Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar

click here for more details, find new or used items	Gary Pratico, Miles V. Van Pelt Our price £23.50 (£26.99) New from £16.12 Used from £19.51 Pages: 512 (Hardcover) ISBN: 0310270200 Pub: Zondervan Publishing House Pub date: 2007-04-06 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 34995

Reader Reviews:

Excellent Hebrew Textbook (3/3 people found this helpful)

When I first learned Hebrew, some years ago now, I used two different textbooks (Harper and Eaton). I now teach introductory Biblical Hebrew and for several years used the classic text by Weingreen. The advantages of Weingreen are its comprehensiveness, conciseness and copious exercises. But it also has some serious pedagogical weaknesses, as is only to be expected in a book last revised in 1959. For example, important concepts are sometimes explained too briefly and others not at all. I thought I would try a new approach and use Basics of Biblical Hebrew. I am glad I did. The book's emphasis on `diagnostics', rather than on rote learning of paradigms, might not appeal to purists. But the point is it works. By the end of one year of study the students had a much firmer grasp of the language and could explain verbal forms with greater confidence than I had experienced before. Without exception every student in the class, of whatever ability, rated the book as excellent. When I taught an advanced class to students who had used another textbook at introductory level, several bought Basics of Biblical Hebrew to clarify points only partly mastered before. All agreed that the book is a model of clarity. The accompanying workbook gives numerous graded exercises. The accompanying CD could be more user-friendly. But it's not essential. The textbook and workbook stand by themselves. For teachers, however, the numerous overheads on the CD are a tremendous help for teaching a group in class. If you're not of an evangelical disposition, some of the exegetical observations at the end of chapters might irritate you - but these can be skipped over entirely. So, the CD aside, this is a five star textbook.

Thumbs down (4/8 people found this helpful)

If you are like me, and don't like lots of technical terms but want translations of what various persons etc in the noun, adverb, verb etc tables actually mean in English (of which there are very few), I am sorry to say this is not for you. I bought this and the workbook for a distance learning course and found them less than helpful. The CD that comes with it isn't that easy or intuitive to use either. In fact I haven't even used the workbook or CD that goes with it, and I really don't like the book at all, and avoid using it where possible to do my studies. If you like the sort of academic approach to languages with lots of linguistic terms that is rather cerebral rather than practical and down to earth, it might be ok for you. However if you are a person who say has learnt one European language, likes the current more practical learning style prevelant these days, and doesn't like the rather academic 1950 style of learning with copious linguistic jargonese, then don't bother with this book. It probably better for university students who are not distant learning rather than if you are trying to learn on your own, but even then I am not sure about it. In my opinion there are far better easier to understand and practical books out there to help you learn Hebrew.

Similar Products

Basics of Biblical Hebrew Workbook

Basics of Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary

Old Testament Hebrew Vocabulary Cards (Zondervan Vocabulary Builder S.) (Zondervan Vocabulary Builder S.)

The Vocabulary Guide to Biblical Hebrew

Graded Reader of Biblical Hebrew: A Guide to Reading the Hebrew Bible

Categories

Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories: