LEARN BIBLICAL HEBREW - Baker Publishing Groupassets.bakerpublishinggroup.com/processed/book-resources/files/... · Dedicated to my wife Heather with thanks for fifteen years of unfailing

LEARN BIBLICAL HEBREW2nd Edition

John H. Dobson

An audio CD-ROM accompanies this book.

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John H. Dobson, Learn Biblical Hebrew, 2nd editionBaker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 1999, 2005. Used by permission.

© 1999, 2005 by John H. Dobson

This 2nd revised edition (updated) and audio CD-ROM copyright © 2005 by Piquant Editions LtdPO Box 83, Carlisle, CA3 9GR, United Kingdomwww.piquanteditions.com

First edition published in 1999 by SIL International (Dallas)

This edition co-published in North America in 2005 by Baker Academica division of Baker Publishing GroupP.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287www.bakeracademic.com

Paperback edition published 2014ISBN 978-0-8010-9742-3

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-mitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataDobson, John H.Learn Biblical Hebrew. — Rev. 2nd ed.1. Bible. O.T.—Language, style 2. Hebrew language, Biblical—Grammar I. Title 492.4p82421ISBN 10: 1-903689-25-2ISBN 978-1-903689-25-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the hardcover edition is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 10: 0-8010-3102-8ISBN 978-0-8010-3102-1

Quotations from the Hebrew Old Testament are from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, published by Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft (1967/77, 1990).

Cover design by ProjectluzBook design by 2aT (www.2aT.com)

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


Dedicated to my wife Heather

with thanks for fifteen years of

unfailing encouragement and support



CONTENTS

ForewordbyAnthonyGelston ixPreface xiAcknowledgements xiv

Introduction to Lessons 1–3 1

1. listen,Israel(Alphabet) 2 2. in the beginning (WordOrderinSentences) 173. hespoke... andhespoke to me 25


4. hekilled andhekilled(NarrativeandCompletedAction) 40 5. good (Adjectives) 50 6. hewillkill he will give (ContinuingAction) 60


7. word word of (AbsoluteandConstructNouns) 76 8. hewillsendandtake(PreviousandFutureAction) 89


9. there is who (PossessionandQuestions) 10910. listen! go! (CommandsandRequests) 11911. number time (Numbers,Time,andMeasurements) 12912. tokeep(Infinitives) 14113. keeping(Participles) 149


14. hewasguarded,hetookcare(Niphal) 16315. he praised (Piel) 17316. hemadeking(Hiphil) 18417. he claimed to be great (Hithpael) 19918.Wishes,Oaths,andConditions 213

viiJohn H. Dobson, Learn Biblical Hebrew, 2nd edition

Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 1999, 2005. Used by permission.

Learn Biblical Hebrewviii


19. andhekilled(NarrativeForms:waPC) 22920.SentenceandClauseBeginnings 24121.Perfective(SC)andImperfective(PC)Verbs 25222.SentenceandClauseSequences 26223.TranslatingHebrewPoetry 27924.Prepositions 29525.IdiomsandAreasofMeaning 316

GlossaryofGrammaticalTerms 333MasoreticText–MT 351ReferenceGrammar 352Appendix:TeachingBiblicalHebrew 373SelectedSubjectIndex 379ScriptureIndex 383

Passages to Read; Passages Translated; Index of Verses QuotedSelectedHebrewWordIndex 391


FOREWORD

IamexcitedbythepublicationofLearn Biblical Hebrew.Ihavefolloweditsdevelopmentwithgrowing interest. Itopensadoorway intotheHebrewBible.The Hebrew Bible is one of the world’s greatest pieces of literature.

