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10. Philology and Grammar

Introductory textbooks on biblical Hebrew (which continue to proliferate) fall into one of two categories: those that seek to guide the student into a full and active knowledge of the language and those that seek to give enough material for the student to be able to start to read simple texts and to leave it to the help of study aids for more complicated material. The present example falls firmly into the latter category, having the laudable aim of trying to encourage students through what the author has found to be a challenging learning process and to do so in such a way that they will continue to make some use of what they have learned thereafter on the assumption that they will not go on to be scholars, but rather ministers of religion and the like. Among its strengths are the large and clear print used for the Hebrew and the forms of exercise, which often go beyond the simple ‘translate the following’. While the presentation evidently arises out of classroom experience, there are at the same time what appear to be some odd choices of topics for more or less detailed attention. On the one hand, for instance, the major conjunctive and disjunctive accents are introduced as early as the second chapter, whereas on the other there seems never to be any explanation of how to form the plurals of nouns: the forms of ending are indicated with the simple addition ‘reduced vowels when possible’, which will surely be confusing to a beginning student. Throughout the book, explanations are terse, sometimes to the point of obscurity, and in the interests of framing generalized rules many an exception has to be passed over or refinement left unexpressed; this will clearly not serve for those who are seeking to learn Hebrew without a teacher, despite the inclusion of a key to the exercises at the end. Although I have not tested this book in the only way that should be decisive (i.e. in the classroom), I should nevertheless be surprised if it was found to fulfil its aim as well as some other similar works, which are currently available. H.G.M. WILLIAMSON