Hebrew grammars (specifically, specialty grammars)

[Emanuel Cardona]

Specialty grammars (as opposed to reference grammars) are those that concentrate on verbs, idioms, and other aspects of grammar.

 

For verbs:

Burton, Syntax of the moods and tenses in the New Testament Greek

Fanning, Verbal aspect in the New Testament Greek

Porter, Verbal aspect in the Greek of the New Testament: With reference to tense and mood

 

For idioms:

Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament

Moule, An idiom book of New Testament Greek

 

For prepositions:

Harris, Prepositions and theology in the Greek New Testament

 

As you see, we have specialty grammars for Greek, but what about specialty grammars for Hebrew?

[Peter Brylov Christensen]

There are a few out there: S.R. Driver's classic "A Treatise on the use of the tenses in Hebrew and some other syntactical questions" from 1892 is the first one that comes to mind. There is also Andersen's "The Hebrew Verbless Clause in the Pentateuch" from 1971, Muraoka's "Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew" from 1985 and Groß' "Die Satzteilfolge im Verbalsatz alttestamentlicher Prosa" from 1996.

 

Do note that the very nature of the Hebrew verbal system is fiercely debated in Hebrew scholarship, so you may have to dig up some articles in order to find what you need. Basically, we don't know whether the verbs themselves are temporal, aspectual, a mix of both or something completely different in spite of Driver's conclusion that they're aspectual. While a good deal of scholars seem to agree on this today, there is no consensus on how to understand "aspectual" either - some use perfective vs. imperfective, where others may use different distinctions such as "fixed state" vs. "something happening" and so on.

 

With kind regards

 

Peter Christensen

[Emanuel Cardona]

There are a few out there: S.R. Driver's classic "A Treatise on the use of the tenses in Hebrew and some other syntactical questions" from 1892 is the first one that comes to mind. There is also Andersen's "The Hebrew Verbless Clause in the Pentateuch" from 1971, Muraoka's "Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew" from 1985 and Groß' "Die Satzteilfolge im Verbalsatz alttestamentlicher Prosa" from 1996.

 

Do note that the very nature of the Hebrew verbal system is fiercely debated in Hebrew scholarship, so you may have to dig up some articles in order to find what you need. Basically, we don't know whether the verbs themselves are temporal, aspectual, a mix of both or something completely different in spite of Driver's conclusion that they're aspectual. While a good deal of scholars seem to agree on this today, there is no consensus on how to understand "aspectual" either - some use perfective vs. imperfective, where others may use different distinctions such as "fixed state" vs. "something happening" and so on.

 

With kind regards

 

Peter Christensen

Thank you so much Peter!  I will definately have a look at these resources.  If any others come to mind, please let me know.  Blessings!

[A.D. Riddle]

Eisenbrauns publishes a series entitled "Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic." Titles include:

 

Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause by Adina Moshavi (2010)

Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew by John A. Cook (2012)

The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Approaches edited by Cynthia L. Miller (1999)

The Syntax of Volitives in Biblical Hebrew and Amarna Canaanite Prose by Hélène Dallaire (2014)

Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew by Joshua Blau (2010)

Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew by Blane Conklin (2011)

Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew edited by Cynthia L. Miller-Naude and Ziony Zevit (2012)

Biblical Hebrew Grammar Visualized by Francis I. Andersen and A. Dean Forbes (2012)

 

A.D

 

[Emanuel Cardona]

 

Eisenbrauns publishes a series entitled "Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic." Titles include:

 

Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause by Adina Moshavi (2010)

Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew by John A. Cook (2012)

The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Approaches edited by Cynthia L. Miller (1999)

The Syntax of Volitives in Biblical Hebrew and Amarna Canaanite Prose by Hélène Dallaire (2014)

Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew by Joshua Blau (2010)

Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew by Blane Conklin (2011)

Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew edited by Cynthia L. Miller-Naude and Ziony Zevit (2012)

Biblical Hebrew Grammar Visualized by Francis I. Andersen and A. Dean Forbes (2012)

 

A.D

 

 

That is a lot of resources.  Which of these do you recommend as an intermediate/advanced standard and/or well-cited by scholars?  I am trying to narrow it down a little, if possible.  Thank you!