Itappeals toawidevarietyofpeoplewhowant to readandunderstandit forverydifferent reasons.Mostpeoplefirstmeet it inoneof itsmanymodern translations, but a comparison of two ormore of these quicklyreveals the fact that no translation can ever convey the full meaning of a textinadifferentlanguage.Tounderstanditfullyandtoenjoytheskillofits poets, teachers, and prophets, one needs to learn the language in which itiswritten.JohnDobson’sbookoffersanewandeffectivewayoflearning.Learn Biblical Hebrew hasbeenworkedoutover the last ten years in thecontext of a great deal of practical experiment and experience of teaching groupsofbeginners.Ithasprovedtobeaneffectivehelpforpeopleacrossa wide range of ages and cultures.JohnDobsonissingularlywellequippedtocarryoutthistaskofmaking

Hebrewunderstandableandenjoyable.Likemanystudentshe foundtheinitial learningofHebrewdifficult anddiscouraging. This experiencehasgivenhimagreatdesiretomakelearningeasierforothers.Hisbackgroundis thatofaclassicalscholartrainedatMertonCollege,Oxford,who laterlearnedtheLugbaralanguageinUganda.HehasapproachedHebrewwiththecarefulunderstandingofsomeonetrainedinlanguagestudy.HehasalsohadextensiveexperienceoflanguageteachinginAfricaaswellasinEurope.HehasfoundawayofintroducingHebrewthatgivespeopleconfidencetoreadactualpassagesoftheHebrewBiblefromanearlystage.OnegroupofstudentsinMoscow,forinstance,learnedthebasicsofHebrewfromlessons1–17 and read the whole of Jonah in the course of only twelve days!The book makes expert use of many of the techniques of modern

languageteaching,subtlymodifiedtosuitthetaskoflearninganessentiallywritten language. Its careful structuring of grammatical forms andvocabulary to build up easy familiarity through repetition goes a long way to ease the tedium that can so easily discourage a beginner.

ixJohn H. Dobson, Learn Biblical Hebrew, 2nd edition


Learn Biblical Hebrewx

Anotherunusualandexcellent featureof thiscourse is theamountofattention given throughout, but particularly in the later lessons, to the wide range of meanings of words, grammatical forms, and constructions. The importance of allowing the context of each passage to determine its meaning is brought out by a wide variety of illustrations from the biblical text, systematically grouped to give a comprehensive coverage of each point.InthelaterlessonsthereisastimulatingintroductiontoHebrewpoetry,

as well as an interesting section on idiomatic expressions. Much of thematerialgoesbeyondwhat isofferedinusualgrammarsforbeginners. Itcorresponds to what might be given by an enterprising college teacher in a second year class. The wealth of biblical material enhances the students’ understanding and appreciation of the language, and builds up their confidenceinreadingit.AsonewhoforsomeyearstaughtbiblicalHebrewtotheologicalstudents

inaBritishuniversity,usingatdifferenttimesthreeteachinggrammars, Ishould have welcomed and eagerly used this course had it been available to meatthetime.EvenstudentstryingtolearnbiblicalHebrewontheirown,without a tutor, will have a better chance of mastering it with this course thanwithanyotherknowntome.Icount itaprivilegetohavebeen invitedtocontributethispreface. I

commend the course to teachers and students without reservation.

AnthonyGelstonEmeritus Reader in Theology

University of Durham, UK


PREFACE

Welcome to Learn Biblical Hebrew

ThebooksoftheHebrewBibleareasharedinheritanceforJews,Christians,andMuslims.FromthempeoplehavelearnedtobelieveinoneGodwhoisthecreatorofallthatexists.Theycontainpassionatepleasforjusticeandfor the liberation of the oppressed. They introduce us to some of the world’s greatest poetry and songs—and some of its deepest sorrows.Unfortunately, the treasuresof thesebooks arepartlyhidden fromus

becausetheyarewritteninHebrew.Fortunately,Hebrewisalanguageonecanlearntoreadquitequickly.

Learn Biblical Hebrew isdesignedtoenableyoutoreadbiblicalHebrew,to understand its structure, to build a basic vocabulary by reading words inmeaningfulpassages,hearingthemontheaudioCDandusingthemingamesandactivities,andtoreflectonwaysoftranslatingHebrew.AnaudioCDtoaccompanytheselessonsisprovidedwiththisbook.BecauseHebrewisaverydifferent language,aneffort ismadenotto

confineittoostrictlywithinanetofEnglishgrammaticalterms.Itmaybebesttoworkthroughthewholecourseatleastoncebeforeconsultingotherbooks. In thiswayconfidence in readingHebrewwillbebuilt upbeforemoretechnicalstudiesareundertaken.Enjoyyourlearningandtakepleasureinyourprogress.

How to use Learn Biblical Hebrew

Learn Biblical Hebrew has been structured so that you can study it on your own, in a group orwith a teacher.Many of theHebrew sentences andpassagesarewrittenwithanEnglishtranslationbesidethem.Thismeansthatyoucanmakeprogresswithoutanyfearofmakingseriousmistakes.

Learn Biblical Hebrew is also a useful textbook for teaching extensioncourses as well as residential courses and regular classes. Youwill find helpful further guidelines in the appendix on ‘Teaching

BiblicalHebrew’(p373).

xiJohn H. Dobson, Learn Biblical Hebrew, 2nd edition


Learn Biblical Hebrewxii

Preparation for studying a lessonFrom lesson2onwardsuse theaudioCD to review the lessonyouhaverecentlydoneandtolistentothekeypartsofthenexttwolessonsyouwillbestudying.Lookatthewordsearchattheendofthelastlessonyoudid,and the one at the end of the lesson you are going to study.

Studying the lessonReadeachsection,lookingattheEnglishandtheHebrew.ThencovertheEnglishcolumn.ReadtheHebrew.Aftereachsentence,uncovertheEnglishtocheckthatyouhavearrivedatasimilarmeaning.IfyoucomeacrossaHebrewwordyoucannotremember,readthewholesentence.Ifthisdoesnotprovideacluetoitsmeaning,uncoverthecheckcolumnimmediatelytofindoutitsmeaning.Highlighttheword.Aftereachlesson,laterintheday or on the next day, do the activations.Moveforwardasfastasyoucan.Ifquestionsariseinyourmind,youwill

usuallyfindananswerlaterinthecourse.Pressahead!Notethataftermanyofthegrammaticaltermsusedinthetext,Ihave

added,inbrackets,themostcommonabbreviationsused.Manytermsareexplainedintheglossaryattheendofthebook.

ProgressIfyoudothreelessonsaweek,youwillcompletethecourseinabouttwomonths.Atonelessonaweekittakesonlysixmonths.Itisprobablybesttoworkthroughthewholecourseoncebeforeyouattempttowrite words inHebrew.

Using the audio CDListeningisaveryimportantpartoflanguagelearning.Whenweareveryyoung, we listen to our parents saying, ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ many times before we begin to say ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’. The audioCDhelps youto listen tomost of theHebrew in lessons 1–13, usuallywith an EnglishtranslationreadjustbeforetheHebrew.TheaudioCDisanimportantpartofthecourse.Asyoulisten,youwill

learn.UsetheaudioCDtoreviseeachlessonfrom1to13.Sitandlisten to the

audioCD.ThenlookatthebookandseeifyoucanreadtheHebrewwhileyoulisten.Useyourfingerorapointertohelpyoureyesfocusonthewords.DonotbeworriedifatfirstyoucannotreadHebrewwordsasquicklyastheyarespokenontheaudioCD.Youwillgainfluencywithpractice.UsetheaudioCDtoprepareeachlesson.ListentotheCDbeforeyou


PREFACE xiii

begin to study the lesson. You do not need to try to learn anything. The act of listening attentively will help your brain to begin to gather information that will make the lesson easier when you begin to study it.

When you listen to the instructions on the audio CD, you will sometimes hear the words, ‘Listen as people speak.’ this is to alert you to the fact that some sentences in the exercises have a structure more typical of spoken Hebrew, whether prose or poetry, than of written sections of prose that record the development of action in a narrative.

Some useful books

Dictionaries and LexiconsDavidson, B. Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. Peabody, Mass.:

Hendrickson, 1984Holladay, W. A. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.

Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972Langenscheidt. Pocket Hebrew Dictionary to the Old Testament. 1988

GrammarWaltke, B. K., and M. O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax.

Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990

Textual CriticismTov, E. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress

Press, 1992

Hebrew Poetry and NarrativeAlter, R. The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books, 1983Alter, R. The Art of Biblical Poetry. New York: Basic Books, 1987Kugel, J. The Idea of Biblical Poetry. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981/

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998

Watson, W. G. E. Classical Hebrew Poetry. Sheffield Academic Press, 1995Wendland, E. R. Analyzing the Psalms. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of

Linguistics, 1998

LBH_FINAL.indb 13 30/3/07 11:00:36 AM

Publisher’s note: Previous printings of Learn Biblical Hebrew included a CD-ROM containing audio files to enhance the learning experience. This pa-perback edition no longer includes an audio CD. The audio files are now avail-able online at http://bakeracademic.com/LearnHebrew/esources. References to the CD remain in the book. Readers are advised to substitute “website” whenever they see “audio CD” in the book.

PREFACE xiii

begin to study the lesson. You do not need to try to learn anything. The act of listening attentively will help your brain to begin to gather information that will make the lesson easier when you begin to study it.

When you listen to the instructions on the audio CD, you will sometimes hear the words, ‘Listen as people speak.’ this is to alert you to the fact that some sentences in the exercises have a structure more typical of spoken Hebrew, whether prose or poetry, than of written sections of prose that record the development of action in a narrative.

Some useful books

Dictionaries and LexiconsDavidson, B. Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. Peabody, Mass.:

Hendrickson, 1984Holladay, W. A. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.

Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972Langenscheidt. Pocket Hebrew Dictionary to the Old Testament. 1988

GrammarWaltke, B. K., and M. O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax.

Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990

Textual CriticismTov, E. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress

Press, 1992

Hebrew Poetry and NarrativeAlter, R. The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books, 1983Alter, R. The Art of Biblical Poetry. New York: Basic Books, 1987Kugel, J. The Idea of Biblical Poetry. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981/

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998

Watson, W. G. E. Classical Hebrew Poetry. Sheffield Academic Press, 1995Wendland, E. R. Analyzing the Psalms. Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of

Linguistics, 1998

LBH_FINAL.indb 13 30/3/07 11:00:36 AM

Also by John Dobson:

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Kenyan students who recently completed this course enthusiastically recommend it as follows:

“We didn’t want Greek! Now we want more!!”

3rd edition (updated), with accentsPiquant ISBN 978-1-903689-28-8Baker ISBN 978-0-8010-3106-9229x152mm p/b, 400ppAudio CD-ROM included

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Order from:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IthankSandieSchagenwhofirstsuggestedthatIshouldwriteLearn Biblical Hebrew,andKatyBarnwellofSILwhosaid, ‘Wewillpublish it;’ also John Austingwho typed the firstmanuscript;Carl Follingstadwho checked itandmade useful suggestions;Dick Blightwho edited it and prepared itforprinting;andmyadvisorsandcheckersWalterHouston,JohnJob,andNicolaPinn.MyUgandanstudentsWilliamPashiandBenjaminTwinamaaniwho in 1989 said, ‘ThisishowwewanttolearnHebrew’, and my students in MoscowwhointwelvedaysdidseventeenlessonsandreadJonah,andsaid,‘Weneverknewitwouldbesomuchfun’, encouraged me enormously. IthankSIL(Britishbranch)foropportunitiestoteach;RinaHazonyfor

herenthusiasticinterest;DerekKidnerwhoguidedmyfirststepsinHebrew;andAnthonyGelstonwhohassowillinglycontributedtheForeword.MythanksalsotoPieterKwantandhisteamatPiquantforpreparingthissecondedition.IamgratefultoDrRobertStallmanforcheckingthenewmaterialinthisedition,andtohimandtoRevJohnJobforhelpwithproofreading.Thankstothoseteacherswhohavebeenverykeentostudymyteaching

methods—especiallytoDrRobertStallmanofNorthwestUniversity,Kirkland,SeattleandtotheRevJustusMbogoofStAndrewsCollege,Kabare,KenyawhohavetravelledtotheUKtoobservemycoursesandwhoreportnewenthusiasmfromtheirclasses.MythanksalsototheBibleSocietyofKenyaandtheBibleSocietyofPakistanwhohavegivenmetheopportunitytoruncoursesfortheirBibletranslators,andtotheRevJeraldMallinKarachiwhohas shown sucha keen interest inmybooks and teachingmethodsandwhohopestotranslatethemintoUrdu,andtoDrVictorZinkuratireoftheCatholicUniversityofEasternAfricawhogreetedtheappearanceofLearn Biblical Hebrewwithenormousjoy.

