Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Barry H." <nebarry AT verizon.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Hello. I just joined.


> How much of the Old Testament have you read in Hebrew? Even once cover to
> cover? If you haven’t read it through cover to cover, we won’t hold it
> against you, because apparently (from discussions on this forum) it is
> fairly rare for even a scholar to have read the Old Testament through in
> Hebrew (and Aramaic) even once, and almost unheard of for someone to have
> read it two or more times cover to cover. I encourage you to do so, it 
> will
> give you more questions.
>
> In closing, sign your full name, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and 
> this
> forum can help you learn Biblical Hebrew better, as it has helped me.

Very nice response, Karl.  My Hebrew professors (Groves, Waltke, Dillard) 
had certainly read the entire Hebrew Bible through multiple times, and it 
showed in their teaching.  One of my Classics professors, Steve Tracy of 
OSU, once told us a story of how he and some other graduate students 
performed a play of Euripides in the original Greek, which included 
memorizing essentially the entire play (4 actors playing all the roles, as 
the play would have been performed in 5th century Athens).  They had a 
professor come to candidate for a position who was lecturing on that very 
play.  Apparently, there were problems with his thesis, and the students 
were able to point those problems out, citing, from memory, specific texts 
in the Greek which the candidate had ignored or misinterpreted in his 
presentation.  The poor professor didn't get the job, and I remember 
thinking, "that's how we should know our Bibles, especially those of us 
privileged to have some skill in the original languages."

And yeah, I've never read it through in Hebrew.  Right now my Hebrew is in 
recovery stage, but I do try to do some every day in the context of my 
English OT readings.  Greek is another matter, fortunately.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat...
The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
(2010 Salvatori Excellence in Education Winner)

The North American Reformed Seminary
http://www.tnars.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry