Hebrew for Theologians: A Textbook for the Study of Biblical Hebrew in Relation to Hebrew Thinking

274 Pages·2016·20.23 MB·English

by  Jacques B. Doukhan

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Camu_Umvers¡tá"',M'Advermm'desao Paulo
Büotacp Unwemtána' Dr. Enochde0l~eura"
Catxa Posul _H -CEP 13165970
EngonhecmCoelho-SP
HEBREW
FOR .
THEOLOGIANS
A Texrbook for rhe Srudg Of
Biblícal Hebrew in Relaüon to
Hebrew Thinking
Jacques B. Doukhan
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Library of Congress Cataloging-ín-Publication Data
Doukhan. Jacques.
Hebrew for Lheologians : a lextbook for the study of Biblical Hebrcw
in relation lo Hebrew lhinking / Jacqucs B. Doukhan
p. cm.
Includcs bibliographical refercnccs and index.
l, chrew language-Grammar. 2. Bible. O.T.-Languagc, style.
I. Title.
PJ4567.3.D68 1993 492.4'8242l-dc20 93-24506 CIP
ISBN O-8|9l-9269-4(pbk. : alk.paper)
1110 pnpcr u<cd m th puhhmlion mccts lhc mininuun rrquxmncnls uf
N . y g . . q ,
éà Amcncnn anmnnl .luml:ml lnr lnlunumum .cxcnccs~~Pcmmnencc
Uf Pupcr lor Prinlcd Lihmry M'.urrlnl.s. ANSl ./'W_48- l'~N.4.
Qf
./I'¡.'~.u\
In memory of my tcachcr André Nehcr
who taught mc thc lifc of chrcw.
To my students
who taught mc how to tcach it.
|\|\ \0\\ u
msnvmu AINEWSTD u m
umulx WA D
“Hebrcw is the source from which springs all theology."
Johannes Reuchlin
CONTENTS
Introducüon .................................... ix
I. chrew is Relevant ......................... ix
A. The Languagc of the Ancicnt Israclites ........... ix
B. The Language ofTheology .................. xii
C. The Holy Language ...................... xv
II. Biascs and Myths Concerning chrew Language ...... xxi
Hebrew is Difñcult ...................... xxi
Hebrew is Not a Christian Language ........... xxii
Hebrcw ís Not Useful .................... xxíi
There are Other Priorities .................. xxiii
mpow> We Can Rcly on Good Translations and
Scholarly Studics ...................... xxiii
" My Knowledge of Hebrew Wül chcr be
.'
