Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar

by Gary D. Pratico, Miles V. Van Pelt

Features of Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar, Second Edition text:
Combines the best of inductive and deductive approaches
Uses actual examples from the Hebrew Old Testament rather than made-up illustrations
Emphasizes the structural pattern of the Hebrew language rather than rote memorization, resulting in a simple, enjoyable, and effective learning process
Colored text highlights particles added to nouns and verbs, allowing easy recognition of new forms
Chapters Two (Hebrew Vowels), Nine (Pronominal Suffixes), Seventeen (Waw Consecutive), Eighteen (Imperative, Cohortative, and Jussive), and Twenty-Three (Issues of Sentence Syntax) are revised and expanded
Section of appendices and study aids is clearly marked for fast reference
Larger font and text size make reading easier
Updated author website with additional Hebrew language resources and product information (www.basicsofbiblicalhebrew.com)

Numerous student and instructor resources for Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar are available on Zondervan's resource website located at www.TextbookPlus.Zondervan.com.

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Genres: Language, Reference, Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Nonfiction, Linguistics

496 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Dr. Gary D. Pratico is Senior Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew Language at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. Dr. Pratico holds a Bachelor of Arts from Berkshire Christian College, a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Theology from Harvard University with concentration in Hebrew Bible, Ancient Near Eastern History and Syro-Palestinian Archeology. Dr. Pratico was curator of archaeological collections at the Harvard Semitic Museum from September 1982 until December 1993. He has participated in archaeological projects in North Africa, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan. He has also directed dozens of archaeological study tours of Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Dr. Pratico’s most recent book is entitled, Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal. He has co-authored numerous articles with Dr. Cooley on the western cemetary at Tell Dothan and has published many articles on topics concerning biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies.

Reviews

[Porter Sprigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, fun summer read.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best introductory Hebrew grammar out there. Can't wait to see the next edition.

[Josué Pineda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Después de comparar esta gramática con algunas otras, esta ha resultado ser la mejor en mi opinión. Especialmente por el enfoque en la memorización de carácterísticas de diagnóstico en lugar de tener que memorizar decenas (o cientos) de paradigmas. Gracias por este excelente trabajo. En espera de la tercera edición.

[Alexandru Sanduleac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great work! Clear language. Well organized and with very inspiring articles. Enjoyed it very much and already using the skilles developed.

[Luke Schmeltzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am only a new student of biblical Hebrew, so I do not presume to be in a great position to critique this text. I will say that as a student, the ordering of the sections and chapters helped to learn the language from the simplest and most basic to the finest minutia in a way that was easy to follow with enough time. Occasionally there were so many rules and exceptions listed in a section that it obscured what was most relevant and helpful, but the book was great overall.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Make no mistake, this was not easy to work through in a mere semester, but nevertheless, I have successfully muscled through and am proud of the progress I have made in understanding the language. While it was by no means easy, the authors, utilizing Mounce's structure, tried to replicate the success of BBG in BBH. That being said, this text was as easy as they could make it for the first year Hebrew seminarian. Rather than paradigm memorization ad infinitum, they work on memorization of core paradigms and recognition of others. This has made the initial work load much more manageable, albeit the work I have in front of me to be able to read and interact with the Hebrew is by no means done. Even still, BBH gives a the best solid platform you can get in order to move forward.

What's next for me? I have purchased the companion Reader's Hebrew Bible which will be a great next stepping stone as I move forward. It parses all weak verb forms and supplies definitions of all word occurrences that appear less than 70 times in the Hebrew Bible. The text is the biblia hebraica stuttgartensia but without the cumbersome textual variants and comments which I don't need, since I'm not trying to do textual criticism. Extremely excited to work the Psalms and Proverbs into our devotional time by translating a chapter at a time.

I am going to read through this text once more to pick up what I missed the first time while I was actually learning the information, then plan to start reading my RHB. I start Latin August 18 this year, and I am looking forward to it!

-b

UPDATE (Nov 2, 2015): I have successfully read through this text a second time, and have been translating sections from Tanak everyday, working on my Hebrew slowly but surely along with my Greek NT as I continue to learn Latin.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took Hebrew under Prof van Pelt. When I took it we used the first edition (with all of its errors!). We were the "guinea pigs." I have mixed feelings about this book. I literally *HATED* it at the time. I am very good at picking up languages but I just struggled with Hebrew, and this text didn't help. All of the reviews criticizing it for offering too much information too early are correct. It Introduces too much information too early on, which overwhelms the learner with a never-ending sense of doom and failure. The info they introduce is important, but not relevant to the early learner.