[A.D. Riddle]

Well, each volume addresses different topics, so it depends on what you are studying. I could suggest Blau 2010 or Cook 2012 to begin. I think all of these would be advanced.

 

Some intermediate-level works would be:

Arnold, Bill T., and John H. Choe.

2003 A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Van der Merwe, Christo H. J.; Jackie A. Naudé; and Jan H. Kroeze.

2002 A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. New York: Sheffield Academic.

 

 

As I think about it more, there are two recent studies of the infinitive absolute in Hebrew. These would also count as "specialty" grammars I suppose.

 

Callaham, Scott N.

2010 Modality and the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Absolute. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 71. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

 

Kim, Yoo-Ki.

2009 The Function of the Tautological Infinitive in Classical Biblical Hebrew. Harvard Semitic Studies 60. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

 

 

A.D.

[Emanuel Cardona]

Well, each volume addresses different topics, so it depends on what you are studying. I could suggest Blau 2010 or Cook 2012 to begin. I think all of these would be advanced.

 

Some intermediate-level works would be:

Arnold, Bill T., and John H. Choe.

2003 A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Van der Merwe, Christo H. J.; Jackie A. Naudé; and Jan H. Kroeze.

2002 A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. New York: Sheffield Academic.

 

 

As I think about it more, there are two recent studies of the infinitive absolute in Hebrew. These would also count as "specialty" grammars I suppose.

 

Callaham, Scott N.

2010 Modality and the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Absolute. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 71. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

 

Kim, Yoo-Ki.

2009 The Function of the Tautological Infinitive in Classical Biblical Hebrew. Harvard Semitic Studies 60. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

 

 

A.D.

Great!  The grammars I have as of right now are:

Bauer, H. and P. Leander, Historische Grammatik der hebräischen Sprache des Alten Testamentes

Gesenius, W., Hebräische Grammatik (29th ed., Part I)

Meyer, R., Hebräische Grammatik

Gesenius, W. and E. Kautzsch, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (translated by A. E. Cowley; 2nd ed.; from the 28th German ed.)

Joüon, P., Grammaire de l'hébreu biblique (2nd ed.)

van der Merwe, C. H. G., J. A. Naudé and J. H. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar

Waltke, B. K and M. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

Arnold, B. T. and J. H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

Joüon, P. and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (2nd ed., 2006)

 

I was looking for possible specialty grammars to complement the ones that I have, and wanted to hear from others on other fine grammars out there that I will benefit from when studying the OT.  Based on the above information, do you still stand on your personal recommendations for me?  I truly appreciate all suggestions.  Blessings!

[A.D. Riddle]

It looks like you have all the main grammars.

Note that Joüon/Muraoka have a 2009 second reprint of second edition with "errata corrige." (You can download a scan of the pages here.)

 

I would stand by the recommendations I posted here. There are other people who participate on this forum who should have suggestions too. You could always search online for advanced Hebrew grammar course syllabi and see what kinds of readings are assigned.

 

Another book you would probably find interesting is

 

Sáenz-Badillos, Angel.

1993 A History of the Hebrew Language. Trans. J. Elwolde. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

A.D.

[Emanuel Cardona]

 

It looks like you have all the main grammars.

Note that Joüon/Muraoka have a 2009 second reprint of second edition with "errata corrige." (You can download a scan of the pages here.)

 

I would stand by the recommendations I posted here. There are other people who participate on this forum who should have suggestions too. You could always search online for advanced Hebrew grammar course syllabi and see what kinds of readings are assigned.

 

Another book you would probably find interesting is

 

Sáenz-Badillos, Angel.

1993 A History of the Hebrew Language. Trans. J. Elwolde. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

A.D.

 

Thank you so much.  You have been a great help.