5620. Heavenly angels have spoken with me about the Hebrew language, that all its letters, or syllables, have a correspondence, and that, in accordance with its bends and curves, they signify inward things in accordance with heavenly forms. I was given occasion to examine the letters from beginning to end, and certain words, and they said what the correspondence is, except for some rough letters such as [Hebrew: Daleth, Caph and Koph] 1and several others which are pronounced roughly. But they said that in the degree there is roughness in them, they do not correspond. And therefore, they said, in the earliest times they were not rough but soft, and that therefore in each of letters like this there is a point in the middle, and this point means that it is pronounced roughly, but without a point in the middle it is not pronounced roughly. All roughness pertains to spiritual matters and therefore points are in the middles of them.
[2] In addition they said, which I too have often noticed, that they [i.e., the heavenly angels] do not have the vowels i and e, but a, o, and especially u, and that y 2is intermediate between heavenly and spiritual. And because they are like this and only serve the sound, in the Hebrew language there are also no vowels as in other languages, but they are added by characters above and below.
Footnotes:
1. Perhaps this glyph in the manuscript should be read Pe, because this letter uses a point and like the others is therefore pronounced roughly.
2. Phonetically u.
5620. Celestial angels said to me, about the Hebrew tongue, that all the letters, or syllables, therein, have correspondence, and that, according to the inflections and curvatures, they have a significance in agreement with the heavenly form. It was permitted them to examine the letters from beginning to end, also certain words; and they said that there is correspondence, except in the case of certain rough letters, as [daleth, cof, ?], and several which are pronounced roughly. But they said that, so far as there is roughness in them, so far they do not correspond. They also said that, for this reason, in the earliest times, they were not rough but smooth, and that, therefore, in everyone of such [letters] there is a point in the middle; and this point signifies that it is pronounced roughly, but that, without the points in the middle, not roughly. All rough [sounds] pertain to spiritual things, and, therefore, the points in the middle of these. They further said - as, also, I have frequently perceived - that they [i.e. the celestial angels] have not the vowels i and e, but a, o and especially u; and that y is an intermediate between the celestial and the spiritual; also, that, because they are such, and only serve the purpose of sound, there are, likewise, no vowels in the Hebrew tongue as in other tongues, but they are annexed by means of marks placed above and beneath. ++ 1
Footnotes:
1. ++ It may be worth while to mention that all the points in the text marked "++" [with one symbol on top of the other], are matters of natural fact, well-known to all students of the Hebrew language and Scriptures. -ED.
5620. Coelestes angeli loquuti sunt mecum de lingua Hebraea, quod omnes literae seu syllabae ibi correspondentiam habeant, et quod secundum flexiones et incurvationes significent interna secundum formam coelestem: examinare dabatur literas ab initio ad finem, et quasdam voces, ac dicebant quod correspondentia sit; praeter aliquas literas asperas, ut 1
et plures, quae aspere enuntiantur, sed dicebant, quod quantum asperi in illis est tantum non correspondeant, ac ideo dixerunt, quod primis temporibus non fuerint asperae, sed molles, et quod ideo in singulis talibus punctum in medio est, et hoc punctum significat quod aspere enuntietur, sed absque puncto in medio quod non aspere, omnia aspera pertinent ad spiritualia, et ideo puncta in mediis eorum. - Praeterea dixerunt, quod etiam saepius percepi, quod vocales i et e non illis sint, sed a, o, et praecipue u, et quod y sit intermedium inter coeleste et spirituale, et quia talia sunt et modo inserviunt sono, quod etiam in lingua Hebraea non sint vocales ut in aliis linguis, sed per characteres supra et infra adjiciantur.
Footnotes:
1. Hebrew letters