Customer Reviews

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

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I like the idea behind this book, but I had a bit different expectations -- probably a misunderstanding on my part. I was expecting that this would be structured around broader syntactical rules and principles (obviously not as detailed as Arnold/Choi and certainly not Waltke/O'Connor), followed by reading examples to illustrate the principles. Instead the structure of the book is quite the opposite -- it is a series of reading passages, each of which is followed by explanation or discussion of each word (form, parsing, etc.) in passage. It is up to the reader to connect all the different instances and passages that illustrate this or that syntactical rule. With this understanding of the book, its structure and objective, I would say it's well done.

Although it's not what I initially thought it would be, I would still recommend it as a useful resource. The authors selected interesting passages from all over the OT and the explanation behind each passage is certainly helpful. The back of the book also includes an answer key to the parsing exercises. See the following list of passages covered in this book:

Law

1. Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning

2. Genesis 2:1-3 The seventh day

3. Genesis 26:1-6 God's promises to Isaac

4. Genesis 35:9-15 God's promises to Jacob

5. Genesis 43:1-8 Jacob sends Benjamin to Egypt

6. Exodus 3:1-12 The burning bush

7. Exodus 6:1-8 I am the Lord

8. Exodus 34:1-6 The Lord proclaims His Name

9. Leviticus 19:1-4 The demand for holiness

10. Numbers 6:22-26 Aaron's blessing

11. Deuteronomy 6:1-15 The Shema

12. Deuteronomy 11:18-23 Teach these words to your children

13. Deuteronomy 31:1-8 Be strong and courageous

Prophets

14. Joshua 24:14-18 Joshua's challenge to serve the Lord

15. Judges 3:7-11 The Lord delivers Israel with Othniel

16. Judges 10:10-15 Cry to the Gods whom you have chosen

17. 1 Samuel 15:10-24 To obey is better than sacrifice

18. 2 Samuel 7:1-9 David's desire to build the Temple

19. 1 Kings 8:22-26 Solomon's prayer

20. 2 Kings 17:34-40 You shall fear the Lord

21. Isaiah 43:1-6 You are precious in my eyes

22. Jeremiah 31:31-34 A new covenant

23. Ezekiel 37:1-6 The valley of dry bones

24. Joel 3:1-5 (2:28-32) I will pour out my Sprirt

Writings

25. Psalm 23:1-6 The Lord is my Shepherd

26. Psalm 100:1-5 Hymn of Praise

27. Psalm 121:1-8 The Lord will keep you

28. Ezra 7:6-10 A model for generations to come

29. 2 Chronicles 1:7-10 Solomon asks for wisdom

30. 2 Chronicles 7:1-4 The Glory of the Lord fill the Temple

For years I have struggle to start working with the Hebrew Old Testament.

Even with a reader's dictionary and an inter-linear I come across word morphology

that seems anomalous and I get stuck.

With the Graded Reader, I have Profs. Van Pelt and Pratico standing by right

there to tell me "Yeah that word does seem strange, but the reason

there is a qamets there instead of a patach is.......

And then I keep reading! I end up pondering the text of the Bible and

not pondering about why a qamets is there.

All the while I am learning inductively what staring at a verb chart hasn't taught me.

The Hebrew font in this volume is large, and there are no cantilation marks

resulting in a blessedly easy to read page.

(Just to be clear, the Hebrew vowel points are there, the cantilation marks are not)

... a wonderful work...

Promises to be a very helpful volume in the study of Biblical Hebrew.