Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Brady R. Johnson" <brady AT seanet.com>]

>A similar question...for a rank beginner like me, would it be better to get
>out the books and cassettes for Modern Hebrew from the Foreign Service
>before working my way through the Bible, or is Modern Hebrew different
>enough from Biblical Hebrew that I should focus on Biblical Hebrew?

I first learned modern Hebrew on a kibbutz ulpan, shortly followed by
B-Hebrew a the Hebrew University.  I knew a number of people in my ulpan
who already knew B-Hebrew and were learning modern Hebrew.  In the final
analysis, I think it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.  Either way,
you'll encounter some confusion over words and phrases that have changed,
and you'll make the occasional amusing mistake.