Learning Hebrew is indispensable for an advanced study of the Hebrew portions of the bible (the Tanak or Old Testament)

Hebrew has evolved from Ancient and paleo-Hebrew through Classical or Biblical Hebrew to Mishnaic, Medieval, and Modern Hebrew. Each phase of the Hebrew language has different elements of vocabulary and grammar. Mishnaic Hebrew, for example, incorporates elements of Greek because this was an influential lingua franca at the time. Older phases of Hebrew may be influenced by Aramaic or other ancient near east languages.

The main focus of this course will be to equip the student in Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew. Further courses in Paleo Hebrew will be introduced as they provide insights into the pictorial and iconographic ethos of the language. For example, the letter ‘beyt’ is a picture of a house and the letter ‘ dalet’ is a door.

BOOKLET – IN THE BEGINNING