Customer Reviews

Biblical Hebrew, Second Ed. (Supplement for Advanced Comprehension) (Yale Language Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having used Hoffer's first edition of this volume (with great success and abundant payoff), I was pleasantly surprised to encounter this second edition.

The new edition has been improved in almost every way possible (from layout, to design, to even the fonts). The largest improvements, though, come in the exceptional supplement (which exceeds many advanced, non-beginner grammars) and the CDs which accompany the book. The music is simply wonderful and ranges from little grammatical jingles to full blown covers of songs originally written by the man himself, King David (i.e. the Psalms).

As a whole, this edition is guaranteed to introduce you, in a logical and rigorous fashion, to almost everything you need to know about Biblical Hebrew. The biggest advantage to this book (over, let's say a Lambdin or a Kelley or Pratico [all of which I own]) is that it is heads and tails more pragmatic and useful. Lambdin, for instance, uses transliteration, which really is a huge crutch and in the long run hurts you (not to mention that Lambdin doesn't present his material in a particularly *practical* way...Kelley is the weakest of the bunch, in my opinion [mired in an extremely poor presention-scheme], and Pratico is not horrible, but simply is not as comprehensive as Hoffer's book).

Hoffer's book, on the other hand, presents everything in a *practical, logical* fashion: concepts and vocabulary are introduced as necessary. Within several weeks, you will be reading the story of the binding of Isaac...something the other texts wouldn't dare to do even after dozens of lessons. This book is focused on getting you to read the Biblical text, as quickly, and as thoroughly and critically as possible...the other books too often seem to lose sight of this fact, preferring instead to meander through lessons which seem to lack relevance to the everyone's reason for picking up a Biblical Hebrew grammar: reading the Bible. Every practice sentence/exercise comes from the Bible...everything you learn in this book is *useful*. Not only that, but Hoffer's knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and of Biblical Hebrew grammar is extraordinary...as is her love of the language, which is not only extraordinary, but felt on every page of the book.

Get this book if you're fascinated by the Hebrew Bible and want to read it as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Get this book if you have some familiarity with Biblical Hebrew, but want to master the language. Get this book just for the CDs!

Having looked at, I believe, all of the major introductory Hebrew textbooks for speakers of English as I was trying to triangulate on the various issues involved in learning Biblical Hebrew, I found Prof. Hoffer's the easiest approach to learning the language. That's probably because the book is well-organized, clearly written, and--surprisingly enough for such a textbook--fun to read and even funny in places. (Perhaps I overestimate the importance of enjoying the process of learning a new language, but a consistent problem with the other introductory grammars is that their teaching style is so terribly dry and even obscure.)

One final point: I am not qualified to evaluate Biblical Hebrew accents, but I do find it surprising that one of the earlier reviewers (the only one who panned the book, and only on the basis of one alleged flaw) could simultaneously (a) be a self-acknowledged Hebrew neophyte, but also (b) feel certain of his/her exquisite ear for the language. I could possibly see either (a) or (b), but not both; something just doesn't fit in the personal facts he/she relates. All I know about the CDs is that the mnemonics are fun, and much of the singing is, believe it or not, beautiful.

As an undergraduate at a university that did not offer Biblical Hebrew, I used the first edition of this textbook to teach myself biblical Hebrew. What drew me to this book, after having examined the other well-known biblical Hebrew textbooks, was the fact that one immediately began reading actual biblical Hebrew - that is verses taken directly from the Hebrew Bible. I was able to complete this book, on my own, and then enter into a masters degree program in Hebrew Bible at an advanced level of competence in biblical Hebrew. Now as a PhD student in Hebrew Bible, I have used the second addition of this textbook from the other side of the desk, as a teacher, and have found it to be most effective

The strength of this textbook is its natural approach to language. Rather than having students spend the first several months of learning memorizing an endless quantity of abstract information, this text introduces a verse of Hebrew Bible, and than proceeds to take it apart, introducing all of the grammatical details necessary to understand that verse. Thus the student is actually reading and applying their beginning skills from the very first lesson. This is the natural way of learning a language! This does not mean that a student is free of memorizing paradigms, and rules - such work is simply part of learning a language, but these tedious tasks are put in context, and introduced at an appropriate point in learning.

