A Handbook to Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar [Paperback]

Page H. Kelley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 080280828X | ISBN-13: 978-0802808288 | Publication Date: July 8, 1994

This compliment to Page H. Kelleys Biblical Hebrew was made available to specifically assist two groups of people. The first group is the students who use the grammar as a text for study in a course. It allows students to check their work so they can be sure where they stand in the learning process. The second group it was prepared for is the people who are using the grammar to teach themselves biblical Hebrew. In their case, it is the only way to verify their answers to the exercises. The handbook provides answers to all of the exercises in the textbook, as well as footnotes that explain grammatical problems where they exist. Cross references help students find other related information, and sources are provided that will help those interested in further study.

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (July 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080280828X
• ISBN-13: 978-0802808288
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Systematic Presentation, February 9, 2001

By 

Christopher C. Alsruhe (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar (Paperback)

This book by Kelley is extremely detailed without being overwhelming. Learning any language can be overwhelming, but if one takes this book lesson by lesson, they will do well. I find that this makes a great companion text to "Biblical Hebrew" by Kittel et al (see my review on this book for more information).
Kelley provides what Kittel does not, and vice versa. Kittel presents great lessons without getting into a mass of details that aren't yet necessary, and as a workbook, it moves you along confidently and quickly. But with learning anything, many like to know, and will definitely need to know fairly early on, not simply how something is done, but WHY, and what nuances are caused by the details. Kelley does just that by explaining point by point why things work the way they do in Hebrew. For example, this would include how vowel pointing changes and why. Kittel deals with vowel pointing, of course, and how it works grammatically, but leaves one without answers in many cases as to the systematic rules of how vowel pointing works. Also, Kittel's book does a nice job in presenting participles, but doesn't really give enough detail to help the beginner with the related nuances of participial grammar that even the beginner needs to know (e.g., what's the difference in translation between participles as adjective, as verbs, and as nouns?).
Kelley explains in detail what Kittel presents generally. He gives all the answers that Kittel does not. Kittel gives a more workable workbook than does Kelley. With Kittel, you feel like you're moving along faster and so it is more encouraging (I personally went through the first half of Kittel's book thoroughly in only 2 1/2 months, along with working on a number of chapters later in the book at the same time; I could never do that with Kelley's book).

Because of its great detail, it may have a somewhat discouraging effect by not allowing the student to move very quickly.
What I recommend for any truly serious student of Hebrew is to invest in both Kittel's and Kelley's books. Use Kittel's book as the main course, and use Kelley's as a main supplement (you will definitely need something to go with Kittel's book). After you've gotten about half way through Kittel's book, it would then be good to look at Kelley's book systematically and find the reasons for why Hebrew is the way it is. Ultimately, Kelley's book will have to become your main text if you really plan to learn Hebrew effectively. Kelley by far gives many more exercises to hone your skills. Also, I use Kelley's book sort of like an encyclopedia to turn to for more information as I study a chapter in Kittel's workbook.

I can't recommend this combination of books enough, for it truly gives many positive facets to studying Hebrew. For under $100, the serious student can be set for a long time with these two books. And one can still keep it under a hundred dollars by investing in what I believe to be the best student's vocabulary book out there for the price, "A Student's Vocabulary for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic," by Larry Mitchel, which covers all Hebrew words used 10 times or more in the OT, and all Aramaic words if you should choose to delve into that.
Kelley's book, considering its detail, is quite sufficiently systematic and also simple in its explanations. If you really want to learn, this book will give you what you need without being cumbersome.

73 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Warning answers not included, August 28, 2001

By 

Blah (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar (Paperback)

This is a great beginning book. The lessons are well laid out and extremely straightforward. Kelley's starts you off with a core set of words that he continues to use throughout the book adding a few more words every lesson but still using the old words. This gives you the benefit of being able to become extremely familier with some important words, it also has the added benefit of allowing the student to focus in on the grammer instead of having to spend all the grammer lessons on trying to translate the meaning of the words you can concentrate on the conjugation and such. The book starts with nouns and adjectives and only after the student has a firm base does he move on to the infinitly more difficult verbs. Hey what did you expect it is Hebrew. One caution, although the book is full of excercises there are no answers. To get the answers you have to buy another book the handbook which accompanies this book. This is somewhat annoying and is the only reason this manual doesn't deserve 5 stars. The exercises are however extremely helpful in practicing and developing language skills.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Best Bet, February 4, 2004

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"xa-chialpha" (Redding, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar (Paperback)

I am currently finishing up my studies in Kelly. This work book is very solid, Kelly has taken a very in-depth and detailed approach to biblical hebrew. I am a Bible and Theology Major studying under one of Oxford's finest Hebrew profs. This work book can be used by anyone and is great for teaching yourself. Just make sure you buy the Handbook with the answers too...that is a life saver. If you are planning on teaching yourself "biblical" hebrew, then Kelly is the best route you can go, in my opinion of course.