Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 19/01/2005 17:53, Heard, Christopher wrote:

> ...
>
> Well, first of all I should probably say that I was thinking in terms of
> students actually undergoing Hebrew instruction -- as in, having flashbacks
> to how overly reliant I and some of my friends became on
> Armstrong-Busby-Carr.
>
>  
Well, I can agree that it is not good to become overly reliant on such 
aids (come to think of it, it is not good to become overly reliant on 
anything, by definition), and that there may be some danger of becoming 
overly reliant on this proposed aid.

> ...
>
> I could probably argue that either way, but let me just expose a little bit
> of my reasoning as to why the answer might be "yes." Or, at least, if the
> tool in question simply gives brief glosses as does Armstrong-Busby-Carr or
> Accordance. ...

I also agree that there are real dangers in relying on any kind of tool 
which gives brief glosses rather than careful definitions. But the other 
side of this one is that if readers are expected to use BDB, KB etc to 
look up every word which is not immediately familiar, and to study the 
entries in detail rather than use the glosses which even BDB and KB 
give, then their progress in reading the text will be extremely 
painfully slow. They will fail to appreciate the overall message because 
they are so focused on individual words, failing to see the wood for the 
trees. And they will quickly become discouraged. So there is a fine line 
to be trodden here. And the proposed aid may be helpful for some in 
treading there.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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