Hebrew

FOR THE

Rest of Us

Using Hebrew Tools without Mastering Biblical Hebrew

Lee M. Fields

ZONDERVAN

Hebrew for the Rest of Us

Copyright © 2008 by Lee M. Fields

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

ISBN 978-0-310-27709-5

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Interior design by Miles V. Van Pelt

Table of Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Week 1: “Getting to Know You”: Consonants and the History of Hebrew

1 It Doesn’t Look Like Greek to Me—The Hebrew Alphabet

2 Whose Language is Dead?—The History of Hebrew

Week 2: “Getting to Know All About You”: Vowels and How We Got the OT

3 Get the Point?—The Hebrew Vowels

4 Canon, Text, and Versions

Week 3: Roots, Clauses, and Function Words

5 Getting to the Root of the Matter—Hebrew Word Roots

6 “Yes, Virginia, There Are … Clauses”

7 Wow!—The Conjunction Waw and Friends

8 Prepositions Come Before

Week 4: Nominals

9 What’s in a Name?—Overview of Nominals

10 Be Sure You Read This!—The Article

11 A Tale of Two States—Case Functions

12 An Apt Description—Adjectives

Week 5: Verbals

13 Where the Action Is—Overview of Verbs

14 When the Perfect Comes—Perfect Forms

15 There’s Nothing Wrong with … Imperfect Forms

16 Where There’s a Will, There are … Volitional Forms

17 To Infinitives and Beyond!—Infinitives & Participles

Week 6: A Method to Our Madness

18 What Do You Mean?—Hebrew Word Studies

19 Tools of the Trade—Books in Paper and Electronic Form

20 If It’s Not Poetry, It’s … Hebrew Prose

21 It May Not Rhyme, But It’s Still … Hebrew Poetry

Appendices

1 Hebrew Songs

2 Word Study Guide

3 Action Figures

Acknowledgments

It is impossible to thank all who played a role in making this possible. I begin by thanking the many great teachers at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Cincinnati Christian University, of whom I am a humble beneficiary, plus those who have taught me through their writings. I thank my colleagues at Roanoke Bible College for encouraging me to pursue this project. Thanks also to my students in Biblical Language Tools, in particular Kelli Macqueen and Ashley Baker, spring semesters of 2007 and 2008, for their patience and suggestions as we worked through much of this material together. Thanks also to my colleagues and readers, Ken Greene, Kevin Larsen, and Bob Smith. I thank Verlyn Verbrugge and the staff at Zondervan for giving me this opportunity, and for all of their encouragement and expertise to bring ...

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About Hebrew for the Rest of Us: Using Hebrew Tools without Mastering Biblical Hebrew

This is a companion volume to Greek for the Rest of Us by William D. Mounce. This book is a guide for English-only readers to understand the language of the Old Testament just enough to work with the Old Testament in more detail and to understand the scholarly literature on the Hebrew Bible. It specifically aids students in learning:

• Why translations differ

• How to do Hebrew word studies

• What the basics of Hebrew exegesis are

• How to read more advanced Old Testament commentaries with greater understanding. Hebrew for the Rest of Us is set up in a workbook format.

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Table of Contents