Abstract
With the array of new introductory Hebrew textbooks, in which Hinneh fits comfortably, it seems as though the old reference-grammar-masquerading-as-intro-textbook might finally be on its way out. Rahel Halabé, with years of literary translation work and modern and ancient Hebrew language instruction under her belt, offers a fresh perspective at what an introduction to Biblical Hebrew could look like. From the very outset, one is struck by the attention to the student’s learning experience and not to listing grammatical rules in a formulaic way. In Hinneh, Halabé is after the effective learning of, and appreciation for, Biblical Hebrew language and texts.
How, then, does Halabé accomplish this effective learning and appreciation? First, her aim is that the book would not be intimidating for a novice language student. She puts less material in each lesson (67 lessons in all); she avoids excessive linguistic descriptions; and she recommends that the student not expect perfect proficiency at all times.
Second, she models a better pedagogical practise than the old standard grammars. Particularly in the early chapters, she has the students practise dialogues (provided in the text), and she regularly encourages reading aloud, both of which make Hebrew feel more like a real language to the student and aid the student’s recall abilities. Additionally, Halabé introduces weak verbs early on, so the student is not ‘blind-sided’ by them at the end of the course. She also stresses recognition rather than reproduction. She is not concerned to have the student write out paradigm after paradigm, but is instead concerned that they could recognise a form in context. Two examples will illustrate this: her parsing charts in the text depend on short verses given just prior to the chart, and so the parsing is only done in context; when she covers morphological patterns, such as the Hebrew article, she provides the standard morphology, and then lists some other possible forms, but tells the student not to worry about when and for what reasons they will appear – just recognise them.
Third, Halabé has provided a ‘tool box’, her third volume, which is full of helpful charts and paradigms, and is keyed to the material in the text. Therefore, while the coverage of many topics is spread out across many chapters, making it more easily digestible, the student can see all the information systematically presented in one place in the tool box.
A few other notes set Hinneh apart from the traditional grammars. She often offers multiple modern translations for biblical verses, intended to cultivate critical evaluation of translation practice and to demonstrate the variety of possible readings of one Hebrew verse. She also introduces the prefix verb form before any other (holding the yiqtol and wayyiqtol as variations on one basic form – at least for the students’ sake), and provides a potentially less confusing term for the waw with wayyiqtol, calling it the waw-past (past-ו).
There remain some difficulties with the book, despite its many benefits. Though it indeed represents somewhat of a departure from older grammars and emphasises recognition over reproduction, Hinneh is still full of charts and paradigms, with which recent language acquisition methods sit uneasily. Further, Hinneh presupposes knowledge of the writing system, so the student will have to learn this elsewhere. Lastly, and practically speaking, Hinneh is hefty. Granted, all the exercises and answer keys are included in the book itself, but it is still a lot of book to carry around. These critical reflections notwithstanding, Hinneh is a welcome addition to the existing Biblical Hebrew grammars and will no doubt prove its usefulness in the classroom and on the reference bookshelf alike.