# הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד



## Olivet

Good Afternoon!

I have a bit of an interesting question.  I recently heard something spoken in what I believe may be Hebrew, but unfortunately, I neither speak nor write the language. Therefore, I'm unable to verify by myself.

I managed to write down all the sounds phonetically, and I've recited the words as best as I can in the following MP3:

<<link removed by moderator>>

(I'm a new user, so I can't post a direct link; please substitute the dots accordingly ;-)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and have a great day!


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## stanthegoomba

Hi Olivet.

Yes, that's definitely Hebrew! You read out the first verse of a Jewish Sabbath hymn called "Hineh ma tov" (הנה מה טוב).

Literally, it means: "how good and pleasant it is when brothers gather together."

Hope that helps.


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## tamah

Yes this is the line

הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד


Hine (here is), ma(what is), tov(good); u uma(and what / how), nayim(pleasent), Shevet(to dwell), achim (brothers), gam(also), yachad(together).


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## scriptum

The text is from the Psalm 133:
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"


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## Olivet

That's incredible.  I'm going to tell you where I heard this.  Some of you may believe me, some of you may not.  My best friend's girlfriend, who also doesn't know any Hebrew whatsoever, was sleep walking the night of November 17th (it may have been the morning of November 18th) and began to speak this phrase.  She remembered it the next day and recited it for me.  I wrote it down phonetically and then posted this message.

Thank you so much for all your help!  This is really eye opening.  As a follower of Christ, it's all the more interesting for me.  The Lord's Spirit works in incredible ways.


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## hadronic

No, it's not possible.
The way you pronounce it in your audio file is like you were reading transliterated Hebrew in the English way.
You say : Hine ma tov uma na'im shevet *ac him* gam *yachad ("yatshad")*
instead of : .... a*kh*im gam ya*kh*ad (with "kh" like "loch Ness").


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## origumi

hadronic said:


> No, it's not possible.


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## talmid

241109              0401


G'Day!

Translations  given above for   " שבת ", 
include:
(when brothers) "gather" and also  "dwell"

I believe that שבת can also mean "tribe"

1. Could the the order of the  words, with grammatical correctness, also be translated as :
"A tribe of brothers (being) together" ?


2. I would also like to enquire, please :

a. Can שבת also be used as a noun with the meaning of "a sitting" 
ie. a gathering of people sitting down together ?
(This "sitting" also appears to fit well with the use of יחד )


b. Further, in this quoted phrase,
in grammatical terms,  is " שבת ", 
a noun ~ or an infinitive - or something other than these two ?

Thank you


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## tamah

talmid
Have a look at this link 
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=196499
I hope it helps.


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## origumi

talmid said:


> in grammatical terms, is " שבת ",
> a noun ~ or an infinitive - or something other than these two ?


Technically speaking - infinitive construct (מקור נטוי) of root ישב binyan paal, used here as a noun in construct state (סמיכות).


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## talmid

041209    0055

Thanks for the explanations
Best wishes


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## Codinome Shlomo

Why is it pronounced "uma nayim" and not "ve ma naym"? Is there a rule for that?


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## Egmont

The ו for "and" always becomes וּ (pronounced "oo") before מ (as well as in a few other places, but more on that would be  off-topic for this question).


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## arielipi

כי אנו אנשים עילאיים ומתנשאים.
מבטאים זאת ומתנשאים, עם שורוק, מאחר ש-מ' היא אות בומ"פ.


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## Codinome Shlomo

Thanks you, guys.


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