The supplement to the textbook is a fine addition, giving a deeper examination of grammatical concepts, as the student is prepared to deal with them. The accompanying CD is beautifully done. The mnemonics are helpful and fun, but I confess that the best part of the CD's is the beautiful Torah readings and songs. My particular favorite is that of "Dodi li" from "Song of Songs," - sung so beautifully as to bring one to tears.

This is a fine textbook, and I highly recommend it.

With my background in attempting to learn various languages over the years (Latin, French, Spanish, Chinese) and helping those struggling with the vagaries of English, I find Victoria Hoffer's approach marvelously creative. This is the way language should be taught! Each lesson is based on a sentence from scripture with emphasis on teaching the most common forms first--which gives the student a sense of accomplishment early on. There are all sorts of memory helps, which in effect teach the student with no experience in Semitic languages how to discover correlations with English. (Seniors especially do better at relating than trying to memorize paradigms by repetition.) Her use of music is a big plus--whether humourous ditties on grammar or beautiful renditions of scripture in quite a range of musical styles. You will want to share the Songs CD with friends, even if they are not studying Hebrew. The course is a masterpiece, done with an amazing amount of love, humor and thoroughness, not to mention cooperation with talented friends. By all means, buy the set: Book, Supplement and CDs.

As a doctoral candidate in Hebrew Bible, I cannot praise this book highly enough. Rather than slogging through dry paradigms and elusive rules, Hoffer's readers will find her approach both comprehensive and creative. Taking lesson sentences directly from the Bible, as well as employing helpful (and sometimes humorous!) exercises, Hoffer rewards students' efforts by getting them involved in the biblical text as quickly (and as engagingly) as possible. The textbook "Supplement" allows serious students to hone their mastery of the language further, by addressing issues of syntax, idiom, usage, and linguistic history. The CDs offer helpful mnemonics which aid retention of grammatical principles, as well as hauntingly beautiful renditions of biblical chanting. This textbook brings the ancient language - and, more importantly - the ancient WORLD of the Bible, to life. Hoffer has demonstrated both competence - and chutzpah - in her one-of-a-kind approach to the daunting task of teaching Biblical Hebrew. Priced lower than many grammars, it is a must-buy. Make sure to get all three items (Textbook, Supplement, and CDs-answer key is available online for free) to take full advantage of all that Hoffer has to offer from her years of teaching, chanting, and cherishing the Bible.

I fell in love with the first edition of this book and intended to use it for a class I plan to teach next year. Then the second edition came out. I particularly love the approach through actual text, making the source come alive so quickly for beginning students. The second edition is, in many ways, an improvement. There is much more in the way of grammatical detail and more exercises, but it "feels" like a lot of this can go way over the heads of teenagers or adults who are not in a college setting. Of course, this IS a college text. My second misgiving is that I have come across several minor typos in the text--for example, one of the graphic illustrations of a vav conversive pi'el verb leaves the dagesh out. Anyone using the book must be alert ahead of time to minor errors in an otherwise fine text--lets hope these are weeded out in later editions.

I have just started learning Hebrew with this book. This book is user friendly that skips long introduction and tonnes of grammatical rules in the beginning chapters. After brief introduction on pronunciation and writing system, it starts immediately with phrases taken from the Bible. Each chapter one phrase or a sentence is discussed. I find it interesting that I can read the bible shortly after learning pronounciation. But since it only give short explanation on grammar (may be bit by bit in each chapter, I haven't finished the book yet), I would say that better achievement would be seen if it is used in class with a tutor. For someone who likes to learn the language in "natural way", this book is excellent. But for someone like me as a non english speaking learner and want to know the language systematically, I would recommend another book "Basics of Biblical Hebrew" by Gary D. Pratico. With these two books, one complementary to another, I get deeper understanding of the language while start immediately reading the Bible.

I love the CD attached in the book. The alphabet song truly helps me to remember the order and pronunciation of the Hebrew consonant.

All in all, this is a good book. The reason I give it four stars is it lacks detailed and systematic explanations on grammar. And it is really bulky.

Kittel has been received with great enthusiasm by reviewers at Amazon.com and on the Internet. I walked away from it with an entirely different reaction. Perhaps the best way to describe the difference I see between Kittel and other texts like Pratico, Kelley, Weingreen and Lambdin is through the use of an analogy:

Imagine someone who has decided to take up ballet and who is, understandably, motivated by visions of doing leaps and turns across the stage. If you were our prospective dancer, you would be able to find classes that would teach you an entire routine right from the start - including all those leaps and turns you are so anxious to learn. In the alternative, you would be able to find classes that would force you to work at the barre every day doing mundane exercises instead of complete dance routines.

