Introducing Biblical Hebrew

Abstract

(ProQuest Information and Learning: ... denotes non-ASCII text omitted.) Introducing Biblical Hebrew, by Allen P. Ross. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Press, 2001. Pp. 565. $39.99 (cloth). The introduction to Biblical Hebrew by Ross is a prime example of an exercise book written for students to facilitate their understanding and learning of the basic principles of the language and to prepare them for advanced studies. The material is presented in fifty-four lessons subdived into three principal parts and preceded by a short introduction into Semitic languages in general and the preservation of Biblical Hebrew in particular (pp. 11-16). Lessons 1-6 concentrate on the signs and sounds: consonants and vowels, shewa, dagesh, and quiescent letters, and introduce the use of article and inseparable prepositions (pp. 17-67). Lessons 7-40 deal with the morphology of noun, pronoun and pronominal suffix, regular and irregular verb along with proposals for a mechanical parsing method, and discuss elementary syntax (pp. 69-307). The lessons in parts 1 and 2 list some vocabulary categorized as verb, noun, or other form, and offer some exercises. Lessons 41-54 explore syntactical issues and the use of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (pp. 309-422). The lessons in part 3 provide a detailed study of morphology and syntax of portions taken from Gen 2-4 and 12-15, concluded by a review of the grammar and syntax found in these texts with cross-references to the full discussion in parts 1 and 2. The last part of the book presents a number of study aids: summaries of lessons 1-54 (pp. 425-78), a Hebrew-English glossary (pp. 479-506), an English-Hebrew glossary (pp. 507-543), paradigms of the regular and irregular verbs (pp. 544-555), and two tables with the Masoretic accents. The book is complemented by a subject index (pp. 557-65). The material is arranged in such a way that the book definitely serves the purpose laid out for the work. The presentation of the signs and sounds in lessons 1-6 may well be somewhat simplified and artificial, but as such quite helpful for beginning students. The introduction of dagesh forte as doubling a consonant that simultaneously closes the preceding syllable and opens the next and the distinction between vocal shewa and silent shewa indeed facilitate a student's grasp of the morphology. The radical omission of medial shewa from the introductory parts of the book must from this perspective be commended. Occasional references to medial shewa in the morphology (pp. 177, 227, 234) without any prior introduction of this phenomenon, however, can only come as a surprise for anyone who has worked his way carefully through the book and would better be abandoned. The inclusion of the article and to a lesser extent the inseparable prepositions in this part of the work, on the other hand, contributes to the clear organization of the materials in the book, as the use of the article indeed exemplifies the omission of dagesh forte in gutturals. This organization is, unfortunately, somewhat disturbed by the inclusion of the omission of dagesh forte in words beginning with y + shewa or m + shewa amidst words beginning with gutturals (p. 64). The presentation of the morphology of noun, pronoun, and verb in lessons 7-40 likewise furthers the learning process. The extensive treatment of prepositions with pronominal suffixes in lessons 13 and 15 and the accusative sign with pronominal suffixes in lesson 16 may seem a little bit tiresome, but may indeed occupy the most obvious position in an exercise book in between the noun, pronoun, and adjective (lessons 7-9, 11), the construct state, and noun with pronominal suffixes (lesson 12 and 14) and the introduction to the regular verb: perfect (lesson 10), participle (lesson 16) and imperfect (lesson 17). Even relatively easy prose texts can hardly be read without knowledge of the prepositions and the accusative sign with pronominal suffixes. The use of the tenses in sequence, the volitional moods, the infinitives and the verb with pronominal suffixes in lessons 18-24 complete the presentation of the regular verb in qal before students are introduced to the other stems (lesson 26-31) and last but not least the verbs with gutturals and irregular verbs (lesson 32-40). …