Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT goconnect.net>]

Kim,

I'd suggest breaking the habit early. The reason I suggest this is that the 
visual
identification method can make minced meat of various Hebrew idioms. There 
are just some
combinations of words which simply do not translate so easily into English, 
and using the
visual indentification method will really confuse you.

One of the things I tell my students is that you need to get the "feel" or 
"vibe" of the
language. This involves understanding not just *what* the Hebrew texts say, 
but also *how*
they say it. Hebrew expression can be (and is) quite different to English. 
English uses
its own system of logic to express itself and Hebrew uses its own system of 
logic (that's
another way of saying English and Hebrew grammar and syntax are not 
necessarily direct
equivalents). The earlier you can get into the thinking pattern of the 
language, the
better you will be at understanding the fine nuances and twists of Hebrew 
that so many
English translations miss or simply cannot translate adequately.

I also tell my students that studying Ancient Near Eastern culture (and 
studying it well!)
really sets the ball rolling towards getting the feel of Hebrew because you 
have at least
tasted a little of what the ancients' world was like. The visual 
identification method
probably gives you a two-dimensional appreciation of the richness of Hebrew. 
Getting into
the habit of reading Hebrew as Hebrew will hopefully get you to appreciate 
the full 3D
richness of the language and its expression. And Hebrew is definitely a rich 
language --
there are few languages which have such a capacity for punning or making 
plays on words.
It's hard work getting to that stage and it takes years and years of exposure 
to the
language, but it's well worth the effort.

Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Tel Dan Inscription Website
http://members.nbci.com/gathas/teldan.htm
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::