Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Wednesday 12 January 2005 17:55, A. Philip Brown II wrote:
> Shalom,
>
> Last May I asked the list if anyone knew of or was working on a Reader’s
> Hebrew Bible similar to A Reader’s Greek New Testament published by
> Zondervan.  Receiving no reply, I assumed no one was working on one and
> commenced to work on one for my Hebrew students.
>
> I am now looking at publishing this and would like some input from those
> list.
>
> First a brief description:
> 1.      Text: Leningradensis as presented and modified in BHS 4th ed.
> 2.      I am glossing all words occurring less than 100x in Hebrew. Proper
> nouns occurring less than 100x will be colored gray for easy
> identification. I’m assuming students will know or easily identify proper
> nouns occurring more than 100x.

Assuming anything is not good.  Glossing all the words will give the book a 
wider audience than just students, and using such a tool could even convince 
a lot of non-students (i.e. regular people) to look further into studying 
Hebrew.

> 3.      Word occurring less than 100x will have a footnote after them. The
> footnote will include (1) the lexical form of the word, (2) the lexeme’s
> root number (if other than the first homonym, e.g., II, III), and (3)
> HALOT-BDB’s gloss/definition for the term.
> 4.      I am strictly following HALOT’s glosses and supplementing them from
> BDB where the two lexicons differ.  Specifically, if HALOT offers a
> context-specific gloss for a lexeme, that gloss will be given. If HALOT
> does not offer a context-specific gloss for a lexeme with multiple senses,
> I will list HALOT’s senses for the lexeme. Same for BDB.
> 5.      I do not plan to give any parsing information.
>
> Now my questions
> 1. If given the choice, would you prefer to see full cantillation or the
> inclusion of only the athnach? and why?

Definitely full cantilation.  In addition to what has already been said, some 
forms, such as weqatal, are primarily identified by the shift in accent.  It 
also helps prepare the reader for the day when s/he switches to an unglossed 
text such as BHS.  Less "culture shock" that way.

> 2. When glossing the verbs, since the gloss will necessarily reflect the
> verb’s binyan/stem, should the gloss include a notation indicating the
> binyan/stem?  and why?
>
> Example:
> Possible Gloss Entry 1:   PLT to bring out, save  VERSUS
> Possible Gloss Entry 2:   PLT Pi:  to bring out, save.

Always include the binyan.  It's an essential part of the force of the verb.  
A brief introduction to the stems (not more than a page or a small chart) at 
the beginning of the book might be useful as well.

> 3.  If you are a Hebrew instructor, what concerns would you have about a
> publication such as I am proposing?

My main concern would be accuracy.  Since I primarily teach lay people who 
want to learn Hebrew for their own edification, I would also be hesitant to 
ask them to invest in a book that doesn't gloss all the words.  A tool that 
gets them into the actual text as soon as possible is a Very Good Thing (TM) 
so having all words glossed would be absolutely necessary for my students.

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"No good.  Hit on head."   -Gronk