One year of Hebrew study only serves to get your feet wet. If you wish to achieve true mastery, you must strive to maintain and constantly build upon the knowledge already so painfully and laboriously acquired. A second year of Hebrew language studies is highly recommended, and some of you are intending to travel that route. However, whether you plan on participating in the second year program or not, DO NOT TAKE TOO LONG A VACATION FROM YOUR HEBREW STUDIES THIS SUMMER. Strive to read some Hebrew every day, and continue working on your vocabulary even in the absence of a formal assignment. I’ve supplied some passages below for you to work through, arranged in order of relative difficulty. Once you have read (and translated) these passages, let your own interests guide what material you choose to work with; generally speaking, narrative is easier than poetry—the most difficult material being probably Job and the Song of Songs. Advanced biblical Hebrew classes at UNC Charlotte typically focus equally on narrative and poetic materials from the Bible, usually read in conjunction with some apocryphal, rabbinic, and traditional medieval commentaries.

Finally, an inspirational quote from the twentieth-century’s greatest scholar of Jewish studies, Gershom Scholem: “I studied Hebrew without a sense that one day I would really know it. I thought it was extremely difficult, that I would never master it. But after four or five years of intensive study, I found it was possible to master Hebrew.” (M. Tsur and A. Shapira, “With Gershom Scholem: An Interview,” Shdemot 3 (spring 1975) 5-43; translated into English and published in Gershom Scholem, On Jews and Judaism in Crisis: Selected Essays [ed. W. J. Dannhauser; New York: Schocken, 1976], 1-48.  The quote is found on page 11. 

1. Grammar: The authoritative English-language reference grammar for biblical Hebrew is that of Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842), as revised by Emil Kautzsch and A. E. Cowley (Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar [2d English ed.; ed. E. Kautzsch and A. E. Cowley; Oxford: Clarendon, 1910]). Copies of this work will be ordered for the second-year class as a recommended text. Otherwise, you can obtain a copy directly from Oxford University Press, from www.amazon.com , or from Eisenbrauns, Dove Booksellers, or Harrassowitz (see below).

2. Lexicon: The Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (BDB) which we use is essentially a heavily revised version of a Hebrew dictionary prepared by Gesenius during the first half of the nineteenth century.  Despite its Victorian era provenance, it is a more than adequate lexical tool for those (like most of you) who are content to study classical Hebrew at an elementary level.  Those however who want to pursue biblical Hebrew at a more sophisticated level taking due account of the archaeological discoveries and philological advances made over the course of the past century will need to supplement BDB by making plans to acquire the latest edition of Koehler-Baumgartner (HALAT); i.e., Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, A Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (5 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1994-2000).  Since the price tag for this large set of hardbound tomes exceeds what most individuals can comfortably afford, Brill issued a compact two volume so-called ‘student edition’ of this same work in 2001 at a more modest price.  HALAT is also available in CD-ROM format, either independently or as an ‘add-on’ to some electronic Bible programs (e.g., BibleWorks for Windows).

3. Concordance: Serious students will want to invest in a concordance to the Hebrew Bible. Several are available (e.g., Lisowsky, Mandelkern), but the best is that of A. Even-Shoshan, New Concordance to the Bible (Hebrew) (4th ed.; Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sefer, 1982). This has recently been translated into English and is available from the aforementioned vendors.  The explosion of digital technology over the past decade has revolutionized textual study and permits the self-generation of ‘customized’ concordances or character strings.  There are a number of CD-ROM databases available which contain electronic versions of the biblical text(s), but they vary widely in textual integrity, price, and utility.  The best by far is the Bar Ilan University Responsa Project, but it is also pretty expensive.  Another useful program is the aforementioned BibleWorks.  One of the least expensive programs is the Judaic Classics Library distributed by Davka, but I have persistently and repeatedly found scribal errors in some of their texts.

4. Rabbinic Hebrew: For those interested in diving into the vast ‘sea of Talmud,’ further lexical and grammatical assistance will be required. You will need to get a copy of M. H. Segal, A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew (Oxford: Clarendon, 1927), wherein is featured a useful discussion of the main differences between biblical and postbiblical Hebrew. There is now a ‘teaching grammar’ available in English: Miguel Pérez Fernández, An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew (Leiden: Brill, 1999).  The standard English-language lexicon is that of Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (2 vols.; reprinted in 1 vol. with reduced type; New York: Judaica Press, 1982). Both of these resources will also prove useful for reading certain Qumran texts which utilize nonbiblical terminology or grammatical forms. For medieval Hebrew, I have found that the best Hebrew-English dictionary is Reuben Alcalay, The Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary (Tel Aviv & Jerusalem: Massadah Publishing Co., 1965); this is actually a dictionary of modern Hebrew, but it can be used for earlier periods as well. The standard historical dictionaries (both are Hebrew-Hebrew) are Avraham Even-Shoshan, Millon Ð adash (5 vols.; Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sefer, 1964); and Eliezer Ben Yehudah, Millon ha-lashon ha-‘ibrit ha-yeshanah we-ha-Ð adashah (16 vols.; Berlin & Jerusalem, 1908-59).

5. Qumran texts: Two older works present vocalized texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are A. M. Habermann, Megillot midbar yehudah (n.p.: Machbaroth Lesifrut, 1959), and Eduard Lohse, Die Texte aus Qumran (München: Kösel-Verlag, 1981). They both contain the main stuff available prior to the Scrolls’ public release in late 1991; i.e., 1QS, CD, 1QM, 1QH, 1QpHab, etc. A so-called ‘study edition’ of the Scrolls is Florentino García Martínez and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1997-98), which has been issued in softcover format by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishers. This work however provides an unvocalized text. I would recommend that if you are serious about reading Qumran texts, you will have to become comfortable with working with unpointed Hebrew. Such for example is the format of the Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls edition (general editor James H. Charlesworth), of which five volumes out of an anticipated ten have now appeared. For the grammar and vocabulary of the Scrolls, the best guide is Elisha Qimron, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HSS 29; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986).

6. Other stuff: As recommended purchases for next fall’s class, I have ordered the following two books: (1) Ernst Würthwein, The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979); and (2) Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2d rev. ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001). These are excellent resources for deepening your understanding of the textual issues involved in the transmission and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. You would also profit from a close reading of Angel Saenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), recently reprinted in paperback.

7. Where to buy these and other coveted materials: I would recommend dealing with the following outfits: (1) Eisenbrauns, POB 275, Winona Lake, IN 46590-0275, or www.eisenbrauns.com ; (2) Dove Booksellers, 13904 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI 48126, or www.dovebook.com ; and (3) Otto Harrassowitz, POB 2929 - Taunusstrasse 5, 6200 Wiesbaden, GERMANY. Either Eisenbrauns or Dove can get you just about anything you want (if it’s in print, that is) whether they actually list it in their catalogs or not. Sometimes the currency exchange rates will favor a purchase from Harrassowitz. All of these companies issue frequent catalogs and sales incentives. Contact them directly for further details.