Sufñcient Anyway ..................... xxiv
III. A Ncw Method .......................... xxiv
A. Both Deductivc and Inductive ............... xxiv
B. In Relation lo Hebrew Thinking .............. xxv
C. An Effort of Simpliñcation and Synthesis ........ xxví
How to Use Hebrew for Theologians ................... xxíx
v A. Reading ............................... xxix
B. Mcmorizing ............................. xxix
C. Practicing .............................. xxx
D. A Step by Step Progressíon ................... xxx
Chapler Iz Signs .................................. l
The Reading of the Signs .......................... l
The Grammar of the Signs ........................ 12
I. Consonants ............................... 12
A. Letters with Various Forms and Sounds .......... 14
V
Hebmv For Thcologians
B. Alphnbctical Ordcr ....................... 15
II. Vowels ................................. 16
A. 111c Names of thc Vowels .................. 16
B. Long and Shon Vowels .................... 17
C. Compound Sheva ........................ 18
D. Funivc Patah .......................... 19
III. Acccms ................................. 19
IV. Excursus ................................ 20
A. The Consonantal Text ..................... 20
B. Thc Masorctic Tcxt ...................... 21
V. Excrciscs (Sígns) ........................... 25
Chaptcr II: Morphology ............................ 27
I. Thc Inscparablc Words ...........: ............ 27
A. The Article ................V ............ 27
B. The Intcrrogative ............Í ............ 28
C. The Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . ..' ............ 28
D. The Conjunctíons ............- ............ 29
II. Nouns and Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . .._ ............ 30
A. Thc Noun in Absolutc State ................. 30
B. The Noun in Construct Statc . . . . Q ............ 32
C. Thc Noun with Pronominal Sufñx ............. 33
IH. Tbc Verbs ............................... 34
A. Thc Root ............................. 35
B. Two Tenses ........................... 36
C. chcn Forms ........................... 4l
D. Two Impcrsonal Moods .................... 44
E. The Parsing Gamc ....................... 46
IV. Excursus ................................ 47
V. Excrciscs (Morphology) ....................... 48
Thc Mcmrah of the Vcrbs ........................ 53
Paradigm Az Thc Strong Vcrbs (chular) ............... 54
Chaptcr IHt Vocabulary ............................ 57
I. Thc Dynamic Naturc of thc chrcw Word ........... 58
A. Ramíñcalíon ........................... 58
B. Pcrmulaljrm ........................... 62
C, Polyscmy ............................. 64
H, Imponam chrew Word| ...................... 65
A. 40 Words Ovcr 1000 Tímcu
Comems
B. 157 Words Belween 200 and 1000 Timcs .........
IH. Exercises (Vocabulary) .......................
Chapter IV: Texts ................................
Text I. Genesis 22:1-19 ..........................
TcxtH. Psalm 23:1-6 ..........................
Tcxt IH. Micah 4:1-4 ..........................
IV. Excrcises (Tcxts) ..........................
Paradigm B: Verb cayín vav (1"v) ...................
Paradigm C: Vcrb Pey Yod ('"D) ...................
Paradigm D: Verb Lamed Hey (.'I"5) .................
Paradígm E: Verb cayin Doubled (¡›'v) ...............
Chapter V: Syntax ..............................
I. Thc Organizalion of the Discourse: Word Order .......
II. Thc Articulation of the Discoursez Thc Vav ..........
A. Thc Vav of Additíon .....................
B. Thc Vav of Opposition ....................
IH. Thc Flowing of the Discoursez Thc Accems .........
A. Disjuncüve Accems .....................
B. Conjuncüvc Accents .....................
C. Application ...........................
IV. Excrciscs (Syntax) .........................
Chaptcr VI: Hebrew Thought ........................
I. Thc Nature of Hebrew Thought .................
A. Action Prcccdes Thought ..................
B. Knowlcdgc and Intellígcnce .................
C. Silence .............................
D. Thc Tomlity ..........................
II. Thc chrcw Conccpt of lhc World ...............
A. Thc World is Limitcd and lnfmitc .............
B. Thc World is Good and Bad ................
C. Thc Unity of thc World ...................
IH. Thc Hebrcw Conccpl of Time ..................
A. Timc is Ncw and Rhylhmic .................
B. Timc is Chronologicul and Synchronicnl .........
lV. Thc chrcw Conccpl of Mnn ..................
A. Alivc and Spiriluzd ......................
B. Uniquc nnd ()nc ...................
viii Hebrew For Theologiam
C. Sct Apan and Social ..................... 211
V. Thc Hebrcw Concept of God .................. 213
A. God is Far and Near ..................... 213
B. The Tcnsion of Religion ................... 216
VI. Exercises (Hebrew Thougho ................... 218
chrew in a Nutshell ............................. 219
Appendixz Funher Slcps ........................... 225
Advanced Hebrew ............................. 225
Excgesis ................................... 226
The Word Study .............................. 232
Thc Scrmon ................................ 235
Analytical Index ................................ 239
Companion Tape ............................... 245
INTRODUCTION
Hebrewfor Theologians is pn'man'ly designed for ministcrs, seminary
studenls, and rcligion studcnts in college, who arc interestcd in the Bíble
and wish to_ become familiar wiLh itsílhought f
This urnuuisquaL vast hon'zon'h"ivn*is. alrcady lo the conviction underlying
this textbook, namcly, that Lhc study of chrcw is indced pcm'nent.
