BHS Upgrade route

[Rick Yentzer]

I have a general question in regards to the variations of the BHS. I am a layman who is wanting to learn both Hebrew and Greek. I will tackle Hebrew first and have begun looking into the various modules available and what I currently have to assess my needs.

 

Here is what I have concerning HEBREW:

Texts:

• BHS
  

Tools:

• NAS Hebrew
  
• Hebrew Strongs
  
• Hebrew Keys
  
• Hebrew Vocabulary
  
• Verbs-Hebrew
  
• Exhaustive Analysis HB
  

 

My SS teacher (original languages professor) has suggested the HALOT or the BDB Lexicon which I understand. But, when it comes to the variations in the BHS I get overwhelmed not knowing which would best suit a first year Hebrew student the best. Should I get upgrade to the BHS-W4, the BHS-GBS, the BHS-W4.syntax etc. Can someone educate this layman the differences and why I would one over the other?

 

Secondly, perhaps someone at Accordance who has access to my account could help me make a wise economical decision concerning the best path to take considering the the modules and packages I currently have?

[Sean R.]

You'll certainly want to purchase the BHS-W4 because each word is tagged with morphological information. This enables you to instantly see the parsing information for a word simply by hovering your cursor over the word; Accordance displays the relevant morphological information in the Instant Details box. You can also search based on the morphological information.

 

The Hebrew text you already own, the BHS, is the same text as the BHS-W4 but without the morphological tagging.

 

The BHS-W4 syntax module adds a syntactical database in addition to the morphological tagging included with the BHS-W4. To use the syntax database, you must also own BHS-W4. This additional syntactical tagging allows you to view what part of speech a particular word is and also to include syntactical characteristics in your search criteria. While I personally own this module and find it quite helpful for more sophisticated searches, it probably wouldn't be worth the expense ($60) for you as a first year Hebrew student because it currently only includes data for the book of Genesis (the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures will eventually be included as updates at no additional expense to the user).

 

The BHS-GBS is the same base text as the BHS and BHS-W4 but with the addition of sigla markers for use in conjunction with the BHS Apparatus from the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. You will only obtain the BHS-GBS if you purchase the Stuttgart Original Language Collection which includes untagged copies of the BHS and GNT along with their respective critical apparatuses.

 

 

As for a lexicon, I'd let your budget guide your purchase. If you can afford it, I'd go for HALOT ($159). As a beginning Hebrew student, however, the BDB is much less expensive and easier to use. You can purchase either the complete BDB ($70) or a less expensive abridged version ($30) which omits the Scripture references and comparisons with other semitic languages. If you purchase the abridged BDB, you can always upgrade to the complete BDB for only $50.

[Paul Daunno]

I am a layman who is wanting to learn both Hebrew and Greek. I will tackle Hebrew first ...

 

Hi Rick,

 

I too am a layman wanting to learn both Hebrew and Greek. I'm curious as to what your approach is going to be to learning these languages. Also, any particular reason you are starting with Hebrew first? I was considering starting with Greek for no other reason then I spend more time reading and studying the NT than OT. Is starting with Hebrew a better choice? I'm planning on starting with Bill Mounce's book "Greek for the rest of us" since it's focused more on layman that want to grasp the basics of the language and for using tools for original language study more effectively. If you (or anyone) has other suggestions let me know.

[Rick Yentzer]

Hi Rick,

 

I too am a layman wanting to learn both Hebrew and Greek. I'm curious as to what your approach is going to be to learning these languages. Also, any particular reason you are starting with Hebrew first? I was considering starting with Greek for no other reason then I spend more time reading and studying the NT than OT. Is starting with Hebrew a better choice? I'm planning on starting with Bill Mounce's book "Greek for the rest of us" since it's focused more on layman that want to grasp the basics of the language and for using tools for original language study more effectively. If you (or anyone) has other suggestions let me know.

 

Hey Paul, I originally began learning Greek last year for reasons similar to yours. I started with the BoBG by Mounce along with the workbook and the survival kit. It was going well, I was pleased with my progression but life happened and it got pushed aside. When I became interested in it again this year I was going to pick it back up but...

