את
Aleph is the first letter
of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet.
Tav is the last letter.
They are used in
Scripture
to identify
The First and The Last,
YAHWEH.
He is the beginning
and the end
of all things.
There has been much confusion about two little Hebrew letters that appear quite frequently in the text.
The letters are א - aleph, and ת - tav.
These two letters occur as a separate ‘word' 11,040 times
in The Old covenant Hebrew text.
Since YAHWEH does NOTHING without a purpose
it’s crucial to discover why these occur.
Tradition has taught that these two letters when used together, את,
are a “marker” (indicator) for “the direct object of a verb”.
On occasion they do ’translate’ them as “with”.
However, there is NO language on earth where there is anything noted as a “marker for a direct object of a verb”.
Such an interpretation makes NO sense whatsoever when one considers Who put them there in the first place.
YAHWEH had a particular reason, a purpose, for including them.
One of the first questions that must be asked is this:
If this combination of letters is a “marker” for the direct object of a verb,
then why is it not used consistently, with every verb in Scripture?
It’s very easy to observe, by looking at the Hebrew text,
that it is far from consistent in its usage.
Since YAHWEH is not the author of confusion
it makes no sense to have the aleph-tav combination, את, used
to sporadically identify the direct object of some verbs in the tex, but not ALL of them.
There must be a better answer! And indeed there is.
But most of us have been blind to what’s been right in front of our eyes for a very long time.
James Strong has provided our answer in his Complete Concordance definitions.
There are actually four that use this combination of letters,
but for our purposes only two of them are relevant. They are:
852. tDa }ath, awth; (Aramaic) corresponding to 226; a portent:—sign.
853. tEa }eth, ayth; apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—(as such unrepresented in English).
You’ll notice that the vowel pointings and pronunciation are slightly different. In the original texts there were no vowel pointings. Thus, in that instance, these two “words” would actually appear identical in the text. This is worth noting. The concept of this pair of letters serving as a portent, a sign, should definitely be recognized as significant.
Further, we need to note that it’s used to more definitely point out “the object of the verb”, or a preposition.
And note that this is “not represented in English”.
Mr. Strong has it correct. But tradition has altered the perception of the definition by the way it’s treated these letters. Rather than teaching that it is to emphasize a verb or a pronoun, tradition has taught us to virtually ignore this combination, especially in English - where it does not even show up. This alters the text, subtracting something vital from it!
This is a practice Scripture itself forbids.
It is not good “scholarship”. It’s detestable!
The Proper Use of את - Aleph-Tav
Having struggled with this issue for many years I recently came across (with some help from YAHWEH of course) a book written in 1921 by Fabre d’Olivet, “The Hebraic Tongue Restored". After spending some time trying to comprehend his approach to Hebrew I discovered his viewpoints on the aleph-tav combination. His primary perspective is that of “SELFNESS”!
This is extremely important!
It provided the connection to Strong’s use of “properly, self”.
After spending some time reflecting on all of this it became apparent
that we need to view these two letters as a sign, a signal, a ‘portent’!
They are telling us something important about the text.
The next step was to take an in-depth look at every occurrence of aleph tav in Scripture.
I wanted to see where it was used and how it was used.
I sought to discover a way to put whatever it represented back into the text,
including specifically into English,
so the reader could discover and appreciate its true meaning.
The only method that seemed to offer a meaningful way to represent this
was to begin using the terms of “…-self”, i.e. itself, himself, herself, yourself, etc.
Where the aleph-tav combination occurs these were then inserted into the text.
And while it does create some awkward English in some instances
the benefits far outweigh the awkwardness.
The truly remarkable thing one notices when doing this
is that it establishes a special form of emphasis in the text
where those special emphases occur.
These letters are not insignificant!
They deserve to be represented in English.
They add powerful meaning to the text.
This concept of “selfness” presents vital new insights into the text
that open up a whole new way to understand The Word of YAHWEH.
The את is an ATtention sign! (Aleph is ‘A’ in English and Tav is “t”.)
It is telling us that YAHWEH is noting something IMPORTANT in the text.
It acts like a STOP SIGN - STOP and pay more careful attention to this word or phrase!
There’s another very important aspect of these two letters that needs to be identified.
א - aleph is the FIRST letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. (Bet is the second letter, from which combination we get “aleph-bet”.)
ת - tav is the LAST letter of the Hebrew Aleph-bet.
In the Book of Revelation YAHWEH reveals to us that He is THE ALEPH and THE TAV!
This is done no less than FOUR times - ALL in the Book of Revelation.
(here they are. as found in The Aleph-Tav Bible):
Rev. 1:8 “I am The Aleph and The Tav,
The Beginning and The End,”
says YAHWEH,
“Who is
and Who was
and Who is to come.
The Almighty.”
Rev. 1:11 saying,
“I am The Aleph and The Tav,
The First and The Last.”
and, “What you see write on a scroll
and send it to the seven assemblies
which are in Asia,
to Ephesus,
to Smyrna,
to Pergamos,
to Thyatira,
to Sardis,
to Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea.”
Rev. 21:6 And He said to me,
“It is finished!
I am The Aleph and The Tav,
The Beginning and The End!
I will give freely to him who is thirsty
from the fountain of the water of life.
Rev. 22:13 I am The Aleph and The Tav,
The Beginning and The End,
The First and The Last.
Add to this YAHWEH’s statement in Isaiah:
Is. 41:4 Who has accomplished and done it,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I Myself, YAHWEH!
Even the first and the last itself את,
I Myself am He!’ ”
Now when you see the את sign in the text
you will recognize that YAHWEH is calling attention to His existence
as THE ALEPH AND THE TAV, YAHWEH, The First and The Last,
AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!
YAHWEH IS EVERYTHING!!!
HE IS EXISTENCE ITSELF!
We are reminded of this on virtually EVERY PAGE of The Old Covenant text -
when it is placed in the text where it belongs.
A New Version of Scripture
This discovery has led to a new edition of Scripture . It will take time to “polish” the presentation of the concept and smooth out some of its awkwardness. Yet if some of that needs to remain in order to properly identify the emphasis, the sign, this places in the text for us, so be it.
The new edition is called The Aleph-Tav Bible.
The entire text is now posted on this site as a PDF file.
You are welcome to download it, for FREE, and study it.
Your feedback is most welcome.
It is sincerely hoped that this will provide a whole new avenue of understanding
for those willing to take the time to consider it carefully and prayerfully.
This new version is different. It’s not what you’re used to reading.
There are revised concepts presented that will challenge your traditional thinking.
It’s a study text.
It’s intended for serious students of Scripture.
Since we don’t have The New Covenant in an original Hebrew text form
we cannot benefit from the usage of aleph-tav in The New Covenant.
That’s truly a great loss.
You’ll understand why as you begin to see what it adds to the text.
The PDF file is available for free.
See the Copy Right/Use Notice in the Sidebar for restrictions.
May YAHWEH bless you on the journey!
NOTE: These pages are a "work in progress". They're updated fairly often as new information or insights are provided that require a change in what's presented. Please check back regularly to see what may have changed since your last visit. Scripture verses used on the site are from The Aleph-Tav Bible. They're not always presented on these pages in exactly the same format as they occur in the text due to space considerations but the text is the same. Download or print your own copy today.
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