dabar, “to speak,” strong’s H1696

First occurrence

And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Gen 8:15

The primitive root

Strong’s H1696 דבר dabar, a primitive root meaning, “to speak.” The ancient pictographs are dalet + bet + resh.

dalet ד = the door, thus enter, move, hang
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man

The story the ancient pictographs are telling is of the back and forth movement (dalet, as a door swings back and forth when entering and exiting) within the household (bet) of a man (resh). In ancient days among the Semitic nomads, life followed an orderly arrangement of movement throughout the year, following the seasons in pasturing their flocks. This movement was repeated year and after year, thus the back and forth movement like the curtain in a doorway which moves back and forth as one enters and exits. However, a very specific order of movement was followed, thus the verb came to be widely used to mean “setting in order,” or “speaking,” as a verbal address follows from setting one’s words in order.

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