In most well-known languages the conjugation of the verb, to be, begins as follows:
I am,
Thou art,
He is,
In the Hebrew language however the order is as follows:
He is,
Thou art,
I am.
It has been well pointed out that this illustrates in a nutshell the philosophy of the Greek world and of the Hebrew.
The Greek was cultured, his language commanded universal admiration for its flexibility, its beauty, its power of expressing subtle shades of meaning. But the Greek was PAGAN. He had no real, sense of God. The fall of man had left him self-centred. It is no wonder then that this famous verb in their language should begin with I—I AM, with themselves. The best of their ancient philosophers began there in many cases, for practical purposes they stopped there.
But man has relations with his neighbours, and civilized countries have their government and their code of living, which recognize to some extent our duties one to another. So we come to “THOU ART.”
How often the most advanced get no further than that. They render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and forget to render to God, the things that are God’s.
But even in heathen Greece there were philosophers who searched after God. They might begin with, “I AM,” with self, they might branch out to “THOU ART,” and think about their neighbour, but there were some too who longed for something further and groped after God. Socrates was one such.
We turn from the philosophy of the Greek to that of the Hebrew. How was it that their verb, to be, began its conjugation unlike any other well-known language? The answer is found in Scripture. “What advantage then has the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly because that to them were committed the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:1-2).
Long before Socrates was born Abraham had the vision of the God of glory and became the father of the faithful for all time. Things were shaping in him and his descendants, in the ways of God, for the revelation of His holy word. Six centuries roll by, and we see Moses writing the inspired words that in time produced the Pentateuch. David wrote many psalms, prophets added their part. The Israelites were blessed with the presence of God in their midst and the knowledge of the Most High.
We sometimes wonder how language first came into existence. One can only come to the conclusion that at first it was the miraculous gift of a beneficent Creator to our first parents. Was it the Hebrew language? We cannot tell.
But in the order of the beginning of the conjugation of the verb, to be, in the Hebrew language we can trace the influence of the revelation of God. The Israelites nationally were not, as a race of people, any better than their neighbours. How is it then that even in the structure of their verb, we see traces of something higher than in philosophic Greek? It is not through their knowledge of God and the influence of the Scriptures?
How significant the order of their verb:
He is (God)
Thou art (My neighbour)
I am (Self)
If we put God first, our neighbours second, and self last, we are on good ground. How happy would things be if all acted on this model.
When this was pointed out to a Hebrew scholar of 40 years’ standing he exclaimed that he had never noticed the beauty of the order before. Yet, it was there all the time.
At any rate, if we learn a lesson from this order, these few lines will not have been written in vain.