subsidia biblica - 14

PAUL JOÜON, S.J.

A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew

Translated and Revised

by

T. MURAOKA

Volumes 1 & 2

Part One: Orthography and Phonetics

Part Two: Morphology

Part Three: Syntax

Paradigms and Indices

Reprint of First Edition with, Corrections

EDITRICE PONTIFICIO ISTITUTO BIBLICO — ROMA 2003

This is a translation and revision of Grammaire de I’Hébreu biblique by Paul Joüon, S.J., originally published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1923 and subsequently and frequently reprinted with no substantial change.

First Edition, 1991

Reprint of First Edition, with Corrections, 1993

Second Reprint, 1996

Third Reprint, 2000

Fourth Reprint, 2003

ISBN 88-7653-595-0

Iura editionis et versionis reservantur

Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico

Piazza della Pilotta 35 — 00187 Roma, Italia

To Professor James Barr, FBA
Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford University
1978–89
in recognition of his outstanding scholarship
and warmth of friendship

Preface to the Original French Edition

The progress in biblical studies in our time has led to the general recognition, particularly among Catholics, of the need of deeper understanding of the “sacred language.” The advancement in Semitic philology, on the other hand, makes it necessary to study Hebrew in a more scientific manner as has been the case for a long time with other dead languages such as Greek and Latin. It is with a view to meeting the need of a sufficiently complete grammar of scientific character, a need often expressed by our students, initially of the Oriental Faculty of the University of St Joseph in Beirut, and subsequently of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, that we have decided to undertake such a task. What was required was an intermediate grammar bridging the gap between the best of elementary grammars and the monumental works such as Lehrgebäude by E. König.

With regard to both the scope of the present work and the mode of presentation, we have had in mind the ever-growing group of students who feel it necessary to go beyond the stage of purely factual(1) knowledge and wish to develop their ability to resolve the numerous grammatical difficulties of the massoretic text instead of merely bypassing them. They will find here not only all the fundamental concepts, but also most of the details of minor importance. As for the many minute details and anomalies which can make the study of Hebrew such a discouraging undertaking, we have had to set a limit. Besides, what is important for the student is not so much to know a great number of details as to be able to identify an unusual form and to decide whether it is explicable or, having no comparable form, it is anomalous or incorrect. But where it was found that a detail, even the most trivial, could throw some light on some obscure matter, we did not hesitate to note it. One will find here many a point of detail not dealt with by E. Kautzsch; on the other hand, some details given by this grammarian have been deliberately left ...