Customer Reviews

Invitation to Biblical Hebrew: A Beginning Grammar (Invitation to Theological Studies Series)

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

 

 

I know what you're thinking-not another Hebrew grammar! I feel you. I groan every time I see a new one. I bet there have been at least 4 or 5 new Hebrew grammars published in the last 6 months. So, what makes this one different from all the others gathering dust on the shelves? Fuller approaches teaching biblical Hebrew like Coach Wooden approached teaching championship basketball. If you want to learn a language-you need to know the fundamentals-and you need to know them well. If you get the fundamentals in place, the rest will follow.

Fuller's method is the best there is. He combines watching a lecture in which he explains the chapter on a DVD, reading the chapter, and physically doing excercises out of a workbook (or on a whiteboard in a classroom). Furthermore, he reveals the reasons why language structures are the way they are, instead of throwing reams of paper at you to just memorize thousands of word patterns. If you want to learn Hebrew and you don't have access to a school-buy the book, workbook, DVDs and get studying. If you're teaching a class, integrate this into your semester, your students will thank you because they will come way with a deep knowledge of the language. Then, with a little practice, reading the Bible in Hebrew will be relatively easy.

You might ask how I know this works. Well, I was one of Fuller's students and now I'm doing a PhD in Semitic languages so it must have worked for me. (P.S. And no, he hasn't paid me to say these things. I say it because I want to help you learn Hebrew and/or be the best teacher possible.)

When i saw the combination of textbook, workbook and DVDs I jumped to the opportunity and I got the whole set. The Textbook is very well organized and the layout is very clear. However, it is just a set of rules and the exercises in it barely sustain the lesson. The workbook is organized in a bit more confusing way - drills, exercises and the answer keys.

The DVDs are totally disappointing. He reads from the book basically (he actually has the pages of the book on his desk) . He says pretty much whatever he has written in the book. There are a lot of "huhs," and "whatever," or "something like that." Just as with the books, he just goes through one rule after another. Sometimes, especially at the beginning, in phonology (when i was learning to read Hebrew,) he would write the word, give you all you need to know (and more) about silent sheva and vocal sheva and will NOT read the word. I was left wondering about the pronounciation.

I have it 3 stars because the grammar, in itself, is a great reference book to keep on my shelf. The teaching method, well... needs some major editing.

I am a doctoral student in biblical studies who wanted to know Hebrew as well as one of my professors does. His name is Eric Mitchell and his blurb adorns the back of this book, so this was the logical place to start.

There are two main schools of thought on how to learn a language. The inductive method argues for immersion in the text; hence you learn enough to read, say Genesis 1 and go for it. Then you pick up what you can as you go. The deductive method, alternatively, argues that the fine details of a foreign language are too significant to be learned in an ad hoc manner. The down side is that it seems to take forever before you can use your skills. I used the inductive approach for Koine Greek, Latin, German and French, but it just wasn't cutting it when it came to Hebrew. I am grateful that Dr. Fuller has provided all three parts of this set (grammar, workbook and DVDs) for people like me who needed the help.

Language acquisition is not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon. This may not be the place to start for you. But if you really are inquisitive and like puzzles and remembering SKNMLVI rules like me, this is a good fit. I cannot wait to complete the course and know everything in it.

Does it help a person learn Hebrew? That's the highest measure of a Hebrew grammar. Fuller and Choi's textbook passes that test with flying colors ... for those who are willing to work hard. The textbook focuses on the fundamentals and the workbook provides constant practice. For diligent, motivated students, the repetition in the exercises will give ample opportunity to sharpen skills that when mastered will make reading the Hebrew Bible fun. I took Dr. Fuller's class. That's when I really learned Hebrew. I know his system works, because it worked for me. I'm excited that now I have a textbook to use for reviewing what I've learned and helping others read Hebrew. Caution: Lazy students will not find this grammar helpful.

Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg gives credit where it is due. He once praised some of his early coaches saying, "They instilled in me how to do things the right way, having good fundamentals, having good work habits - and even how to put on my socks."

When it comes to learning Biblical Hebrew, getting your socks on correctly is of little value. However, learning the fundamentals of the language and applying good work habits will bring sure success. This is the premise of a new Hebrew grammar written by Southern Seminary professor Russell T. Fuller and Kyoungwon Choi. They desire for students to actually use Hebrew in ministry, rather than being limited to English translations of the Old Testament. This goal will not be achieved without a solid grounding in the basics of phonology (sounds) and morphology (forms).

But can you learn Biblical Hebrew on your own? Perhaps you took some Hebrew in seminary, and now you cannot recall anything beyond the alphabet. Or perhaps you have never taken a language course at all. Don't fear. If you have a desire to learn Hebrew, let me encourage you to purchase this grammar, along with the workbook and DVDs. Utilizing the deductive approach, the authors instruct you in a concept and then turn you loose to practice it through pages of drills and exercises. As long as you master each chapter before going onto the next, you can work your way into a solid understanding of the grammar and syntax of Biblical Hebrew.

And why is learning the original languages important? Without a solid grounding in them, our preaching ministry will lack certainty and confidence. As John Piper says, "The confidence of pastors to determine the precise meaning of biblical texts diminishes. And with the confidence to interpret rigorously goes the confidence to preach powerfully. You can't preach week in and week out over the whole range of God's revelation with depth and power if you are plagued with uncertainty when you venture beyond basic gospel generalities."

Pastors, we must become "iron sharpening iron" in these matters. Biblical languages may come easy for some, but for the rest of us the difficulty involved should cause us to join hands together in our fight against pastoral sloth. We should be encouraging one another to learn, to use, and to not forget the Biblical languages.

Pick up these resources, and give yourself the tools necessary for learning the original language of the Old Testament.

