Customer Reviews

Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar: Second Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Ross Hebrew Grammar is very much better, in our view, than the Pratico Grammar. Pratico has produced a book that serves better as a reference book than a beginning Hebrew Grammar. Very often, my students were confronted with material they did not need. Ross' Grammar we have found to be simpler and, for beginning students, that means better. It covers all that beginners need, and just a little bit more (for the students who want it). I am sure that other Grammars do the same. Pratico just gives too much information too soon. Much of it can safely be skipped.
We recently switched from Pratico to Ross' textbook in mid-stream because we grew tired of having to deal with so much unnecessary detail. We have kept Pratico on the shelf, and have referred to it once already. So, it still is serving a purpose. But I cannot recommend it as the text of choice for beginners.

I purchased this grammar and the accompanying workbook, flashcards, "charts," and the "Get an A" summary sheet for my Hebrew I & II courses under Miles Van Pelt. It was a treat to be taught from this grammar by the co-author himself. But for those of you who are considering buying this grammar for a course under another professor, or for independent study, I definitely recommend these items, except for the "charts" which you don't need at all. Of course, if you're a student who is going to study under another professor than either of the co-authors, be sure they approve of your relying on this text, even if in part.

Now for the self-studier (or, autodidact), I strongly encourage you to get the four items I list above. This grammar (w/ other goodies) is the simplest way to learn Biblical Hebrew, in my opinion, and that is because it is the most scientific. By this I mean that the authors have painstakingly eliminated all the gruelling paradigm memorization as was possible and caught instead upon all the ways the morphology (how verbs change and why) can give you the same information and make it possible for you to parse the verb(al).

We covered two chapters per week for Hebrew I (and in the compressed winter term, Hebrew II one chapter per day), so it is possible to cruise through this system in six months. I can actually read the Hebrew text after having studied all the chapters, but that was with the benefit of constant instruction by a professional. For autodidacts, plan on one year of disciplined study, without rushing too fast past things you're not sure about. The workbook (and CD ROM from the back of the grammar to grade it) are great! Be sure to do all the exercises, except perhaps the English to Hebrew, which isn't really necessary, but could be a useful added drill if you are struggling. Also, for self-study's, be sure to review review review. Don't be ashamed to start over from the beginning once you have finished. Then you might want to obtain a Hebrew Reader. Zondervan has a nice one. Now learn you some Hebrew ya bums!

Please consult my review of William Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek, because the same strategy and paedagogical method was adopted for Hebrew with this grammar as was adopted by Mounce for Greek.

This is a well laid out grammar with extensive help on every key grammatical point. I think many of the reviews here I have read bring out good points, however, there is a bias in this grammar that I didn't see mentioned. I'd like to point that out here.

This book uses the traditional pronunciation guides that were used in many older grammars and in Seminaries years ago. However, it is not the only traditional pronunciation of Hebrew. Yet this grammar presents it's pronunciation as if it was the traditional mode. This is unfortunate because it's not completely accurate and because the pronunciation guide used here will cause many of the words you learn to sound like you learned Hebrew in a western language Seminary. It would be better if grammars like this switched to the modern pronunciation of Hebrew, since there are millions of Jews living today who speak modern Hebrew (they use the same alphabet and all the vocabulary in this book).

Also, this Grammar has more detail in some ways than a 'basics' book ought to have, but I really love the way it is laid out and the format of the material.

Therefore, I give it a four star.

For a modern Hebrew grammar this book is not too bad, but I don't think that I would recommend it either.

The first thing one notices about the book is that in is large in demension. The size of this book is quite larger than it needs to be, as the text is a very big font surrounded by plenty of white space on each page (which is good in you like the write in your books, but otherwise it is just wasted bulk). The book's printing is clear and crisp with the use of red ink to set off Hebrew paradigms and other areas of interest, and to me this seems to be one of the best features.

For the content of the book, it get the information across in an understandable way, yet it at times seems both too detailed and not detailed enough. Each chapter will give a general grammatical rule, some example sentences, and then the exceptions for all possible cases will fill most of the chapter. I thought I would like a pedantic approach as a person who loves dry books, and yet it somehow seems to loose itself in the details. I can see this book being very useful as a reference book once you have found your Hebrew footing, but it burdens the student with details too quickly the fist time through.

Also, the end of each chapter has a section devoted to the pastoral significance of Hebrew, or a quotation citing the great need for more literate Hebrew pastors, or the translation of a specific line of the bible. These can be very interesting and informative when they are directed at Hebrew. Too often though, these section are more to inspire emerging pastors than strictly the language. This may just be a pet-peeve of mine but this forever annoys me as I like my books to what they are advertise and not stray into other areas or to try to be informative AND motivational.

