Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred putnam <fred.putnam AT gmail.com>]

Dear George,

I met Hebrew via notes dictated by our prof, and the exercises in R. Laird
Harris's grammar. I learned Hebrew when Stephen Geller made us read
Deuteronomy in one month during a summer course. I really learned Hebrew
when I started reading out loud, for 15 minutes, three or four times a day,
simply "bleeping" over words I didn't know.

When I started teaching Hebrew (1984), I used Lambdin until the price went
too high, and I realized that we were not getting around to reading the text
because there were just too many chapters.

I used Kelley for a few years, but began writing supplements (e.g.,
collapsing his five(?) chaptesr on guttural verbal roots into a three-page
handout) until the supplements became a book, which I have published
privately and used for the past ten or twelve years (I will happily send a
pdf version to anyone on the list who would like to see it).

About one month into Hebrew I, we begin reading BHS; I hand out enlarged
copies (8.5x11) of the page, explain all the parts of the page, and away we
go. No preparation expected; I explain stuff that is new, and use the lists
from Armstrong, Busby, & Carr (words below 50x). This has been in "extra"
sessions, outside of class, but many students who have gone on for further
study tell me that those "reading sessions" were when they really "learned
Hebrew".

Second semester is largely translating narrative (usually Abram/Abraham),
memorizing vocabulary, and working through the chapters on the weak verbs
(which are explained as we translate, and so are not new when they encounter
them in "paradigmatic" form in the grammar). Depending on the class and
schedule, we read Gn 11.27 through Gn 15/21 (a wide range, that reflects the
number of syntactical and discourse bunny trails we follow).

Third semester is, in essence, an introduction to discourse analysis of
Biblical Hebrew narrative (although I don't often use that term, lest they
be scared off) and the theory and practice of translation, with a final
project in which they compare and evaluate two English translations of a
short passage (8-10 vv.) from different approaches (e.g., ESV vs. NLT, or
NJKV vs. NRSV).

I'm afraid that I've gone beyond the scope of your question. I agree with
Karl, that after some basic stuff, reading as much text as possible is the
best step.

Fred

On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 7:51 PM, K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com> wrote:

> The class I had used the Weinstein book, which I thought was sort of
> deadly. So much emphasis on grammar, much of which was more idealized than
> actual. But where I really learned Hebrew was from Davidson’s analytical
> lexicon. Oh, I hear you teachers out there cringing and crying foul, but I
> made a point of trying to recognizing the root at first, looking at the
> specific form if I was stumped, which was often at first. But by the time it
> fell apart, I had learned the forms well enough that I seldom was stumped. I
> had used it to help me read the Tanakh through a couple of times or more.
>
> The way I found that I best learn languages is to learn the basic grammar
> pretty much at first, then just go out and speak, speak, speak. For Biblical
> Hebrew, change that to read, read, read. One does not need to learn the
> grammar exhaustively, especially at first, the finer details will come as
> the person gets more familiar with the language. But a dictionary is
> indispensable.
>
> If I were to teach Hebrew, I may write my own materials. I would definitely
> include an analytical lexicon—yeah, I know that most students will never
> graduate from using it—but I’d rather that they are doing at least some
> reading, than getting stumped and quitting in frustration. Most people I
> have met who have studied Hebrew (required at seminary), have quit in
> frustration. I think I would have the students reading in Tanakh by the end
> of the first semester, if not earlier. By second semester, Tanakh would be
> the main textbook—I want the students to be comfortable with and confident
> that they can read Tanakh in Hebrew—after all, the whole purpose of learning
> Hebrew is to study Tanakh—with supplemental materials to help with
> understanding and to teach some of the finer points of grammar.
>
> Just my 2¢.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 2:34 PM, George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au
> >wrote:
>
> > Hi all!
> >
> > In light of recent posts, I thought I'd put a few questions out there:
> >
> > (1) Which book did you use when you began to learn Hebrew?
> >
> > (2) If you are (or have been) an instructor, which book(s) do you use in
> > the classroom? Any pro's and con's?
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > GEORGE ATHAS
> > Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
> > www.moore.edu.au
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>



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Frederic Clarke Putnam | Faculty
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