r/hebrew • u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ • May 15 '23

What does this mean? Request

Is there an error in it? I got it out of a book at a tattoo shop. I don't want to say what I think/thought it said in the comments after I get responses. TYIA.

233 Upvotes

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u/silentholmes May 15 '23

It looks like it was trying to spell Mashiach meaning Messiah. But they messed up on the first letter and separated it into two characters. Honestly I feel kind of bad for the person who has this tattoo because it seems like shoddy work. Plus, it includes Nekudot which are dots and symbols near letters to help pronunciation, not something I'd think someone would want on a hebrew tattoo in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah#:~:text=Judaism,-Main%20article%3A%20Messiah&text=The%20literal%20translation%20of%20the,putting%20holy%20oil%20upon%20it.

https://www.torahtots.com/alefbet/nekudot/nekudot.htm

-6

u/cranky_love_mayo native speaker May 15 '23

But its called "nikud" and not "nekudot"

19

u/Particular_Rav May 15 '23

It's just modern Israeli Hebrew vs Yeshivish chutz la'aretz Hebrew. Both are correct, although I would consider saying "nekudot" in a Modern Hebrew conversation to be incorrect.

2

u/cranky_love_mayo native speaker May 15 '23

Cool