By now we have learned the letters of Aleph, Bet and Gimel. Now let's look at the Daled ד
The Daled has the sound of "d" as in "day". .
The gematria is 4.
Before the Daled is the Gimel ג and after the Daled is the Heh ה, and for good reason.
Daled has the meaning of poor. It is for this reason that the Gimel and the Daled belong together. The Gimel is a rich person who runs after the Daled to help him. Poor in the material sense, so that the rich person can give him money, food or other necessities so that he can do a mitzvah as a result. As a result, the poor man gives the rich man something that is far more valuable than all the money in the world.
But also poor in a spiritual meaning. The Gimel is the Jew who wants to pass on his knowledge of Torah and HaShem to the Noahide, who lacks this knowledge of himself, but does look up to HaShem and places his hope and expectation on him.
Together they form the word גַּד, coriander. Which is mentioned among other things in Exodus 16:31 - the coriander seed of the Manna.
וַיִּקְרְא֧וּ בֵֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ מָ֑ן וְה֗וּא כְּזֶ֤רַע גַּד֙ לָבָ֔ן וְטַעְמ֖וֹ כְּצַפִּיחִ֥ת בִּדְבָֽשׁ׃
The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey.
The seed itself has an unpleasant smell, as the world can sometimes be perceived as unpleasant, but the taste is pleasant. The fresh herb has a strong parsley flavor with lemon, while the seeds have a slightly sweet, anise-like, slightly spicy flavor.
Looking at HaShem, everything tastes good, even that which at first smells unpleasant. For everything that comes from Him is good and pleasant.
We are now familiar with the:
ב י ת א ל פ ף ג מ ם ד.
and with the:
ִ ּ ֶ ָ ַ ֵ ֹ
[ i, dagesh, e, aa, a, ee, o ]
and can now read the following words, among others:
Genesis 19:9
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ ׀ גֶּשׁ־הָ֗לְאָה וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ הָאֶחָ֤ד בָּֽא־לָגוּר֙ וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֣ט שָׁפ֔וֹט עַתָּ֕ה נָרַ֥ע לְךָ֖ מֵהֶ֑ם וַיִּפְצְר֨וּ בָאִ֤ישׁ בְּלוֹט֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַֽיִּגְּשׁ֖וּ לִשְׁבֹּ֥ר הַדָּֽלֶת׃
But they said, “Stand back! The fellow,” they said, “came here as an alien, and already he acts the ruler! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” And they pressed hard against that householder—against Lot—and moved forward to break the door.
Jona 2:1
וַיְמַ֤ן יְהוָה֙ דָּ֣ג גָּד֔וֹל לִבְלֹ֖עַ אֶת־יוֹנָ֑ה וַיְהִ֤י יוֹנָה֙ בִּמְעֵ֣י הַדָּ֔ג שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה יָמִ֖ים וּשְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה לֵילֽוֹת׃
The L-RD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days and three nights.
Jeremiah 13:21
מַה־תֹּֽאמְרִי֙ כִּֽי־יִפְקֹ֣ד עָלַ֔יִךְ וְ֠אַתְּ לִמַּ֨דְתְּ אֹתָ֥ם עָלַ֛יִךְ אַלֻּפִ֖ים לְרֹ֑אשׁ הֲל֤וֹא חֲבָלִים֙ יֹאחֱז֔וּךְ כְּמ֖וֹ אֵ֥שֶׁת לֵדָֽה׃
What will you say when they appoint as your heads
Those among you whom you trained to be tame?
Shall not pangs seize you
Like a woman in childbirth?
For private lessons:info.angelique@xs4all.nl
Sources: The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet, Grammatica vh Bijbels Hebreeuws by E. Lettinga, Grammar For Biblical Hebrew by C. Seow
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the NoahideAcademy.org website. She contributes for the admin of the website in English and Dutch. She teaches Hebrew to beginners and intermediate students at the Academy.
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