Hebrew Word Study: Revealing the Heart of God

Chaim Bentorah teaches biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to lay teachers and pastors in the metro Chicago area through Chaim Bentorah Ministries. He and his study team also conduct regular Sunday services and Bible Studies at area nursing homes. Chaim Bentorah has a bachelor of arts degree in Jewish Studies from Moody Bible Institute, a master’s degree in Old Testament and Hebrew from Denver Seminary, and a PhD in Biblical Archaeology. All of his Hebrew professors in college and graduate school were involved in the translation of the New International Version of the Bible. In their classes, he learned of the inner workings involved in the translation process. In graduate school, he and another student studied advanced Hebrew under Dr. Earl S. Kalland, who was on the executive committee for the translation work of the New International. It was this committee that made the final decisions on the particular renderings used in the original NIV translation. Having done his undergraduate work in Jewish Studies, Chaim was interested in the role of Jewish literature in biblical translation. Professor Kalland encouraged him to seek out an orthodox rabbi and discuss the translation process from a Jewish perspective. From this experience, he discovered many things about the Hebrew language that he had not learned in his years of Hebrew studies in a Christian environment. Later, from his contact with Jewish rabbis and his studies in the Talmud, the Mishnah, and other works of Jewish literature, as well as his studies in the Semitic languages, Chaim began doing Hebrew word studies as devotionals and sending them out by e-mail to former students whom he had taught in his thirteen years as an instructor in Hebrew and Old Testament at World Harvest Bible College, as well as those he taught through Chaim Bentorah Ministries. After self-publishing several books of Hebrew word studies and related topics, Chaim chose ninety word studies to create Hebrew Word Study: Revealing the Heart of God, which is his first book with Whitaker House. He believes that if we take the time to study the Hebrew language, we can see the true beauty of God’s Word and come to know God and His heart in a much deeper way.