A modified version of this script (Samaritan) is still extant today.
Source: gods-abcs.com
Evolution of the Alphabet
Understanding the Chart
This chart shows the evolution of the Hebrew alphabet from its ancient Proto-Sinaitic origins through Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew to modern Hebrew script. Each row represents a letter showing:
- Letter Name: The traditional Hebrew name
- Proto-Sinaitic: The earliest pictographic form (~1850 BC - 1550 BC)
- Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew: The ancient script (~1000 BC - 70 AD)
- Hebrew (Numeric Value): Modern Hebrew letter with its gematria value
- Hebrew (Symbol/Meaning): The pictographic meaning
- Hebrew Square Script: The modern form used today
- Ancient Greek: Related Greek letters
- Modern English: Corresponding English letters
Historical Context
The Hebrew alphabet has undergone significant changes throughout history:
- Proto-Sinaitic Period: Letters were pictographs representing physical objects
- First Temple Period: Paleo-Hebrew script was the standard
- Babylonian Exile: Transition to Aramaic square script began
- Second Temple Period: Square script became dominant, though Paleo-Hebrew was used for nationalistic purposes
- Modern Era: Square script remains the standard for Hebrew today
Enter a number to see its Hebrew representation and spiritual meaning, or type Hebrew letters to calculate their numerical value.
Enter a number to see its Hebrew letters and spiritual meaning