Michael Carasik – Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language
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Most of us first encounter the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament by Christians) via translation. As a result, we see things through the prism of someone else’s perspective, no matter how venerable that interpretation may be. However, before translations made the Bible’s content available to people all over the world, it was read and interpreted in its original language, ancient Hebrew. Even today, Jews read the Bible in that language, and you can, too.
The language of ancient Israel was Biblical Hebrew. It is an old version of modern Hebrew spoken on the streets of Jerusalem today; the relationship between the two is analogous to Shakespearean English and modern English. Biblical Hebrew is no longer used in everyday discourse, although it is nevertheless central to Jewish prayer.
What are the benefits of learning to read and comprehend the Hebrew Bible in its original language?
It’s about improving one’s understanding and appreciation of this tremendous book, according to University of Pennsylvania Professor Michael Carasik, who has spent his career researching and translating the Hebrew Bible. You’ll be able to do the following after learning how to read the Bible in Hebrew:
Gain a fresh knowledge of ancient history and the foundations of the three main Abrahamic religions.
Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language, a 36-lecture course taught by Professor Carasik, is your official primer on everything from the Hebrew alphabet and punctuation marks to fundamental vocabulary items and advanced grammatical principles. Whether you’re just getting started with Hebrew or already know the basics, these lectures will contextualize the language for you with a line-by-line reading of passages—and eventually a full chapter—from the Hebrew Bible. They are intended not only to educate you Biblical Hebrew, but also to equip you to independently investigate one of the world’s greatest books in its original language. And they’re designed to help you learn in what Professor Carasik refers to as the va-yomer-elohim approach: by hearing this amazing language, saying it out, reading it, and practicing it—the same way we all acquired our own language.
Holistic Instruction in Biblical Hebrew
“You don’t want to rely on a single trick for anything in Hebrew,” Professor Carasik observes. “You want to learn in a comprehensive way. It takes time, but it is the more natural method of learning a language.”
The Biblical Hebrew lessons address all of the language’s basics using this meticulous, comprehensive approach. The course is a cumulative learning experience that encourages listening to the lectures in order, so that your comprehension of Biblical Hebrew not only broadens but also strengthens as you proceed.
Here are just a handful of the numerous linguistic building components you’ll study in depth:
From the quiet letter aleph to the t-sounding tav, you’ll learn the Hebrew alphabet and how to pronounce each letter (all with the help of a little song).
Numbers in Hebrew have a gender, and the number is either masculine or feminine depending on what you’re counting. You’ll learn to count to 10,000, list items in order, refer to a pair of objects, and much more.
Punctuation: In Hebrew, punctuation and accent marks serve a musical role. How so? When the Bible is read aloud at a synagogue service, the words are sung rather than spoken.
Adjectives: Adjectives are used in the same way as nouns are in Hebrew. Consider shofet, an adjective derived from the verb “to judge” that can imply “I am judging” or “I am a judge.” The Hebrew name for the book of Judges is Sefer Shoftim, which translates as “the book of Judgers.”
Verbs: There are five types of verbs in Biblical Hebrew: perfect, imperfect, infinitive, imperative, and participle. Along with this, you’ll learn about Hebrew verb roots and how to identify verb stems (known as binyanim), such as Qal, Pu’al, Hiphil, Niphal, and Hitpa’el.
As your knowledge grows, you’ll gain fresh insights into both Biblical Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible.
Jews began to construct numerous methods to designate how vowels should be spoken toward the end of the first millennium CE, including the Tiberian system, which is being used today. This modification was most likely done in response to what Muslims were doing with the Koran.
According to the Bible, God’s personal name is a four-letter word: yud, hey, vav, and another hey. This unpronounceable name is known as the “Tetragrammaton,” after the Greek term for “four-letter word.”
The phrase “…and darkness was over the face of the deep” should be “…and darkness was over the face of Deep.” The term “Deep” is derived from Tiamat, the name of a Mesopotamian deity, implying a concealed polemic against Mesopotamian faith.
Professor Carasik offers numerous Bibles for study, but the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia is the one that academics use. This Bible’s text is based on the well-known “Leningrad Codex,” the earliest complete Hebrew Bible copy preserved in one piece.
“Calisthenics in Biblical Hebrew”
“You need to be in shape—and maintain yourself in shape” to open the Bible and read it in the original language, adds Professor Carasik.
Throughout Biblical Hebrew, you’ll put your knowledge to the test by doing what Professor Carasik refers to as “Biblical Hebrew calisthenics”: careful readings of lines, paragraphs, and chapters from the Bible in Hebrew to help you improve your language abilities.
You’ll uncover fresh levels of significance in stories, sentences, and words that have resounded throughout the years and served as the backbone for some of the world’s biggest faiths, focusing largely on the prose narratives of Genesis through Kings. You will have the chance at the end of the course to put your knowledge to the test with a multi-lecture reading of a full chapter from the Hebrew Bible: Numbers 22.
Practice becomes perfect in every language, ancient or modern. To that purpose, each Biblical Hebrew course finishes with a practice problem or challenge meant to hone the abilities you’ve acquired.
A Travel Companion for Your Adventures
With Biblical Hebrew, you’ll learn from a professional whose teaching and writing (including English translations of biblical comments) is based on the idea that any layman with a thirst for knowledge can understand this language.
The abundance of on-screen images included in these lectures provides a key visual aspect that will allow you to grasp everything from sentence organization and writing to frequent Hebrew idioms. There’s also a useful workbook with vocabulary lists, conjugation tables, activities, and other useful tools to use when reading on your own.
And even if you complete the course (k’tzeh ha-kurs), you will not have completed your learning (k’tzeh limmudekha). “Pause, back up, or return to the beginning of any lesson as many times as necessary,” Professor Carasik adds. “Repetition is a necessary aspect of learning a language.”
Biblical Hebrew is intended to accompany you on your journey through the language and the Bible. Whether your interests are linguistic, literary, theological, or historical, this is a course you can and should revisit.
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