 

I have a phenomenal SS teacher who is a professor and has 20+ years studying the biblical languages. After speaking with him on the Greek and Hebrew he recommended Hebrew over Greek for ease of learning. Plus after giving thought to what it is I'm most interested in at this time in my spiritual development?the prophets and the wisdom books?I decided to give learning Hebrew some serious thought, hence the questions on this forum. Mr. Hayes mentioned that it is near impossible to learn Greek on your own. He didn't say if Hebrew was or wasn't but he is willing to teach me either which I'm very excited about.

 

I have not yet decided which I'm going to tackle. Right now I have everything I need to learn Greek per his recommendations other than the Lidell Scott Lexicon. For Hebrew I have a sizeable investment I would need to make to get started. If your interested I can send you the list of materials he uses for his classes.

 

Going back to school is not an option for me right now so learning this on my own or with a guide is my only option.

[Paul Daunno]

Hey Paul, I originally began learning Greek last year for reasons similar to yours. I started with the BoBG by Mounce along with the workbook and the survival kit. It was going well, I was pleased with my progression but life happened and it got pushed aside. When I became interested in it again this year I was going to pick it back up but...

 

I have a phenomenal SS teacher who is a professor and has 20+ years studying the biblical languages. After speaking with him on the Greek and Hebrew he recommended Hebrew over Greek for ease of learning. Plus after giving thought to what it is I'm most interested in at this time in my spiritual development?the prophets and the wisdom books?I decided to give learning Hebrew some serious thought, hence the questions on this forum. Mr. Hayes mentioned that it is near impossible to learn Greek on your own. He didn't say if Hebrew was or wasn't but he is willing to teach me either which I'm very excited about.

 

I have not yet decided which I'm going to tackle. Right now I have everything I need to learn Greek per his recommendations other than the Lidell Scott Lexicon. For Hebrew I have a sizeable investment I would need to make to get started. If your interested I can send you the list of materials he uses for his classes.

 

Going back to school is not an option for me right now so learning this on my own or with a guide is my only option.

 

RIck,

 

Thanks for the info. If anyone else has an opinion also as to Hebrew or Greek first I'd be interested in hearing from you.

 

-Paul

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

It depends in part on which part of the Bible you thing you'll be working with most. Of course the OT is larger, so you'll be able to work in the original language with more of the Bible if you work on Hebrew first. (Disclaimer: I did my MTS in OT, and have a bit of a bias in that direction.)

 

I do have to agree that Hebrew is easier to learn that Greek. That was certainly my experience. Especially when it comes to verbs. In Hebrew, even the irregular verbs follow rules (different rules for each irregular type, of which there are less than a dozen, if I remember correctly; I don't have a Hebrew grammar handy at the moment to see if I'm missing some). There are only two exceptions to this, and they are both commonly used works, so you get used to identifying them quickly.

 

In Greek however, irregular verbs abound, and few of them fit into neat categories. The number of irregular aorist stems that bear no resemblance to the present tense stems was particularly challenging for me.

 

All that said, most of my seminary classmates who took Biblical languages thought I was nuts. They found learning the Hebrew alphabet difficult, and the way the verbs work (only two "tenses" but several "stems" that alter the meaning of the base word) too foreign to understand. While Greek is a different alphabet as well, most of us can recognize at least some of the letters in it before we study the language, because they are used in math and other disciplines.

 

Lorinda

[Rich Shields]

Howdy. I wish you well in your desire to learn.

 

Your decision also might depend on whether you have learned other languages. I had taken Latin and German (many, many years prior), and so prior to enrolling in seminary I was able to teach myself Greek fairly easily because the structure of the languages was so similar. While I could easily pass the entrance exams to get out of taking Greek at the seminary, I nevertheless took Greek at the seminary - best move I ever made. It solidified my knowledge and gave me confidence in working daily with Greek.

 

I took Hebrew in seminary (summer six-week intensive). This worked out well with Hebrew, because we were essentially immersed in Hebrew 24/7 all summer. I actually liked Hebrew a little better; all electives in seminary were exegetical, so I kept up with both languages throughout seminary.

 

Whatever language you learn, I urge you to maintain its use. The dividends are great.