Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Andrew:

Welcome. But I don’t think much of our discussions will be of use to you.

I took one year of Biblical Hebrew, neglected it for a year and a half, then
started reading in Genesis. The first time through took me four years.

The most valuable tool that I used was an analytical lexicon. What was
available to me was Davidson’s analytical lexicon. I wore it out, used it so
much that it fell apart and pages were lost. But by that time, I had learned
the language well enough that I no longer needed it.

As Randall mentioned, I would highly discourage using an interlinear. I
never even bought one. I never even had a translation next to me as I was
reading. I have not read an English translation for so long that I am not
familiar with any, though the ESV has been highly recommended to me.

I would not waste my time learning modern Hebrew: it is a different
language, with a different grammar and many words have different meanings.
If you learned modern Hebrew first, then you would have to unlearn a lot of
stuff in order to become really fluent in Biblical Hebrew. In discussions on
this list, Randall Buth showed some mixing in of modern Hebrew in his
understanding of Biblical Hebrew, because he is more familiar with modern
Hebrew than Biblical Hebrew.

Many learning materials are available on line. Bibles for almost all
computers are found at http://www.crosswire.org including the Biblical
languages, for free. They also have lexicons there. I have copies on
Macintoshes, Windows™, Linux (Ubuntu) and just today added on my iPod Touch
(iPhone compatible).

These are my 2¢, what I could think of quickly off the top of my head. Hope
this is of help.

Karl W. Randolph.

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:38 AM, Andrew Pike <uir.domini AT yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> I have just joined the list and I would like to introduce myself. My name
> is Andrew, I am a Evangelical Christian, and I am from the UK. My previous
> studies involve some Classical languages, Modern languages, History, and
> artifacts. I have always had a passing interest in Old Testament language
> studies for many years now, but have never taken my studies further. I now
> feel that it's the time that I would like to start learning Biblical Hebrew.
> I was wondering if any one could please recommend to me the 'best' books
> available for learning Hebrew quickly? I don't know if I should mention this
> or not as I don't want to cause offense, but I have been advised not to use
> Strong's numbering system, but to purchase a more up to date
> Lexicon/Concordance for my studies. I would also appreciate some advise on
> any study methods? My level of Hebrew is below that of a 'novice', I
> literally know one Hebrew one and about half a dozen transliterated words,
> so any help
>  would be much appreciated? My aim for learning Hebrew is to be able to
> read the Old Testament in it's original language.
>
>
> I would also be grateful if anyone could advise on, a) The best Hebrew Text
> available; b) The best Hebrew Interlinear available; c) The best learning
> tools (Lexicons and Concordances); and; d) The best English translation of
> the Old Testament that best reflects the original. (All with in a reasonable
> budget). I've heard that both the 'New World Translation' and the 'New
> Jerusalem Bible' are good Old Testament versions.
>
> Sorry for all the questions, but I am enthusiastic and eager to learn.
>
> Your's Sincerely,
>
> Andrew Pike
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>