HE101: Beginning biblical hebrew
Teacher: Jonathan Beck
Cost: $200 for entire semester
Text: Cook, John A. and Robert D. Holmstedt. Beginning Biblical Hebrew: A Grammar and Illustrated Reader. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.
Contact Information: jbeck@thehebrewcafe.com
☙ I will provide my personal cell number on the first day of class.
Time: To be Determined in first class
Location: online over Zoom
Goal: To introduce students to basic Biblical Hebrew grammar, with a focus on vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. This will be accomplished by oral and written exercises, as well as reading and translation.
Method: Classes will consist of a brief lecture and summation of the material for a given lesson. If homework is assigned, we will spend a good chunk of time going over any questions students may have as well as going over the answers to the exercises. There will be a weekly quiz over the material learned in the Google Classroom. Two exams will be given at the midpoint and endpoint of the course.
Note that the textbook that we are using is not designed for self-study. Cook and Holmstedt have made the lessons short on purpose in order to not overload students with excessive information in order to promote enjoyment of the subject. This means that the course is designed to be clarified and supplemented with additional instruction from the teacher. Don’t worry – I will be available throughout the week to answer any questions you may have on the material.
About the Reader: The reader is located in the back of the book. So, all you have to do is turn the book over to get started! A new reading is introduced every three lessons or so.
Cook and Holmstedt have designed this grammar based on Second-Language Acquisition models. In order to appeal to as many learning styles as possible, Cook has included written translations in both Hebrew and English (for tactile learners), spoken exercises (for auditory learners), and comic strips (for visual learners). The stories covered will be The Fall (Gen 3), Abraham’s journey (Gen 18), The Binding of Isaac (הָעֲקֵדָה). These three stories will be repeated, gradually including new grammatical constructions learned in the lessons. By the end of our course, you will be reading straight biblical text!
Homework: Weekly homework assignments from the lessons will be submitted online. This will not be graded, but will give me the opportunity to give you feedback on your work to make sure you’re on the right track. This means that you should either scan your work, or take a legible snapshot on your phone, and submit it to the Google Classroom for evaluation.
Preliminary Course Schedule
Week 1: Lessons 1-3
Week 2: Lessons 4-6
Week 3: Lessons 7-9
Week 4: Lessons 10-13
Week 5: Lessons 14-17
Week 6: Lessons 18-20
Week 7a: Lessons 21-22
Week 7b: Midterm Review
Week 8: Midterm during the week, lessons 23-25 in class
Week 9: Lessons 26-29
Week 10: Lessons 27-30
Week 11: Lessons 31-34
Week 12: Lessons 35-38
Week 13: Lessons 39-41
Week 14: Lesson 42-43
Week 15: Final Exam Review
Week 16: Final Exam Review/Questions and Answers