Makor is a Hebrew word that means “source” as well as “fountain” or “natural spring”.
The Old Testament was revealed by God in Hebrew to the prophets of ancient Israel.
Much of the New Testament, were originally written in Hebrew – or based on Hebrew sources.
The early Church Father Papias reported in the 2nd Century: "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and everyone translated it as he was able."
The founder of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, once said: "The Hebrew language is the best language of all, with the richest vocabulary… If I were younger I would want to learn this language, because no one can really understand the Scriptures without it. For although the New Testament is written in Greek, it is full of hebraisms and Hebrew expressions. It has therefore been aptly said that the Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from a downstream puddle."
By comparing the Hebrew "source" to a "spring" of water Martin Luther was alluding to the Hebrew word Makor which signifies both a source and a spring. He was also drawing on the metaphor used thousands of years earlier in the prophecy of Jeremiah: "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain (makor) of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)
The language of the prophets of ancient Israel is not just another language, it is Lashon Ha-Kodesh, the “holy tongue”.
Before the Tower of Babel all mankind spoke the Hebrew language. The prophet Zephaniah foretells a time when the curse of Babel will be lifted and all mankind shall once again be united by the Hebrew language:
Zephaniah 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. (KJV)
Therefore, we should look to the Hebrew (rather than the Greek Septuagint) for the source text of the Torah (the first five Bible books), and the Prophets and the Writings (Joshua to Malachi), and the parts of the New Testament that were first written in Hebrew (the epistle to the Hebrews, for instance). Also, look to the Hebrew for the meaning of hebraisms in New Testament Greek.
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