However, I did *learn* Hebrew and even seven years later, and am now rereading the book, I am finding out that I recall most of the principles. Prof Van Pelt's methodology, while painful and strict, does "teach" the langauge. In other words, this book really does "work."

To those who are complaining about the meditations at the end of the book, supposedly upset at all the "Jesus stuff." Guys, look on the outside spine of the book. In really big letters you will see...ZONDERVAN. It is an evangelical publisher. You should expect that going in. When I read books by Fortress Press or Westminster/John Knox, I expect infidelity and don't criticize the publisher for false advertising. Just know that going into it. And if it bothers you that much, don't read it. It's not hard to skip a few pages. Potential energy is on your side.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times repetitive (sometimes confusingly so), and at times disjointed, and always just a touch inconsistent in formatting-- which makes the appendices invaluable. But ultimately, I got my basic biblical Hebrew grammar on.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through this whole text in just 8 weeks was a wild ride, but massively rewarding. My prof was one of the coauthors, so that likely biases my opinion in the book's favor. I am more than grateful for the teachings innovations introduced by Pratico and Van Pelt, especially in the verbal system. This, coupled with the workbook, Compact Guide, and Miles's lectures, helped me to understand the language much better and much faster than I ever thought I could.

[Paul, · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this grammar at all. It is based on old, out of date teaching methods. The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew is much better.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very helpful and clear breakdown of the Hebrew language, how to study it, learn it's grammar, and then translate from the ancient biblical texts.

[h.f. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were certain chapters we skipped, but we read basically the entire book for my Hebrew courses.

Dense but also accessible (as it can be). I definitely would not have gotten through it without deadlines & a professors guidance — but this really is the standard for learning biblical Hebrew for a reason. I tabbed it to reference frequently in the future. I also appreciated the spiritual integration throughout. The “why” for Hebrew study was repeated over and over again, which motivated me to keep going.

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

My experience (personal, as well as talking with friends who have gone through seminary) is you're either a Hebrew person or a Greek person, when it comes to the biblical languages. I guess I'm more of a Greek guy. Hebrew was very tough for me, but this Grammar at least made it approachable. As tough as it was, I'm very grateful for the hard work put into this Grammar to make this poetic language approachable for folks like me who had a very tough time learning Biblical Hebrew.

[Nia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Hebrew grammar and vocabulary was good when examples actually were drawn from the Biblical text, but I found their attempts to show what a mistaken phrase or sentence would look like to be more distracting than helpful, and also the Christian sermonizing finally became unbearable by about chapter 15! :-(

[Justin Wheaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent beginning Hebrew book. My undergraduate Hebrew classes used this book and I've read it through a number of times. You cannot go wrong with this book, but you MUST also get the accompanying workbook to cement your Hebrew learning. I'm a seminary student at TEDS in the Semitic Languages program and I would definitely recommend this book.

[Michael Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t actually expect to read everything in this for class, but between two semesters of Hebrew, I did. It isn’t always the most clear in its exposition, but the order of building blocks makes a lot of sense, and the ending sections of every chapter were incredibly fascinating and a blessing to the soul amidst heavy technical information.

[Lancelot Schaubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty standard text for classic Hebrew. Recommend for those trying to learn the language.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positive: This textbook introduces you to Hebrew grammar.
Negative: Not a good approach for learning how to read Hebrew.

[Jordan Litts · Rating 4 out of 5]

....

[Adam Balshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars [Grammar]
Exact rating: 3.05

This is not the best introductory Biblical Hebrew grammar out there. But it is the one to put in the hands of the average beginner.

Writing: 2.25 stars
Layout: 3.5 stars
Use: 4 stars
The writing is repetitive. By the last third of the book, the grammar/morphology explanations are saying the exact same thing three or four times in a row: once in prose, once in a diagram, possibly once more just afterward, and then once in a numbered summary. It might be repeated a fifth time in a chapter- or bi-chapter summary!

So why such a high Use rating? Because this is what many need. Language learning is frustrating to most, and overexplanation is usually better than underexplanation. The font is large. The diagrams are even larger. The diagnostic elements in those diagrams are color-coded in red. The summaries put all relevant information in one, small place. The summaries repeat something in case the reader missed it.

Visually appealing, a slow pace, and an absolute glut of individual and paradigmatic diagrams make a Biblical Hebrew grammar for the masses.

Truth: 3 stars
Methodology: 2.75
In Mounce's popular grammar, he introduces each chapter with an exegetical insight. Pratico and van Pelt have slightly longer excerpts, and put them at the end of the chapter. Pastors and scholars provide practical applications of the grammar with these snippets of real exegeses. It raised the Methodology score from mediocre. Uncommon truth both in a detailed language morphology, and in some of those exegetical insights.