To you all

JohnH.Dobson

xivJohn H. Dobson, Learn Biblical Hebrew, 2nd edition


1

INTRODUCTION TO LESSONS 1–3

Hebrew we may already know

(a) Hallelujah!Amen.Cherub,cherubim.Seraph,seraphim Hallel—praise! Amen—truly, so be it. Cherub—a heavenly being. Seraph—

aheavenlybeing(aburningbrightone).Cherubim and seraphim mean thereismorethanone,sowealreadyknowoneindicatorthataHebrewword is plural.

(b) BenandBath BenHadadmeansSonofHadad.BathShebaisDaughterofSheba.

(c) Hebrewnamesgiveusacluetoseveralwords: Nathan():Giver( ‘he gave’)( is a long ) Michael( [’):WhoislikeGod( ‘like’, ‘God’) Ishmael (): Let God hear ( ‘God’, [] ‘let him

hear’) Emmanuel ( ): God is with us ( ‘God’, ‘with

us’).

(d) Matthew27:46 …:MyGod,myGod,why…? means ‘God’. means ‘my God’. You can see that an added

indicates ‘my’.

WealreadyholdinourhandssomeimportantkeystounlockHebrew.

Lessons 1–3

InLesson1youwilllearntoreadHebrewlettersandsomeHebrewwords.YouwillreadDeuteronomy6:4.InLesson2youwillreadGenesis1:1andbegintoseethestructureof

Hebrewsentencesandnarrative.InLesson3youwilllearn,‘to me, to you, to him, to her’ and ‘to us, to

you, to them.’YouwillnoticesomewaysthatHebrewsentencesarelinkedtogether.Soinaboutfourhoursyouwillhavetakensomeimportantstepsalong

theroadtowardslearningtoreadHebrew.


2

Lesson 1 ( ) Alphabet

listen, Israel

1.1 Right to left ←

Hebrewisreadfromrighttoleft← HereisanEnglishsentencewrittenfromrighttoleft:

AMIXATAMAI←

WhenyouseeaHebrewword,readitfromtherightend!

Note:(a)‘Ben’isHebrewfor‘son of’.Itbeginswith ‘b’.Noticethe in . The short ‘e’ sound is shown by under the

(b)‘Bat’ or ‘Bath’ is ‘daughter of’.Itendswith ‘t’ or ‘th’.Noticethe in . The short ‘a’ sound is shown by under the

(c)‘Melekh’isHebrewfor‘king’.Notice ‘m’ and ‘l’ and ‘kh’ in

InthislessonyouwillfindsomeguidelinesforpronouncingwordsinbiblicalHebrew.Theyarenotrules.Indifferentplacesandindifferentagestherehavebeenvarietiesofpronunciation.Wehavealreadyseenthat may be pronounced as ‘t’ or ‘th’.Ifyouworkwithateacher,itwillbebesttocopytheteacher’s way of

pronouncingHebrew.Ifyouareworkingonyourown,usethepronunciationontheaudioCD.However, ifyouknowsomemodernHebrew,youmaywanttopronounceyourbiblicalHebrewinawaythatismorelikemodernHebrew.

1.2 Vowels and consonantsInEnglish,the lettersa,e, i,o,anduarecalledvowels.Other lettersarecalled consonants: b, c, d, f, and g are consonants. ‘Y’ may be a vowel, as in ‘by’, or a consonant, as in ‘you’. WhenthebiblicalbookswerefirstwritteninHebrew,itwasthecustom

towriteonlytheconsonants.Withoutvowelsthissentencewouldbe:WHNTHBBLCLBKSWRFRSTWRTTNNHBRWT WS TH CSTM T WRT NL TH CNSNNTS


Lesson 1 3

Lateron,someHebrewscribesusedtheletters ‘y’ and ‘w’ to indicate some vowels. The next stage was to make marks under or over eachconsonanttoshowwhatvowelsoundfollowedeachconsonant.In1.1

we saw [], in which under the is a short [], in which under the is a short and [], in which a short e is under ‘m’ and ‘l’.

In Hebrew words, almost every syllable begins with a consonant. is pronounced , and not .

1.3 Reading Hebrew words

InthislessonweshalllearntoreadHebrewwords.Tohelpustolearnquicklyweshall,tobeginwith,usegroupsofHebrewlettersthatsoundsomethinglikeEnglishwords.ThesegroupsoflettersarenotHebrewwords.ButsomegroupswillrepresentHebrewwords;andafterthesoundhasbeenmade,theywillberepeatedwithanEnglishmeaningbesidethem.Thiswillenableyou to readsomerealHebrewwords.Theyareareadingexercise—donotspend any time trying to learn their meanings. You will learn the meanings of words when you see them in meaningful contexts as you go on through the course.

1.4 The Hebrew letters and the vowel signs (a), (e), (i) with the letter

ReadthesegroupsofHebrewlettersnotingtheequivalentsoundsinEnglish.Ashortaorewillbewritten or ;alongaorewillbewrittenas or .

as in bell ReadHebrew←

as in gate

as in door

=

as in bat

as in heave (often silent at the end of a word)


Learn Biblical Hebrew4

=

as in pet

as in well v vIn modern Hebrew, this letter is often pronounced ‘v’

v v

as in zeal

v

‘this’

=

as in pit

v v

as in loch (like ch in German ach with a guttural sound)

v

- When ends a word, is pronounced and not

YoucannowreadonethirdoftheHebrewalphabet: [v]


Lesson 1 5

When and do not have a dot in them, their sounds are softer. Inthetransliteration,alinebeloworaboveanEnglishletterindicatesthesoftening:

as in over

as in food

as in gate

Aswegoonyouwillnoticeasimilarsofteningin:

as in Bach

as in awful

as in foot

Note that inbiblicalHebrew was probably pronounced as a soft dh ratherlikethe‘th’ in ‘rather’;andratherlikethe‘th’ in ‘think’.

1.5 The Hebrew letters and the vowel signs and

as in tip v

ve v

, v

=

as in father(The modern pronunciation is shorter.)

v

v

, v

vv

the letter ‘festival, feast’

‘he trusted…’



as in yellow v

‘alive’ ‘hand’ ‘he was, it was…’

= as in machine

‘in me’ ‘sinew’ ‘mud’

as in king

as in Bach

- (last letter of a word)

‘bucket, jar’ ‘in you’ ‘because…’

‘he wept…’

as in liner

‘mist’ ‘night’ ‘Babel, Babylon’

‘to you’ ‘to me’

as in mail

(last letter of a word)

‘who?’ ‘what?’ ‘camel’

‘king’ ‘blood’ ‘bread’


Lesson 1 7

YoucannowreadhalftheHebrewalphabet!Youhaveread:

‘Babylon’‘he trusts’‘in me’‘in you’‘he wept’‘sinew’

‘camel’‘blood’‘he was’‘this’‘festival’‘mud’

‘alive’‘mist’‘hand’‘bucket’‘because’‘bread’

‘to me’‘night’‘to you’‘what?’‘who?’‘king’

Therearefiveletterswhichhaveadifferentformwhentheycomeattheend of a word. You have seen and .Notetheothersasyoucometo them in 1.7–8:

Beginningormiddle of a word

Endofaword

[f ]

[ts]

1.6 Aleph

TheletterAlephisnotsoundedinthesamesortofwaythatotherconsonantsare.Itindicatesamomentarystoppingoftheflowofbreath—itisaglottalstop.It is likethetinypauseinthemiddleoftheword ‘sea-eagle’.WhenHebrewwordsarewritteninEnglishletters, may be represented by



glottal stop as in uh’oh (silent when word final)

‘father’ ‘he ate’ ‘one’

‘the father’ ‘he sinned’ ‘the

brother’

1.7 The Hebrew letters and the vowel marks

= as in they

‘Go!’ ‘king’ ‘where?’ ‘hundred’

as in noose (last letter of a word)

