Esther-Hadasah
Hebrew questions I don't understand these sentences, what do they mean? btw, please tell me how to pronounce too, thanks! Toda raba! 1/ הנה מה טוב ומה נעים 2/ על הכיפק 3/ על החיים 4/ אז להתי
Feb 12, 2014 8:58 AM
Answers · 2
3
1. This phrase is a quote from Psalms 133. It means something like "how nice and lovely". It is used almost exclusively with the rest of the original sentence: הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד. (Lit: How nice and lovely it is, when brothers are sitting together). The biblical interpretaion is: look how good it is, when the Israeli tribes are living next to each other and cooperate. Nowadays we use this sentence as a popular children's song, usually around a campfire or other social events of that kind. 2. על הכיפאק is a slang experssion, derived from Arabic. You can use it as a substitue to 'great' 'cool','fun' etc. Examples: טדי הוא בחור על הכיפאק (Teddy is a great guy) איך הייתה החופשה? על הכיפאק! (how was the vacation? fun!) 3. על החיים used mainly with its counterpart: על החיים ועל המוות (Lit: [i'm gambling] on life and death). It's pretty much the same as "Here goes nothing", being said before one submits a risky action. 4. להית' is an unformal abbreviation for להתראות. אז להית' = then bye.
February 12, 2014
2
As for the pronunciations: 1. hine ma tov uma na'im 2. al hakefak 3. al aha'im 4. az lehit
February 12, 2014
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