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Elementary Biblical Hebrew 2 (13 weeks, face to face)
"Introduction to the elements of biblical Hebrew (grammar and syntax) and translation of selected prose texts in the Hebrew Bible."
Besides the text books (below), students will also need to have dependable internet access between sessions. Lectures consist of •.mov files, playable on Windows Player or Apple QuickTime Player.
Text books:
- Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs, Edward Robinson, Wilhelm Gesenius, and Maurice A. Robinson. The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996. ISBN-13: 9781565632066 (hardcover). Cost: $27.96 (down from 34.95) at Cokesbury.com. 2.Seow, C.L. A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. Rev ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995. ISBN-13: 9780687157860 (hardcover). Cost: $25.20 (down from 40.00) at Cokesbury.com.
- Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Editio funditus renovata. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1984. Choose One:
- Standard edition, larger, hard cover: ISBN-13: 9781598561609 Cost: $71.96 (down from 89.95) at Cokesbury.com. Or
- Compact edition, smaller, soft cover: ISBN-13: 9781598561630 Cost: $51.96 (down from 64.95) at Cokesbury.com
Learning a language is a fluid process, but also tightly structured. There is an "all or nothing" aspect to language learning, calling for a decision to throw oneself fearlessly into the process. There is also a cumulative aspect: one cannot "skip a piece" along the way (as one might decide to "skip Bultmann week" in another class with the hope of making it up before exams): everything always depends on what has come before, and if a students "skips a week" in her homework and practice, she will almost certainly fail in everything that follows. Let's all agree to throw ourselves in, and stay in.
Assignments include:
- Examinations: there will be three (3) exams during Elementary Hebrew 1. Each exam “weighs” equally, but there is also obviously a cumulative aspect to the exams. The third (3rd) exam will be according to the G-ETS reading competency exam for foreign languages.
- Vocabulary Quizzes: Quizzes will be drawn from a "frequency list" of Biblical Hebrew words, beginning with the most common words and progressing through less common words.
- Homework: Seow’s grammar will be the focus of our homework: in class, we will read aloud and translate from his exercises, while continuing our oral/aural activities.
- Exegetical paper: students will accomplish an exegetical thesis paper that demonstrates a critical engagement with Hebrew grammar and syntax. Every student will "peer review" a late-term draft for three (3) of her colleagues. If you judge that your work has received inadequate engagement in review, please make me aware. Judgments about engagement in peer review will count toward a reviewer’s participation grade.