Takeaway
If you are looking for the best introductory Hebrew grammar, I believe that is Donald Vance's An Introduction to Classical Hebrew, with better exercises and fuller explanations of morphology and historical linguistics. Vance is higher in register. "The best for the serious student."

But for the common student, Pratico and van Pelt's accessibility and plebianness might constitute the best vehicle for a foray into Biblical Hebrew.

[Brice Bigham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pratico and Van Pelt have constructed this Hebrew Grammar in such a way that anyone can use it to learn the language of the Old Testament - whether a seminary student, pastor or Church member. The methodology used is concerned with accuracy and memorization of essential grammatical rules and paradigms - yet the authors are very concerned that the student waste no time in useless study. The approach is streamlined to minimize time and maximize rule retention. In addition to the exceptional approach to Hebrew grammar there are wonderful entries by Biblical scholars, pastors and professors at the end of each chapter which present the reader with reflective applications of the grammatical rules learned which demonstrate the beauty of Hebrew and the importance of studying the original languages. Learning Hebrew is not only helpful for pastors, but for everyone! Theology is shaped by the language which captures it. Learning Hebrew is beneficial for any Christian that is trying to understand the Old Testament, and this book presents an approach that is accessible for anyone.

[Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great grammar to brush up my Hebrew.

The grammar has four sections:
1. The Basics of Hebrew writing
2. The Basics of Hebrew Nouns and Nominals
3. Introduction to Hebrew Verbs and the Qal Stem
4. Introduction to the Derived Stems

Every grammar approach has its pros and cons.

The #1 pro of this grammar is that its layout and presentation of subject matter is perfectly clear and neat, which is a massive help for the beginning student.

The #1 con of this grammar is that its focus is mostly on morphology and barely on syntax and semantics, for which often references are made to Van de Merwe's A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar.

As such, in particular the last part of the book can be pretty 'dry' for the beginning student.
The authors tried to compensate for this 'dryness' by adding some juicy exegetical insights at the end of each chapter. Most of them are valuable reflections on the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, although sometimes the connection with the topic of the chapter is not entirely clear.

[Hank Pin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title itself is pretty self explanatory: it is a Christian textbook on the basic grammatical points of Biblical Hebrew. The emphasis, likewise, is not on vocabulary acquisition (after all, that's what a dictionary for Biblical Hebrew is for). Despite the fact that this is a pretty solid textbook that lies out the information in a clear and rational way, it seems crammed at times, condensing a significant amount of information within one chapter.

Regarding the vocabulary and the audio, it should be noted that this textbook follows the traditional pronunciation instead of the modern one (waw instead of vav; gimel, dalet, and tav have the same sound with and without the dagesh, so on and so forth). But personally, having never have to actually read the text out loud, this is a minor detail than anything else.

[Hank Pin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A textbook that serves its purpose decently. However, there are a few things that should be kept in mind: first, is that this is a Protestant Christian textbook. Accordingly, the book used the "traditional" Christian phonology (i.e waw instead of vav, tav is also pronounced with a th sound, etc) instead of the modern one. Second, the layout could seriously use some revamp, as parts of the textbook can be a bit unclear, even disjointed, but luckily, with a decent professor, that can be mitigated.

By the end of the book though, one should be able to translate 3-5 verses in the OT (excluding Aramaic parts and Psalms) with the help of a dictionary and a sheet reminding you of the various forms of verb conjugations.

To me, at least, the course feels like purgatory.

[Evan Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Theological bent bleeds through at the expensive of teaching the language. The content is muddled and excessively confusing, and without the assistance of a good professor, I fear the grammar would lose the student totally. The accompanying workbook is very helpful, however. At the end of each chapter, an excerpt from a scholar or pastor gives a nice perspective on the importance of Hebrew. I enjoyed that, except for the the one section authored by John Piper. He has no place in an academic grammar, and Zondervan reveals it's theological bias by using him.

[Ushan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A textbook of Hebrew for Protestant seminaries; pieces of grammar interspersed with homilies about the need for preachers to know the original language of the Holy Scriptures, and weird exegeses: did the Blessing of Jacob really prefigure the Messianic Age?

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid grammar. Like any ancient language there are hiccups with trying to teach it and this grammar has its fair share. Though using it along with the help of a solid professor it serves its purpose well.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talbot Course: Hebrew 1 & 2
Seminary Standard Textbook for learning basic Hebrew

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great intro to Biblical Hebrew. This is the only grammar I have studied for Hebrew but seems well laid out and a solid foundation.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss.