In-Depth Studies, New Testament, Old Testament, Prophecy, Revelation

The Vav: Its Meaning and Significance | Part 1

Vav: Part One
In this article, Trey Smith breaks down The Vav. It's meaning, significance and the symbolism behind it.

What Is the Meaning of The Vav?

Vav: The Sixth Letter of Hebrew Alphabet

In Genesis 1:26-31 it states:

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Vav: Connects Heavens and Earth

The Vav is commonly said to be the connecting piece between “heaven and earth.”

In the first sentence of Genesis, the letter “Vav” literally begins the word we translate as “and” which is between the words: “heaven and earth.”

Not only this, but that “and (ו)” is the sixth (6) word in Genesis.

Vav: Genesis 1:1

The Hebrew Alphabet is given beneath in both its ancient and modern form. Hebrew reads from right to left. So the first letter, the Alef (א), is in the top right for both the ancient and modern form.

Modern Hebrew:

Hebrew Alphabet in Modern Form

Ancient Hebrew:

Hebrew Alphabet in Ancient Form

The Vav represents a tent peg, hook, or nail.

Vav: Tent Peg

The letter Vav is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it looks like this: ו

The Vav (ו) joins the heavens and the earth together, suggesting the connection between spiritual and earthly matters.

Further, the letter Vav (ו) represents a tent peg, hook, spear, or nail.

The Vav (ו) is used to depict the hooks that held the curtains of the Tabernacle together. The Tabernacle was the habitation of God in the wilderness and the Torah is the habitation of His Word.

So a Torah scroll is patterned after the Tabernacle.

The Vav (ו) starts each column of the text in a Torah scroll, thereby hooking the text to the parchment or scroll.

NOTE: Feel free to use the Hebrew characters we have made for this presentation, but if you do so, please credit us.

Vav: Three Vavs on the Cross

There were three nails on the Cross of Jesus.

Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14th, the same day as the First Passover in Egypt with the death of the firstborn sons. He was crucified in the center of two thieves. Each nail is a Vav, or number Six.

There were three crosses.

On Jesus’ cross, there were three nails . . . three Vavs.

It was not the nails that held Him to the cross, it was His love for you and me.

Thank you for supporting the God in a Nutshell project in allowing us to bring you the forgotten history of the majesty of God Himself at work in this world He placed us in.

God bless all of you. — Trey Smith

This article accompanies a documentary trilogy of the same name.

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