Hebrew is the language of the majority of the Bible. This course offers a general introduction to the study of Hebrew grammar. By the end of this course, you should to be able to identify parts of speech, find words in a Hebrew-English Lexicon, and do some translation. You should learn enough of the language to be of some use in exegetical research, classroom understanding, and homiletical preparation. This course strives to prepare students to pursue further the study of Hebrew on the basis of what they have learned. Remember: whenever you read a translation, you are reading an interpretation!
This course will consist of daily work on the basics of Hebrew grammar. There are two required books for this course: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Edited by A. Alt, O Eissfeldt, P. Kahle and R. Kittel, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1984; referred to as BHS), and the Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament; referred to as BDB.
This class uses an "inductive" approach to language study. After an initial introduction, we will begin translating a relatively simple Hebrew text (1 Kings 11.1). The translation will be done in class, in a "group effort", with frequent handouts. This will hopefully take some of the pressure of daily homework assignments off of each student individually, but it will require that you monitor your progress. If you find yourself getting lost, by all means, ask questions and/or let me know!
We will move at the pace of the class. If the pace goes too fast for you, please seek help from me. If you have find the workload too light, it is advisable to make and/or use flashcards to memorize vocabulary in addition to your classwork. (The bookstore carries ready-made flashcards for Hebrew.) It is very important to keep a daily discipline while learning the basics of the language -- this means reviewing your work even on the weekends and over the Easter holidays!
Although our approach to the language is "low pressure", it is not unusual to feel disoriented for the first few days of class. If this uncertainty continues, please talk to me about it! It will not help you to feel this way when exam times approach.
Hebrew is a Semitic language. It is quite different from Indo-European languages (such as English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, etc.), thus it is not unusual for students to feel somewhat confused for the first few days of study. Although it may be difficult, learning Hebrew is not impossible; and with a healthy attitude it can even be fun!
"Semitic" is simply an adjective which refers to those people once considered to have been descendants of Noah's son Shem. As a language family, it is comprised of both ancient and modern languages of the Near East. Hebrew, Aramaic (the language of the New Testament Jews), Ugaritic, Akkadian and Arabic are all Semitic languages. Since Semitic languages are basically unrelated to Indo-European languages, be prepared to expect some very basic differences (it may help to think of Hebrew as a backwards language to ours!). One of the most obvious differences is that Hebrew is written right to left rather than left to right. On the other hand, our own alphabet is based on that developed by the Canaanites over 3,000 years ago --the very alphabet which appears in Hebrew!
HB1 is a pass/fail course. During the course of the term I will keep track of the following elements in determining a "grade" for you.
Since our corporate work will be the bulk of this course, your class participation is worth one half of your "grade". Class participation means contributing intelligibly to the discussion: it does not mean getting all the questions answered correctly! In other words, a sincere effort will be rewarded. You will need to bring the required books to class daily.
The second half of your grade is divided between three in-class examinations and occasional quizzes. The exams will be cumulative and will test your ability to use the material which you will have learned. All exams will be open-book, open-notebook format. The dates of the exams are Friday 23 February, Friday 30 March, and Friday 4 May. The final exam will be a one-hour translation exercise given during the class period. There will be an announced quiz given on the alphabet as soon as it is covered in its totality in class -- you will need to learn the alphabet before we can begin anything else!
To pass this course, you must make an average of "passes" in both participation and in exams. This means that you must participate in classroom exercises! Although this is a pass/fail course, do not discount it. If you are having trouble, come see me. I am glad to spend time with any students who need some extra help with the language. Do not wait until it is too late!
| Scott, William R., | A Simplified Guide to BHS: Critical Apparatus, Masora, Accents, Unusual Letters & Other Markings, Berkeley: BIBAL Press, 1987. A useful booklet to help decipher some of the other markings on a standard page of a Hebrew text. |
| Wonneberger, Reinhard, | Understanding BHS: A Manual for the Users of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, (Subsidia Biblica 8). Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1990. Similar in scope and intention to the previous volume, with a different way of explaining the material. |
| Kelley, Page H., Daniel S. | Mynatt and Timothy G. Crawford The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: Introduction and Annotated Glossary, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1998. For the student who is curious about the other marks on the page - more advanced than the previous two works. |
| Brown, Francis, S. R. | Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Based on the lexicon of W. Gesenius, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1951 or a more updated version. This work is commonly known as BDB (for Brown-Driver-Briggs, the editors). It is the standard Hebrew-English dictionary for academic purposes. REQUIRED. |
| Clines, David J. A., | The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998. A multi-volume dictionary still in production. This promises to become a standard reference. Although expensive for the general reader the library has a standing order for the set. |
| Koehler, Ludwig and | Walter Baumgartner, Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros,Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958. This work is commonly known as KB. This excellent dictionary is available in either German or English. It is now in its (prohibitively expensive) third edition (1994-2000, in 5 volumes), entitled The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. It is a good source to compare against BDB. |
| Holladay, William, | A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971. This dictionary is geared towards the student and is therefore more "user-friendly" and less expensive. It is based on KB, and it may be more helpful for rapid reading. |
| Kautzsch, E., ed., | Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar,Second edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. This work is commonly known as GK, or GKC (for Gesenius-Kautzsch/Cowley [the translator]). It is the standard reference grammar for Hebrew study. It is particularly useful because of its biblical indices which help when looking up grammatical difficulties. |
| Gibson, J. C. L., | Davidson's Introductory Hebrew Grammar - Syntax, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994. This is a revision of the original work on Hebrew syntax by Davidson (now a standard work), with the intention of providing updated linguistic understanding to the language. |
| Lambdin, Thomas, | Introduction to Biblical Hebrew,New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. A popular, but expensive, introductory textbook. |
| Seow, C. L., | A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Revised Edition. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995. A thoroughly-explained approach to the language. It is useful but its length necessitates a time-commitment. |
| Waltke, Bruce and , | M. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990. A comprehensive study of Hebrew syntax, a "must" for the serious student of the language. |
| Weingreen, J., | A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, Second edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959. A standard introduction, good for a quick overview of the language. Generally, however, it is difficult to use without additional explanation. |
No topics for individual days are scheduled. We will move at the pace of the class. There is a certain amount of basic material which will need to be covered to meet the goals of the course. If you find yourself getting lost, please come to see me immediately.
This class is somewhat unusual in its brevity: I ask your cooperation in this venture and welcome your suggestions. Hebrew is normally offered as a year-long course in many seminaries. Since our curriculum only allows for one term of Hebrew, the amount we are able to cover may seem quite small. In my experience, however, many students are able to make good use of what they learn in this basic, introductory class.
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This page was last modified on 22 January 2001.