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Question
The facts = Hashem changed the names and gave them a different meaning: Abram to AbraHam Sarai to Sara Jacob to Yisrael I understand the meanings, and I think they are fantastic! What I would like to know, how the changes operate in the original Hebrew! You see, I am learning Hebrew, but I don`t find the clue how this fits in linguistically, how the letter "H" in Abraham makes it the father to many...
Answer
If Avram stands for Avi Aram, โ€œfather of Aramโ€, then the added โ€œHโ€ with the mem at the end symbolizes the word โ€œhamonโ€ โ€“ many, while the Resh retains itโ€™s original conotation. These symbolic readings are hinted at in the lettering but are not functions of โ€œpureโ€ linguistic or gramatical usage. A word with a โ€œHehโ€ ending, when made possessed by first person, will get a yud instead of the heh, though usually with a โ€œtzerehโ€ for the vowel, unless the word is plural, so that sadeh, field, becomes sadi (my field) or sadi (my fields).
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