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From: wjhovi01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Hebrew grammar texts--choose English or German?
Message-ID: <Apr.19.05.11.51.1993.29118@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 19 Apr 93 09:11:52 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Organization: University of Louisville
Lines: 37
Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

Phil Sells writes:

> Probably a tired old horse, but...  maybe with a slightly different
> twist.  I wanted to know if there are any good English-language texts
> for learning ancient Hebrew, and how these compare with German
> educational texts qualitywise, if anybody has an idea.  I can't figure
> out if I should buy one here for later study or wait until I get back to
> the U.S.

My impression is that *for advanced work* you will be much better off with
German reference works (lexicons, concordances especially).  For a first-time
encounter, my *personal* preference would be to deal with a textbook written in
my native language.  But if you know German and are in Germany, pick up all the
reference books you think you can handle.  (I only know these works by
reputation, since my German is most rusty, but I'd look at the following books:
Koehler's lexicon, Mandeldern's concordance, the Jenni & Westermann theological
dictionary of the OT.)

> What's it like at divinity schools or seminaries in the States?  Is
> there a lot of language instruction done?  I really don't have a basis
> for comparison.

The amount of language instruction available at US seminaries varies widely,
mostly depending on the denominational heritage of the school.  Presbyterian
and Reformed seminaries probably place a lot more emphasis on the biblical
languages than others.  (Of course, any divinity school that has a doctoral
program in biblical studies is going to have extensive language resources!  But
there are quite a few masters-degree-granting seminaries here at which the
attitude seems to be more, "Well, if you're *really* interested we'll give you
a semester-long course, but we don't understand why . . .")

The pattern here at the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary is for first-year
students to take intensive five-week introductory language courses in each
language, followed by semester-long exegesis courses.  (That is: Hebrew in
August, OT exegesis in the fall; Greek in January, NT exegesis in the spring.) 
These courses are required for graduation, a third or a half of the students,
I'd say, take advanced biblical work that requires language work.
