“Thunders Over Mighty Waters”

Apr 9, 2021

קוֹל יְהֹוָה עַל־הַמָּיִם אֵל־הַכָּבוֹד הִרְעִים יְהֹוָה עַל־מַיִם רַבִּים׃

The voice of Hashem is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, Hashem, over the mighty waters.

KOL a-do-NAI al ha-MA-yim ayl ha-ka-VOD hir-EEM a-do-NAI al MA-yim ra-BEEM

Psalms 29:3

According to Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson, the word for ‘water,’ mayim (מים), provides an interesting example of the unique way in which the Hebrew

thunders-over-mighty-waters

a stunning waterfall in Israel’s Golan Heights

word expresses the essence of the object it names. This word is spelled with two instances of the letter mem (מ) and one letter yud (י) in between them. Science tells us that a water molecule, represented by the notation H2-O, is made up of two atoms of hydrogen surrounding one atom of oxygen. In the Hebrew word, this exact structure is reflected; the letter ‘מ‘ represents the hydrogen while the ‘י‘ represents the oxygen.

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