Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar: A Student's Guide to Phonology and Morphology by Eric D. Reymond

Abstract

Reviewed by: Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar: A Student's Guide to Phonology and Morphology by Eric D. Reymond Samuel Boyd eric d. reymond, Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Grammar: A Student's Guide to Phonology and Morphology (RBS 89; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018). Pp. xx + 333. Paper $44.95. Any student navigating the bewildering landscape between an introductory course in Biblical Hebrew and more advanced study knows the hazards involved in making the transition from beginning to intermediate knowledge of the language and its history. Indeed, the gap between learning vocabulary and paradigms, on the one hand, and conducting research in Biblical Hebrew, on the other, contains few signposts for help and orientation. While unpublished manuals have circulated for some time and some more recent publications offer more advanced orientations to the study of the history and development of the language, none provides an accessible explanation of intermediate concepts in the areas of phonology and morphology in well-written prose. Eric Reymond's new volume successfully fills this gap and is a much-needed resource for students and teachers alike. Reymond helpfully begins with a brief discussion of what Biblical Hebrew is as a means of introducing the reader to issues in the historical reconstruction of the language and resources available for such reconstruction. After a brief introductory chapter, he addresses the development of consonants and vowels in chaps. 2 and 3, respectively. R.'s grouping of roots with similar consonants and semantic domains is particularly helpful in chap. 2 and will aid students to gain confidence quickly in spotting broad meanings of certain lexemes. The organization of the chapter on vowels is logical and clear, which is especially useful in a book designed to explain difficult and complex subjects to intermediate students. The bibliographies in the discussions throughout are sufficient to give students further readings for explorations on a variety of topics, but the footnotes are not so cumbersome as to distract from the main body of the text. The tips for memory and further reflection at the end of chap. 3 will be especially useful for teachers and students. The last three chapters of the book contain information regarding nominal and verbal morphology as well as a chart of nouns and verbs. These chapters are followed by an appendix on how to produce a variety of nominal and verbal forms. R. also provides an up-to-date bibliography for further reading. It is difficult to find fault with this book, having as it does such great utility for teaching historical grammar in Hebrew. R. perhaps could have provided exercises for students to practice the reconstruction of historical elements of Biblical Hebrew (however speculative such exercises might be) from attested forms in the MT. Nonetheless, R. offers an invaluable contribution in this book, both for its accessible presentation of historical grammar (which has often remained inaccessible for many students and researchers in Semitic philology and biblical studies) as well as the manner in which R. exposes students and teachers alike to debates and further studies in the area of researching the development of Biblical Hebrew. [End Page 324] Samuel Boyd University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80302 Copyright © 2019 The Catholic Biblical Association of America