Reading Kittel is like taking the first type of dance class. There the thinking is that students are more likely to remain interested in (and keep paying for) ballet classes if they are given routines with pirouettes in them than if they are constantly hammered with technique at the barre. Similarly, the thinking behind Kittel seems to be that students will be more enthusiastic if they are not pushed too hard, and if they are given passages directly from the Bible rather than if they are required to memorize rules and translate simplified practice sentences.

I submit that the dancer who learns routines with pirouettes first receives more instant gratification, while the dancer who does the exercises at the barre receives the better education. The feeling of accomplishment imparted by Kittel is illusory because the ability to translate even complex series of words strung together in Hebrew does not mean you understand the language - it means only that you have been drilled in pattern recognition.

In defense of Kittel's approach, we are told that we all learn in different ways. The problem is, no serious dancer ever learns this way. This teaching method is popular with students because it panders to their natural desire to have it both ways: They want to believe they can learn more with less effort because the teaching method has been improved.

We are also told that Kittel's method is better because this is how we learned to speak as children. It is, therefore, the natural way to learn. This argument is fallacious. The "natural" method of learning - one of simply becoming accustomed to using the language without understanding it analytically - is used by five-year-olds, not because it is better, but because five-year-olds are incapable of anything more. You cannot master any language - even your native tongue - without studying its grammar and syntax.

Kittel will teach you as little grammar as possible. The information that is provided will be disorganized and scattered throughout the text. Descriptions will be vague and you will not be given enough examples to determine when a particular form is used. You will be translating verbs for weeks without understanding their underlying tense. Your attention will be directed away from even thinking in these terms.

On the other hand, lest you have any doubt about the method of translating a series of words from one language into another, Kittel will carefully walk you through the process with fill-in-the blank sentences like: "(The word "king") means _____. It has ____ letters." This grade-school level of prodding is the manner in which, and the level of sophistication with which, the entire book is written.

Weingreen, in his introduction dated in 1939, tells us with eloquence that "Hebrew grammar is essentially schematic and, starting from simple primary rules, it is possible to work out, almost mathematically, the main groups of word-building." Weingreen makes that schematic logic of Hebrew come alive. Kittel not only relegates grammar to a secondary role but, through its lack of both conceptual organization and verbal precision, makes these schematic patterns of Biblical Hebrew impossible to find. Weingreen tells us to pay attention to pronunciation, because it is important. Yet, for anyone who does take pronunciation seriously, I would argue that the audio CD accompanying Kittel's text does more harm than good.

Perhaps what disturbs me most about Kittel is that it teaches students to use postmodern thought processes. Students are not bothered by this because they are not thinking about the politics of undermining authority structures when they take Biblical Hebrew - they are content simply to use a textbook that promises to produce better results in less time.

Putting philosophical issues aside, the truth is that Kittel will demand less from you than will a text like Weingreen. You will, accordingly, learn less if you use it as a substitute for a more rigorous Hebrew grammar. At least, if you understand the trade-off, you will be able to make an informed decision about using Kittel based on your own learning objectives.

The book Biblical Hebrew Text And Workbook 2nd Edition attempts to bring the students immediately into contact with the written text. While this may not be such a bad idea, the problem is that there are too many rules of grammar that have to be dealt with (and are not dealt with very well in my opinion) that it is confusing to the beginner. I bought this book after a first year seminary Biblical Hebrew class and while I am the first to admit that I am no expert in Biblical Hebrew, I cannot say that I would recommend this book to anyone. Anyone wanting to learn the language will be much better served by the Living Biblical Hebrew series by Randall Buth.

The Yale University Language Program has produced an excellent format in text and CD to assist in the learning of Biblical Hebrew, which often differs in pronunciation and meaning from the standard modern Israeli Hebrew spoken today. Lessons are laid out in an order that makes it easy to build one upon the other, giving the student a gradual process in acquiring both vocabulary, reading skills and necessary grammar to make reading the Tanakh

( the Hebrew Bible ) in it's original language an achievable goal. This is not a "read Biblical Hebrew in 10 minutes a day" type format, and it does require some effort and consistency, but the results are greater in depth and comprehension - and well worth the time invested.