Images to
Awaken Your Soul
Ancient Hebrew Teachings, Art and Jewelry to Stir Your Spirit
Learning modern Hebrew is difficult, but the ancient language is easy. It’s pictures! Almost certainly Moses, and possibly even Abraham, used a simple pictograph language of 22 picture letters for written communication. Each letter portrayed a familiar concept, and when combined with the other letters, illustrated the meaning of a word as a WORD PICTURE.
Did you know that Ancient or Paleo Hebrew may very well be, at the same time, the simplest and most sophisticated language system in history. The secret to this unique ability of Ancient (Paleo) Hebrew lies in its power to use word pictures which not only form common words, but also express its definition.
This ability of a word picture used in context to express the function of a word makes Paleo Hebrew the perfect language system to express the heart of God in His communication to man. Equally valuable is the ability of man to teach and pass on the precepts of God to others through the use of Paleo Hebrew word pictures.
In its most basic form the Hebrew word “father” demonstrates this principle. The Hebrew word is Av. It is spelled אב in modern form (reading right to left). Upon learning the modern language rules of Hebrew any reader can read the word phonetically, just as with any other word in Hebrew, and apply it to a memorized association. In this case the elder male member of the household.
However, in Paleo Hebrew the spelling is comprised of two pictographs, BA. The A is the depiction of an ox head speaking in ancient cultural context of strength or leader. The B is the depiction of the floorplan of a tent speaking in ancient cultural context of a tent or house. Therefore BA is not just the elder male but the “strength or leader of the tent or house”.
One can quickly see how this understanding applied to Biblical words can immensely expand the functional understanding of those words when applied in the cultural context in which they were written.
This website is dedicated to the understanding of the history and use of Paleo Hebrew. To that end we have included:
1. Brief teachings on Biblical words in Paleo Hebrew in written and video formats.
2. Artistic presentations of Biblical words in Paleo Hebrew.
3. A beautiful jewelry selection of Paleo Hebrew words for personal use as well as meaningful gift items.
4. And various other user-friendly products found in our Shop section.
We invite you to spend time exploring the site. We present it for your benefit to the Glory of God.
Shalom
You can start learning the ancient AlephBet right now, right here! It’s EASY! In 2-3 minutes you can have an understanding of how it works; in 15 minutes you will vividly see the value of your study; and in an hour you will feel compelled to dig deeper.
Now that you have a basic understanding of how it works, you can enjoy Marla Jean’s art and jewelry created from it. Here is a small taste. Go ahead and take a look. Can you already recognize some of the letters?
Love
Bless
Grace
Books
My personal mission is to be an artist who is “creatively significant!” I don’t intend to just paint pretty pictures to compliment decorator designs. I want to find irresistible ways to share spiritual concepts that go BEYOND ART. My desire is that YOU, the viewer, will be given the opportunity to Expand your spiritual understanding and Experience the deep, deep well of God’s Word through the Paleo Hebrew pictographic language — in color! When you put one of my works of art on your wall, I want you to enjoy it for art’s sake, but go even deeper and be able to Engage your guests in a spiritual conversation par excellence!
To me Ancient / Paleo Hebrew is a captivating language system. The secret to Ancient (Paleo) Hebrew’s unique ability lies in its capability to “draw” Word Pictures in the cultural context of the original authors. My objective is not to change the definitions of Biblical words, but rather to allow the pictographs to provide the modern reader with functional and useful insight as originally expressed in ancient nomadic, agrarian, and Semitic cultural context and settings. My desire is to see Ancient Hebrew equip today’s Bible reader with the ability to discover the vast array of Hebraisms and insights that reveal the Heart of our Heavenly Father in a way translation in modern languages struggle to do.
We are a team consisting of Pastor Jim Woodard and his wife, Claudia, and artist Marla Jean Clinesmith and her husband, Trent.
We absolutely love all of our prints. We love to share the Meaning of the Hebrew words. We have them scattered around the house and on all the walls of our office. It just surrounds us with the living words of the Lord.
I treasure my paleo jewelry you designed! Each piece is so meaningful to me. As with the prints; each piece reminds me of our Faithful God.
All of the above has come to life and been built on the classes George and I took under Jim’s Paleo Hebrew teaching. God’s Word now has even deeper meaning. Even our trip to Israel was so much more meaningful as a result of Jim’s teaching.
Diania Marshall
Wearing God’s grace ring on my finger reminds me I can’t earn it and that it is given unconditionally. It keeps me humble and also prompts me to provide grace to others. I had the heart of love (A’hav) bracelet made into a necklace. Wearing God’s love as a symbol around my neck is a powerful reminder of His promises. I am hopeful these pieces will be noticed and spark conversations about the symbols, their meaning to me, and what they could mean for those that don’t know or have a relationship with Him.
Jan Rice
I have several of Marla’s originals, as well as many prints. The prints are as beautiful as the originals…very true to color. They will enliven both the space they are in and grace your life with a deeper meaning of God’s eternal Word.
Elizabeth Goodgion
This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look,
Ask for the ancient paths,
Ask where the good way is,
and walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls.”
Jeremiah 6:16
The prophet Jeremiah tells us that there is something we should SEE and SEEK out of the ancient paths. Pursuing an understanding of the ancient Hebrew language reveals a wisdom that is tried and tested so that we can secure God’s blessing and find rest for our souls.