All in all, if you get this book you will be able to learn Hebrew with not too much difficulty. This book does provide also many quirks that while it may not be a deal breaker, do not create the optimal learning tool.

While Weingreen introduced me to Hebrew, Basics of Biblical Hebrew (BBH) is a perfect refresher text. Professor Pratico and Van Pelt move very slowly and carefully, taking care not to barrage students with more than the absolutely essential basics. However, this can test the eager and "short nosed" polyglots in the class very quickly. While everyone may not need to repeat their first year of Hebrew (or for that matter want to do so even if they did), I find BBH a pleasant organizational tool for the corpus of latent Hebrew in my head. All my comments must be understood as coming from a "repeater" and not a first-time love of this ANE language. So when i give it 5 stars, I do so in thanks for what it has offered me in organization, and not necessarily initial presentation of the language.

This book is meant to be used with the workbook of the same name, the "survival kit" and all the other products the publisher pushes. There is no additional, free help such as I found useful when learning Biblical Greek. Rather, this book references a related website that does not exist and the publisher's website, unlike the useful websites that are sometimes connected with textbooks, provides only info on other products you can purchase. In addition, while the publisher provides an answer key for the workbook, it's on the CD that comes with the textbook and it does not work with Windows 7. The CD is supposed to contain additional aids, but I can't access them. Maybe I'm asking too much to expect additional help, but when all questions addressed to the publisher, Zondervan, are answered with a suggestion to buy more of their products, it just doesn't sit right with me.

Update: Just received an email from Zondervan that states they will not be updating any of their software and they provided a link where the author supposedly had provided the info from the CD. What I need is the answer key for the workbook and if it's on that site, I can't find it. What's there is a big list of the author's products that are available for purchase.

Caveat emptor! Excessively dry text with some Christian flavor.

It is not what I had hoped for on two counts (I also got the workbook with it, so let this review apply to both as a unit).

First it is a deadly dry academic text which simply does not fit my learning style. Apparently the authors are scholars, so it's not their fault. They cant help writing that way. It's just not for me.

Secondly, it is laced with some Christian perspective, which would be fine with me if it was biblical Greek or Latin, but I want to learn unadulterated Judaic Hebrew,free of later Christian overlay. Again, it's my fault for not checking closely enough. The authors are who they are and can not be expected to abandon their bias.

BTW - it comes with a DVD that does not seem to be worth the trouble of getting it out of it's envelope. I'm not sure what value it is supposed to provide. If I keep the text, the DVD will be a coaster.

I may return it or at most keep it as a dust magnet in my pure reference bookshelf. Overall, sadly disappointing for me, but it may fit your needs just fine. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I was so excited and now I am so disappointed it's hard to strive for objectivity in my review.

This is by far the best update to the Basics of Biblical Hebrew text book to date. Lay open design with extra wide margins for notes. Red letters to show endings and changes to words. Very easy to read and very logical instruction. In combination with the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary course OT500 (taught by the author), the Hebrew text comes to life. Great instruction by a great instructor. Very nice companion CD for further study. A must for anyone wanting a better understanding of the Hebrew text. Appropriate for pastors,teachers, and students of the Bible.

Have and thoroughly enjoy the "Basics in Biblical Greek" counterpart to this book; and am also very pleased with the teaching format of this grammar resource for Biblical Hebrew. Also purchased the BoBH workbook, and am excited about delving into it, too! The only thing I would improve upon with BoBH would be a more compatible CD-Rom (with actual lectures) such as is provided with "Basics in Biblical Greek". Am self-taught, and so can testify that one need not have a seminary education to learn from these outstanding sources. :)
Highly recommend "Basics of Biblical Hebrew" for anyone interested in going deeper into ~ and sharing with all who will hear ~ our Lord's amazing, eternal and inspired Word.

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar

I originally learned Hebrew using Weingreen and Page Kelley. I have been thoroughly impressed with this modern innovation. I anticipate when the Hebrew series is as complete as the Greek series by Mounce and Wallace. Much of the technical jargon could have been footnoted, but I admire the wisdom of alleviating much of this until second year. I still think that any instructor should mention the Pe Ayin Lamedh designation for the weak verbs in his first year instruction, but that is a matter of preference due to the Older grammars usage of this classification. All in All I have been thoroughly pleased.