Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <ButhFam AT compuserve.com>]

shalom Hayyim, 
katav Bearpecs AT aol.com
>
>I'm curious about people's thought regarding the pronunciation of Biblical

>Hebrew according to the grammar books versus using Modern Israeli Hebrew. 

>Assuming the student knows the difference and can apply that to the 
>phonology, etc, does it make a difference how it's pronounced in class? 
I'm 
>not supporting either or the other, just asking.<

It makes no difference and all the difference.
What counts is getting the language inside yourself so that you can relate
to the
language within the language. 
People that do that, end up speaking modern Hebrew
and end up using modern pronounciations, more or less. 
Some even speak with 
real Het's and `ayins (as opposed to khafs and alefs).

This can be done in good schools or special environments around the world.
Israel is the easist special environment to set up.

blessings,
Randall Buth
Jerusalem