After I decided to learn biblical hebrew by myself, I compared some of the most popular first-year grammers, including:

* Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar: Second Edition by Gary D. Pratico

* A Handbook to Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar by Page H. Kelley

* A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew (Revised Edition) by Leong Choon Seow

* and this one, by Russell Fuller

I chose this one as my starting point. Now, after finishing more than 4/5 of the program, I think I made the right choice. While the first two are more popular, Fuller introduces the fundamentals of Phonology and Mophology in a quite clear system. In this system, you can know the rules of WHY of this ancient language, after you know WHY, the problem of HOW seems easy. I have to quote another reviewer's words again: 'If you get the fundamentals in place, the rest will follow.'

And the workbook is really a plus, the exercises are designed carefully, by following them constantly, the rules are ingrained in me, as the authors promised in the introduction of the book. So if you use this grammer, I highly recommend that you do all the exercises, they really worth the effort.

The organization of the verb system in this book is another plus. All the other three grammers organize verb system by the 7 stems of biblical hebrew, under each stem both strong and weak verbs are introduced. But in this book, the 7 stems of the strong verb are introduced first, and the weak verbs are then divided into ten categories, introduced one by one after the strong verb. This organization works fine for me: by a sound memorizing of the 'boxes' and 'thematic vowels' of each stem of the strong verb, the weak verb system turns out somewhat easy for me. Anyway, verb system is much more difficult than noun system of first-year biblical languages, both Greek and Hebrew. and this book makes it somewhat easy.

There are complaints too, the biggest one is: sometime I feel the authors didn't dig deep enough into the rules, they didn't give enough observation, as Mounce did in BBG. Almost in every chapter I had to observe and find out the under-ground info by myself. Some examples:

(1) in ch7-9 (particles), the author said 'they can only be learned through memory, mostly'. But in fact, after analyzing the rules, I found most of them obey the rules of ch2-6 nicely.

(2) in ch12 (pronominal suffixes of noun), the author didn't tell me at anywhere that the noun is in construct state. After I noticed: 'construct state of noun' + 'pronominal suffixes', everything is clear.

(3) in ch19-25 (verb), the author didn't tell me clearly that participle would reduce its thematic vowel in all active stems and would not reduce in all passive stems. I had to conclude this from the exercises.

(4) nearly in every chapter after ch12, I would just skip the section of 'steps of creating forms', since I always feel I've found a better procedure to create the form, based on a deep understanding of the rules introduced in the text. Their 'steps' seems cumbersome to me. Only in the weak verb chapters(ch29-), their offer agrees with mine.

Generally speaking, I highly recommend this grammer to self learners of Biblical Hebrew, it deserves more attention in the market, IMHO. I think you can use this text in the first year of Hebrew study, and then use Pratico or Kelley in the second year as a review. But when you use it, maybe you should do what I did: find out the hidden rules yourself.

The right teacher makes all the difference. That's true in any subject. I have found it to be especially true in languages. There are some people who can understand multiple languages (dead and living) with what appears to be little effort. Their brains just get it. But, they don't always make the best teachers. They may have mastered the information, but mastering the delivery is the key to good teaching. That's what makes the best teachers, the best. They understand the importance of delivery. Education is receiving another person's mastery.

I have taken several courses in Biblical Hebrew using one textbook. I didn't feel like I was getting it. So, I tried another well-known grammar and workbook. It was different, but again, I didn't feel like I was getting. Those two books were obviously written by masters of the subject. Maybe it's me, but I didn't feel like they were also masters of delivery.

Then I received "Invitation to Biblical Hebrew" in the mail. It was written by Dr. Fuller of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where I am a student. I know of Dr. Fuller and I know students who have (and are currently) taking courses with him. They all seem to say that he is a great teacher. Though I haven't yet sat under him in a course, my time with him through his textbook, workbook and DVD set have helped change my attitude about Biblical Hebrew. He keeps his chapters short and sweet (When it comes to dead languages - especially ones of a different family [Semitic] than my mother tongue - keep it simple!). That alone helped me overcome my frustration with learning Hebrew. I finally feel like the content is manageable. I have yet to feel overwhelmed in my own directed study of the language.

I haven't worked through the entire textbook or workbook yet, but I have spent a fair amount of time reading the chapters, watching the lectures and using the workbook. The method he utilizes in this three part set is invaluable. I have been reading each chapter, watching the corresponding lecture, reading the chapter again and then doing the appropriate worksheet. It has helped tremendously. I was the student who would jump straight to the homework and spend hours looking back through the chapter to finish the work. The method he insists we follow has actually helped me master each chapter's content (imagine that!).

If you're looking for a grammar to help you learn Biblical Hebrew this is the one I would recommend to anyone. It's essential that you also get the DVD and workbook because it makes a tremendous difference. I am committed to working through this grammar to the end. I know that I will achieve that goal because this grammar has a key difference which sets it apart: delivery. Dr. Fuller knows how to deliver the content of Hebrew grammar in an accessible and helpful way. The only better way to learn a biblical language is to enroll in seminary!

NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission I would like to state that I received a complementary copy of the aforementioned text for the purposes of review. I was not required to furnish a positive review.

With the utmost respect to the authors I must say this was wasted money. I have resold them here on Amazon. The DVDs, which are not available on Amazon, are poorly done for the amount of money they cost.

I wish I had read the Journal reviews of this title before purchasing it. The most recent journal book review, stated that a beginning student would be better off going to another title instead.

Let me recommend Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar

Kelley's book presents 'baby Hebrew' in a manner much more inviting than Fuller.

Though no one is able to make Hebrew easy, Fuller provides the best method I've seen to learn and understand Biblical Hebrew. The instruction is clear and the work load is manageable. Thank you Dr. Fuller!

This book also came with damaged. I like the book, the price, and fast turn out, but it is crumple badly.