The Hebrew letter He (pronounced "Hay") is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes the English sound of "H." When used in ancient times for a numeral it had the value of "5." The ancient pictograph of the He meant "window."
When the He is placed as a prefix at the beginning of a Hebrew word it means "the." For example, the Hebrew word Messiah, (font not available); (Mah-shee-ach) becomes "the Messiah" (font not available) (Ha-ma-shee-ach) in Matthew 16:16.
When the He is placed as a suffix at the end of a Hebrew word it changes the gender from masculine to feminine. As an example, the Hebrew word for male student (font not available)(tal-meed) becomes female student (font not available) (tal-meed-dah) by adding the He at the end. Generally, Hebrew words ending with the letter He are feminine gender. Such is the case of the Hebrew word Torah (font not available) which means "instruction."
Psalm 119 is the Hebrew alphabet. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is given eight verses. Each sentence in these verses begins with a Hebrew word using as its first letter the letter above each section. Therefore, the first word of each sentence in verses one through eight starts with an Aleph, the next eight Beth, the next eight Gimel, etc. Psalm 119:33-40 is the section on the Hebrew letter He. Each of these eight sentences begins with a Hebrew word which has as its first letter He. Interestingly this section seems to be written for someone who is looking through a "window" ready to go out and obey God’s Word. Verse 5 asks God to "Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight." Verse 37 says, "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word." "Eyes" and "paths" indicate a plan to go walking as if one has looked out a "window" and realized the need for God’s Word.
"Its original form perhaps represents a lattice, or window, and the same seems to be expressed by the word (font not available) lo! see!" (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, p. 211) On the same page, Gesenius warned, "It is better to remain ignorant of the meaning of its name, than to follow far-fetched conjectures." His warning was against those who would teach mystically that there was "special power" in the Hebrew alphabet letters.
The Song of Songs records in chapter 2:9, "Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice." This is the source for the special way some Jewish priests spread their fingers during the Priestly Blessings. (right)
The Hebrew letter He is also placed as a suffix upon Hebrew words and denotes "this." An example of this would be adding a He to the Hebrew word day (font not available) (Hay-yom) and having it mean this day. Whether the He means the definite article "the" or the word "this," when it is placed before God’s name, it gives it power! I say to you, "Baruch HaShem!" Blessed (be) the Name!" (The Name above names)
