Adown is the Hebrew root of the word Adowny more commonly known in English as Adonai. It's what Sarai called Abraham in Gen. 18 and is commended for in 1 Peter. I've been thinking about putting it in a thread but there's so much info on it once you start studying that I have hesitated because of so much typing.
Basically the word is a code that is as follows based upon paleo Hebrew
A. Aleph. The head of household
D. Daleh. The door/ the veil
W. Waw/vav. The tent stake/woman
N. Nun. The treasure, the seed, the child
Y. Yod. The right hand, authority
In short, after much study which is ongoing because I haven't exhausted it yet, I have interpreted it as follows
The man, positioned before the veil/door, giving account for those within his tent or covering- the woman, the tent stake or one who anchors her house in place and the seed or treasure by authority entrusted to him by Yah.
It's amazing how God will direct your studies. At the time I came across this, I was teaching through the feast days and was in Exodus 34 teaching on the first Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. When I realized how important it was for the man to be positioned in the doorway i had brain hurts for the next week or so till I got it wrapped around how big this is.
I have come to believe the Isaiah 4:1 reference to the seven women laying hold upon one man will probably find fulfillment due to this principle. That they are without a spiritual covering and the judge is headed for their door
Aaaaaaaah. It's been awhile since I encountered someone teaching using the Paleo Hebrew interpretations.
It's a nice mnemonic device and I think you would captivate a congregation using it in a sermon.
I would like to share though that Hebrew did not develop pictographically.
Yes, the Phoenician script did have symbols where the names of the animals/objects represented those symbols like Aleph was an oxe. I guess that's where you are getting "head of the household" because an oxe is strong? The symbol was an aerial view of an oxe and yoke.
Since Hebrew was spoken long before it adopted the alphabet of other surrounding cultures (Phoenician derivatives i.e. 'Paleo Hebrew'), the names of the alphabet letters given by those other nations (i.e. aleph) did not play a role in the meanings of the words since the words were spoken first before they were written.
Waw is transcribed in Ancient pronunciation either as a vowel: u/o or as a consonant: w. I haven't seen it transliterated as both before: ow in Adown. Doesn't mean it couldn't have been that way. I learned the ancient pronunciation from the textbook:
"A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew" by Jacob Weingreen-Oxford press if you're interested in accurately pronouncing it the ancient way (as accurately as we can at least). The typeface is not so nice as it's a bit old but still published today due to it’s tremendous job at reducing Biblical grammar down to the basics only. I used to use this text exclusively teaching Biblical Hebrew.
Ancient Egyptian does have a system where at times the symbol chosen to write the sound can add a nuance to the word, usually with names. For example if I wanted to write 'Jerod' I can choose to use the snake sign for the 'J' and a vulture for the 'e' etc.... but Jerod probably won't like having a snake in his name so if he's a friend I might prefer to choose a basket picture which represents both the 'J' and 'e' sign all at once.
So instead of snake-vulture-mouth-baby chicken-hand for his name I wrote basket-mouth-baby chicken-hand (one less symbol but no implications of being snake like). Also in Egyptian words the very last sign or two are often not read and they classify the entire word (determinative). So if you have the word for eat, or talk, etc. the last symbol is likely a mean sitting with his hand touching his mouth; the word has something to do with the mouth. Egyptian worked this way; Hebrew did not.
So the teaching you shared is very nice, we just have to be aware that with word formation in Hebrew the alphabet letters we use have no role in the meaning or nuance of the word.
If someone wanted to write אדון Adon in the ancient script, they had NO CHOICE but to choose aleph for the first letter due to the fact that aleph was the ONLY letter in the 22 letter Hebrew alphabet that made that sound. For ‘d’ ONLY dalet could make that sound so they weren’t thinking “this looks like the door to a tent’ they were thinking “I need a ‘d’ sound what can I use? That’s right daleth is my only choice”.
See what I mean? In Egyptian they had choices with their thousands of signs and one creative scribe in ancient Egypt used ALL CROCODILES (in different poses, etc.) in one of his writings!!!
So it’s a nice principle if the meanings of the paleo-letters help people to remember things, I usually tell my students use it as a mnemonic device only if that’s helpful, but don’t put any theological stock in it.
If anyone’s interested in ancient Egyptian language the primary texts I used to study are:
“
Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs”-Sir Alan Gardiner (THE classic grammar but outdated now, I love it’s rustic smell)
“
Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs”-James Allen (maybe most popular nowadays)
“
Heilige Zeichen. 580 Ägyptische Hieroglyphen. Die ganze Welt der Pharaonen wird verständlich und lebendig”-Betro (very cheap used but in German)
“
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs-A Practical Guide”-Kamrin (harder to find but colorful)
“
How to read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-step Guid to Teach Yourself”-Collier (focus is on interpreting objects you’ll see on tours in Egypt)
(listed here because you can sometimes get these for a song on ebay or used book stores. Maybe I can pick up a study buddy believer many of those in the online groups are pagans).
The Allen text is most useful for self-instruction if you like being part of a group-it has a lot of support from online communities who work through it cyclically and submit homework assignments etc all for free.
There is a nice chart with accurate depictions of the various forms of Old Hebrew in various forms: Mesa, Seals and gems, Siloam, various coins from Maccabees etc, in
“
Hebräische Grammatik” by Wilhelm Gesenius. Older printings are in the public domain so you can download it. It’s written in German language (as most of the truly scholarly Hebrew references are), but the fold out chart is still clear and easily findable just after the TOC.
Beware, I've seen some of those pamphlet type books and lessons circulating about using "paleo hebrew" to understand words. A pastor friend of mine was using one here to teach. The writers are hacks often with no real Hebrew education but their presentation is grand so it can suck people in.
(I elaborated a bit more than maybe needed thinking someone here may see it and share my passion or it gets scrolled by g-bot and helps our community gain more members).
Peace