The study of Hebrew language is generally considcred a difñcult,
bon'ng, and totally irrclevant requirement. Therefore I shall ñrst outliñe
some of lhe main rcasons which make Lhis enterpn'se, on the contrary, an
cxcitíng and necessary adventure. In thís Introduction, I will Lry then to
c0nvince you, to motivaze you. I will ñrst argue “posiu'vcly,” because of
what chrew is, that is, lhe Ianguagc of thc ancicnl Israclites, the language
of theology, and according to greal representaüve wimcsscs in history, “Lhe
holy language.” Then, I __argue “negau'vely," because of what Hebrew
is not, pleading against the biasdêsuand mylhs which surround this languagc
and encumber the minds of many studcnts. Laswtly, on lhe basis of thc
argumenls jusuj5"1'ng lhe sludy of Hebrew (thc why?), I wíll propose a
meLhodology and a pcdagogy guiding thc study of Hebrew (!hc how?).
I. Hebrew ¡s' Relevant
A. The Langunge of the Ancient Israelites
The study of this language is rclevant ñrst of all becausc it is the
language spokcn, wn'tlen, and lhought by the Ancicnt Israclitcs of thc Biblc.
Along with other traces of the past. the artifacts and the stones uncovered
by archacology, Hebrew languagc wimesses to thal ancient civilizalion. lt
is. indeed. facétíoús to think lhal il is possible to have an idca of bibljcal
civilizalion without having an idca of what thc biblical language is like.
Paradoxically, cveryone is aware of this common-scnsc lrulh so Iong as it
concerns secular civílizalíon. Who would quesüon the pcrlincnce of
learning lhc English language in order to understand the world of Shakc-
ix
Hebrew For Theologians
X
spearc? Or, to be morc up›to-date, who would ignore the nced for lcarning
English to bc able to undcrsland and handlc the currcnt intricacies of thc
political and economical lifc in Amen'ca? Yet, when it comes to thc Biblc,
il seems that ignorance is allowcd and even recommended. The reason for
lhis paradox lies espccially in our “religious" sympathy with thc Isrnel of
the Biblc. bccausc wc idcntífy thc God of Ancient Israel with our God. In
more simple terms. lhis mcans that the claim for a present relationship with
the God of Isracl makçsjhehsgthudy of thc antiquc language irrclcvant. This
subjecüve approach oxívegilooics the importance of God's revelation in
History. On the other hand, if we bclicvc that our God is thc God of
IsracL the best way to understand Him will be to understand Him within
that vcry contcxt of Ancient IsracL For about two thousand ycars, a pcople
have expcríenced in theír ñesh the prcsence of “God with them” and have
used thc Hebrew language to report this particular expen'ence. If I am
intcrcsted in the mcam'ng of that expcrience, I should be compcllcd to study
chrew not only because of my pcrsonal affmitics with Israel, but aJso
bccause I realize that thc Israelite experiencc is altogether strange to me; we
must study it precisely becausc it is a part of another culture which is past,
remote and lostl for all of us, however valuable our present religious
expeñence may be. Thefírst reasonfor studying Hebrew is then historical
in nature. _ '
Thc Hebrcw language did not come from heaven, like magíc, but is a
natural part of a historical process; it is one of the multiplc branches of the
Semitic family of languagcs in the Ancient Near East (cf. Gcn 10.'2l-3l).
The Semilic languages are usually distn'buted, according to théir
geographical situatíon, into three main branches, namely l) North-East
Semitic, 2) North-West Semitic, and 3) South Semitic. In the following
table wc have indicated thc distríbuüon of thcse languages, and provided
each of them with some representadve documents which attcst to them. For
thc Hebrew language which belongs to the North-Wesl branch, the list of
representalivc documcnts is morc comprehcnsivc than for the olher
languagcs.
'The knpwlcdge of modem Hebrew is, indeed. hclpful lo underslanding
biblical Hebrew, as the latter is nothing but the resurrection of the former; a few
adjustments are, howevcr, necessary, ind1'cau'ng the facl lhal something has bcen
losL For lhe differences between modem and ancient Hebrew, see Haiim B.
Rosen. Conzemporary Hebrew (The Hague, 1977), 30-37; cf. Dd-uard Y. Kulsch-
er. A Hislory ofrhe Hebrew Language, cd. Raphacl Kutschcr (Jerusalcm, 1982),
l96-220.