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  • From: "Barry H." <nebarry AT verizon.net>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Hello. I just joined.
  • Date: Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:20:15 -0400


----- 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





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