Hebrew Syntaxs (Syntaxi? Syntaxseses?)

[davesalyer]

I'm a seminary student finishing up my intro Hebrew course this summer and will, Lord willing, be taking Hebrew in Exegesis this fall. It appears that the instructor requires Williams' Hebrew Syntax. Unfortunately, out of all the wonderful modules that Accordance offers, this is not on the list. I was wondering if those of you more in the know on Hebrew grammars might help me out. Do you know the Williams text and if so, do any of the Accordance offered tools perform similar functions. I just got the Ross grammar but it doesn't appear to be as extensive as Williams. Can anyone tell me whether Waltke or Jouon-Muraoka might cover the same ground as Williams? Williams seems to be set up well for quick reference purposes, especially the new third edition which has been revised with modern layout and fonts - the old editions look like they were typed on a typewriter and photocopied:). Williams reminds me a little of Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics without as much explanation, I guess that is what I would like to have on Accordance. And to any Accordance people that read this: have you had much interest in the Williams book as a potential module? Thanks for your help.

[Robb B]

While I haven't read Williams' syntax, I would recommend Waltke & O'Connor's Syntax. It is similar to Wallace in format, and very extensive. I use it regularly and have found it profitable to spend some time just reading through various articles as time permits. If it is of any encouragement, my Hebrew professor in my M.Div. program recommended this as the best intermediate Hebrew syntax available.

[Rick Bennett]

While I haven't read Williams' syntax, I would recommend Waltke & O'Connor's Syntax. It is similar to Wallace in format, and very extensive. I use it regularly and have found it profitable to spend some time just reading through various articles as time permits. If it is of any encouragement, my Hebrew professor in my M.Div. program recommended this as the best intermediate Hebrew syntax available.

 

I'd have to throw my vote in for Waltke as well, but that's because he will be my Syntax prof. in the Spring! Also, don't forget about GKC (See J.P.'s article here). He would also be a good person to chime in here

[CapnKirk]

I don't think it's available in Accordance format, but let's not forget van der Merwe's Hebrew Reference Grammar. It deals with syntax and I would call it the "best intermediate grammar." If anything, in my opinion, van der Merwe is more sophisticated in applying modern linguistic theory than Waltke and O'Connor. Despite it's title, Waltke and O'Connor is hardly an "introductory" text. It really ought to be compared with GKC and Jouon-Muraoka. Waltke is not as philologically oriented as GKC, but it overlaps GKC considerably.

 

Williams is a fine summary, but, as others have noted, very sparse in explaining why Hebrew does syntax the way it does.

 

My $0.02

(which, thanks to our wonderful Federal Reserve bank, is much less than it used to be)

[davesalyer]

Thanks for the insight and for that helpful article. Thoughts from others are still welcome. I might add the following question. If you were only going to purchase one of the following, for the purpose of quick syntactical reference mainly to supplement term papers and commentary reading, which would it be? (Having two votes for Waltke already)

GKC

Waltke

Jouon/Muraoka

 

(I will still purchase Williams in paper which also has extensive cross references to all of the above.)

[jpkang]

Hi everyone,

 

Within Accordance, I would read and compare Waltke and Jo