‘stone’ ‘he built’ ‘garden’ ‘ear’ ‘he pitied’ ‘prophet’

as in sell

‘he forgave’ ‘Sinai’ ‘testing’ ‘loyal love,

mercy’ ‘he went

round’ ‘throne’


Lesson 1 9

or or = as in bowl

‘secret’‘all, every’‘to come’

‘day’‘to him’‘not’

‘good’‘good’‘tent’

(a slightly raspy sound in the back of the throat, like the start of a gargle)

v

‘on’‘he served’

‘alive’‘she’

‘master’‘servant’

Inpost-biblicaltimeswasoftennotpronounced,soinEnglishtranslationsyoumaynotfindanysignofit.Forexample,inJeremiah38wefindthename ‘servantoftheking’.InEnglishitisEbed-melech.

as in pet [f ]

as in awful - (last letter of a word)

‘that not, lest’‘mouth’‘palm of hand’

‘here’‘heart’‘face’

‘birds’‘mother’‘he added’

= as in flute

‘birds’‘to rest’

‘to pour out’‘to flee’

‘he’‘she’



1.8 Dots within a letter

YouhavenowreadthreequartersoftheHebrewalphabet,andyouhaveseen that is ‘he’ and is ‘she’!

You have also seen that when and have an added dot,itmarkstheletterasbeinghard: b, , , , , and . SomeEnglishwritersindicatethesoftersoundbyanaddedh,othersbyaline: or .

Afteravowelsound,ahardletterusuallybecomessoft,unlessthereisapauseorpunctuation.Note and .Bothbeginwithahardb.[forformslike see1.10(b)]So ‘he trusted in you’, but, if we put first,the of

becomes : The dot in the of is called a dagesh lene. It never alters the

meaning of a word: and both mean ‘he trusted’.

There is another use of a dot in letters, to mark them as strong ordoubled, for example:

so: ‘king’ ‘theking’.

Thedotthatmarksaletterasstrongordoublediscalledadagesh forte. and are never found with a dagesh.

When comes at the endof aword, it is notusuallypronounced. It issilent:

‘he was’ ‘100’ ‘queen’

But in somewords the final needs to be lightly pronounced. In suchwordsthefinal has an added dot, called mappiq(butsomescholarsarguethat with a mappiqwasnotpronounced):

‘to her’ ‘in her’ ‘her king’


Lesson 1 11

1.9 The Hebrew letters and the vowel

[ts] as in cats (last

let ter of a word)

‘he found’ ‘he went out’ ‘he takes pleasure in’

‘a command’ ‘tree’ ‘flock, sheep’

= as in book

‘all of us’ ‘troop, bundle’

‘landed property’

pronounced as a k at the back of the throat

‘to get up’‘he will get up’

‘end’‘voice’

‘statute, law’‘small’

1.10 Shewa

Two dots under a letter need not drive us dotty. They can help us to readHebrewwordscorrectly.Twoverticaldots may be used under a consonant in three different ways:

(a)Tofurthershortenthevowelsounds, , and : islikethea in amend islikethee in behind

so:

‘he stood’ ‘stand!’

‘God’ ‘our God’

‘his tent’ (see 1.11, p13)



(b)Tomakeaveryshortvowelsound(shownas)underaconsonant,particularlyunderthefirstoftwoconsonantsthatstandtogetheratthe beginning of a word or syllable:

‘implement, vessel’ ‘to you’ ‘words’

(c)Tomarkaconsonantthatclosesasyllableinthemiddleofaword,ortomarkafinal which is Inthisthirdusethetwodots do not indicate a sound. They are

silent(quiescent):

- -

‘my king’ ‘a command’ ‘Go!’

AsyoulistentoreadingpassagesontheaudioCDandfollowtheminthebook,youwillbecomeincreasinglyawareoftheusesofthesetwodots They are called a shewa. The shewa insection(b)whichyouseein is called a vocal shewa because it indicates a sound. The shewainsection(c)which you see in - is called a silent shewabecauseitmarksthecloseofthefirstsyllable.In ‘your loyalty’,thefirstshewa is silent—itmarksthecloseofthesyllable. The second shewa is vocal—it indicates a short sound after the Whentwoshewasstandtogetherlikethis, the second is always vocal.

