Author: Jason Hare
As we come to the beginning of March, I just wanted to take a few minutes to update you on our YouTube activities and where we are going in the near future.
We will continue to break up our lessons into “hours” (“First Hour,” “Second Hour,” etc.). I’m not sure on what date the following changes will go into effect, but this is the direction that I’m thinking at this time.
In our recent YouTube Live session, we delved into the fascinating world of Biblical Hebrew, focusing on two unique types of nouns: segolate and geminate nouns. These concepts are crucial for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of Hebrew grammar.
Segolate nouns are a distinctive category in Biblical Hebrew. They typically have a two-syllable structure with the accent on the first syllable. The name “segolate” comes from the Hebrew word “segol,” which is a vowel sound represented by three dots arranged in a triangle (ֶ). These nouns often undergo vowel changes when they are inflected, making them an interesting study for linguists and language enthusiasts alike.
Geminate nouns, on the other hand, are characterized by having two identical consonants in succession. This doubling of consonants can affect the pronunciation and inflection of the noun. Understanding geminate nouns is essential for proper pronunciation and comprehension of Biblical texts.
So, you’ve decided to dive into the ancient and fascinating world of Biblical Hebrew? Mazal tov (מַזָּל טוֹב)! You’re about to embark on a journey that will not only deepen your understanding of ancient texts but also enrich your appreciation of history, culture, and language. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Before you can read and understand Biblical Hebrew, you need to get familiar with the Hebrew alphabet (The “Aleph-Bet”). There are 22 letters, and each one has a unique sound and shape. Spend some time practicing writing and pronouncing each letter. Flashcards can be a great tool for this. Our recent posts on this blog dealing with the beginnings of the study of Seow’s grammar will help you get started with that. You will also find advice for other online learning sites there.
Continue reading “Embarking on Your Journey with Biblical Hebrew: A Beginner’s Guide”
Jonathan taught this session, presenting an introduction to nouns and the endings that they take. This was the fourth session of the course, and it was aimed at covering the material in Lesson III of the book.
In English, our nouns are normally very simple. To form plurals, we just add –s, or –es if the last sound calls for it. Thus, computer simply becomes computers; desk becomes desks; friend becomes friends; and, box (ending in an s sound) becomes boxes. There is a list that all school children must memorize of “irregular” nouns like ox (oxen) and child (children), as well as some that do not change form for the plural (fish can be either one fish or twenty fish).
Well, I missed the summary of Session 2, having put a LOT of information into my recap of the alphabet.
In our second session, we covered Lesson I of Dr. C.L. Seow’s A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Rev. Ed. (Abingdon, 1995). Lesson I presents the consonants of the Hebrew alphabet (what we call the “Aleph-Bet” הָאָלֶפְבֵּית), explaining the final forms, and how each letter is represented in academic transcription.
You should be aware that we have recently begun a new trek into Dr. C.L. Seow’s A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Rev. Ed. (Abingdon, 1995), which you can purchase here on Amazon. If you don’t have a copy of the textbook, it will be difficult for you to follow along and you will miss a lot of the material.
In the first session, which you can view here and is embedded below, Jonathan leads us through a generic introduction to the Hebrew aleph-bet. At this stage, which is actually a pre-textbook lesson, it is important to begin to learn the names of the letters and their sounds. On the presentation, we divided the letters up into several groups to make memorization easier.
Here I will simply present the letters in order. We tend to call it the “aleph-bet” in Hebrew based on the names of the first two letters, but it is truly an abjad because vowels are not represented directly.
Shalom, Future Scholars!
We are absolutely thrilled to invite you to our brand new biblical Hebrew course, “Beginning Hebrew 101,” hosted on The Hebrew Café with YouTube Live!
🌟 Uncover the Ancient Wisdom: Dive into the fascinating world of Biblical Hebrew and unlock the secrets of ancient texts. This course will guide you step-by-step through the foundations of the language, making it accessible and engaging.
🎓 Engage with Expert Teachers: Learn from passionate instructors who are dedicated to your success. Our live sessions will provide you with personalized attention, interactive lessons, and the opportunity to ask questions in real-time in the live chat on YouTube.
As preparation for your study of Hebrew together with us on YouTube Live, you are encouraged to do what you can to master the Hebrew alphabet (the “aleph-bet”) before our next meeting (Monday at 5:00pm EST).
In order to accomplish this, I would recommend two YouTube projects:
It is important that you learn to read the alphabet and sound out words as we start our course.
In our next session, we will review the alphabet and introduce the idea of academic transliteration.
As always, feel free to ask questions here on this post, in our Facebook group, or on Discord. We’re eager for you to start your journey into biblical Hebrew!
See you then!
For those who are interested, this is where we currently stand. You can always check out our streams on YouTube under “Live” [link]. This includes a playlist with all of our Psalms readings, another with all of our Joshua readings, and another with all of our Hebrew-to-English translation sessions from Weingreen. We also have an unlisted playlist of the English-to-Hebrew translation exercises for our Patreon users.
Continue reading “Latest Updates for YouTube Live (Streams)”