1.11 The Hebrew letters and the vowel

as in rain

‘lion’‘iron’‘blessed’

‘evening’‘morning’‘great’

‘word’‘words’‘words of ’


Lesson 1 13

as in sell(the same sound as )

‘prince’ ‘princes of ’‘Israel’

‘horse’‘mare’‘to place’

‘lamb, kid’‘he hated’‘seraphs’

[sh] as in shell

‘head’‘listen!’‘who, which’

‘six’‘sit down!’‘earth’

‘he kept’‘he asked’‘heaven, sky’

Note v ‘he sat’ and v ‘sitting’.In ‘sitting’ the dot over has a double function:(a)Toindicatethatthe is (b)Toindicatethatthevowelafter is

= as in dog

‘food’‘wisdom’‘man’

‘all, every’‘all, every’‘every man’

‘she kept’‘tent’‘his tent’

This short o is not very common. The symbol normally represents a long a,seesection1.5.Incaseslike and its shortened form , the knowledgeofthelongerformhelpsustoread correctly.Weshalllearnother words and clues to them as the course continues.

The symbol representsaveryshortsoundsimilartothefirstoincollection.



as in tall as in foot (or, th as in think)

‘thou, you’‘he gave’‘time’

‘perfect’‘under’‘goodness’

‘one’‘nine’‘it was finished…’

1.12 Read

(1) Listen, Israel

Hear, Israel,

the Lord our God, (Note: is read as (see 2.8))

the Lord (is) one.

(2) Day one

And there was evening

and there was morning

day one (the first day).

1.13 Activation

1.From1.4to1.11highlighttheHebrewwordsthathavemeaningswrittenbeside them.

2(a)Mimethesewords:

king

man

prophet

heaven

Listen!

queen

woman

prophetess

earth

Go!

Repeat each word and mime it several times. (See 2.12 ‘miming helps memory’.)


Lesson 1 15

2(b)Usingthepattern

‘andtherewasakingandtherewasaqueen’ andwordsfrom2(a),sayinHebrew:

andtherewasakingandtherewasaqueenand there was a man and there was a womanand there was a prophet and there was a prophetessand there was heaven and there was earth

3.Wordsearch

Find these words in the grid:

Donotmakeanymarksor linesonawordsearchgrid.Allwordsmaybefoundbyreadingfromrighttoleft(acrossordiagonally)orupanddown.Nowordsaretobereadfromlefttoright.

4.ReadinHebrew

Blessed (art) thou,our God,for forever(is) thy mercy.

Notethewords:

blessed, praised for… thou, you forever ( distant time)

our God loyal love, mercy

In thisword list, the entry ‘for’ is followed by three dots. These dots indicate that here can be translated as ‘for’, but in other contexts hasothermeaningsandfunctions.Itisalinkingword.Itmaybeusedafterverbsofsaying,seeing,andthinking(‘that’).Itmaybeusedtoindicatetime(‘when’).Itmaybeusedforemphasisandinquestions.

to father

to him or

in him, in it he came

not coming



5.SinginHebrewthesongontheCD:

We bring peace to you.

peace, welfare, a greeting of peace and good wishes. we bring.

6.Intheglossaryonpage345readtheentryforShewa.

7.ListentothesectionontheaudioCDwhichcoverspartsof lessons1,2and3.Useitasalisteningandreadingexercise.FollowtheHebrewwordsonthepage.Youmayfindithelpfultouseyourfingertohelpyour eyes to follow the words.

8. In preparation for lesson 2, have a look at thewordsearch in 2.11.5.Wordsearches are designed so that they may usefully be enjoyedbothbeforeandafteralesson.Nomarksorlinesareevermadeonawordsearch grid, so you may use a wordsearch as many times as you please.


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LEARN BIBLICAL HEBREW - Baker Publishing Groupassets.bakerpublishinggroup.com/processed/book-resources/files/... · Dedicated to my wife Heather with thanks for fifteen years of unfailing