Volume 1

Beginner

Basic grammar concepts applicable to any situation are dealt with first. In addition, Chapters 1 - 21 extensively cover Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, and Prepositions, Numbers and a selection of Particles.

Information is presented on a need-to-know basis. For example, the Pronominal Suffixes are introduced, but not when added to verbs, as students have no insight into the unique features of the different verb classes and their specific conjugations in the early stages of their studies.

The next essential step is to introduce the student to the Hebrew verb. This is done in Chapters 22 - 29 of Volume 1. Only Strong Verbs are introduced, and all the conjugations are dealt with in detail.

Once students have completed their studies up to this point, they possess a substantial amount of information, enabling them to recognize and literally translate enormous amounts of text. This then seems to be a logical point at which students will be well advised to pause and, rather than moving on, focus on consolidating their knowledge and skills by reviewing, memorizing, and practicing, since this is the most advantageous course to follow. The latter can then be done by referring to:

• the examples from the Old Testament provided in the main text,

• the lists of complete verb parsing that is found in Appendix 9, and

• the selected texts with references to the relevant paragraph(s) in the main text, essentially explaining each word in a text. This is found in Appendix 10.

Volume 2

Elementary

After working through Volume 1, students are now completely familiar with the origins of verbs, the seven binyanim, and the different paradigms within each binyanim. Only strong verbs have been dealt with thus far, and the next logical step would be to move on to more intricate verb roots.

A superficial glance at all the different roots found in biblical Hebrew would indeed reveal a dauntingly wide variety of verb classes. However, after close inspection, we are able to present students with a relatively simple way to look at all the remaining classes.

Weak Verbs

The verbs in this division contain one, and only one, guttural in their roots. Included are roots with a resh in the second root position. The weak verbs are classified into twelve classes according to the four gutturals combined with the three root positions where they could possibly be situated.

Irregular Verbs

• Verbs with a yod in the first root position.

• Those verbs that seem to have a yod in the first root position, but originally had a waw in the first root position.

• Those verbs with a nun in the first root position.

• The so-called "bi-consonantal" or "hollow" verbs, with either a waw or a yod in the second root position.

• The geminate verbs that have identical consonants in both the second and third root positions.

Volume 3

Intermediate

Pedagogically the next logical step in mastering biblical Hebrew is to gain insights into the verbs that simultaneously possess not only one but two features found in the weak verbs. These verbs are then according to the above definition called "doubly weak verbs."

1. The first four classes consist of those verbs that have a strong guttural in the first root position, and in addition also have a hey in the third root position.

2. The next three classes consist of those verbs that have a yod in the first root position, and in addition also have a guttural in the second or third root position.
   

3. The next three classes consist of those verbs that have a nun in the first root position, and in addition also have a guttural in the second or third root position.
   

4. The next class consists of those verbs that have a guttural in the first root position, which is followed by two identical (geminate) consonants.
   

5. The next class consists of those verbs that have a guttural in the second root position, and also a hey in the third root position.
   

6. Nine verbs that are unique in that they do not fit into any one of the above groups, have therefore been placed in a separate group which we call "unique verbs".
   

7. Lastly, stative verbs are dealt with here in detail.

Volume 4

Textual Criticism

After working through and mastering the content of Volumes 1 - 3 of this series, students have now reached a point where they have acquired a complete command of the grammatical concepts for a basic understanding of biblical Hebrew. This enables them to produce accurate literal translations of the Masoretic Text. This in itself will enable them to more fully understand and appreciate what the text has to offer.

However, before being finalized into what we today know as the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), the books that were eventually taken up in the Hebrew canon, underwent numerous developmental stages that stretched over several centuries. In addition, during this developmental process a vast number of versions, in several languages, were created.

Arguably the most profound complication during this development process was the fact that no mechanical copying technology existed and all copying was done manually. This inevitably led to mistakes occurring, corrupting the original source material. This phenomenon affected each and every translation that was made in the past, and will surely affect those translations that will be attempted in future.

Volume 5

Livting the Veil

“Translating Hebrew into another language is like kissing your bride through her veil."

This quote, most often attributed to Hayim Nahman Bialik (1873 – 1934), one of the greatest Hebrew poets of the 20th century, has been the genesis for including Volume 5 into this series. The statement by Bialik is in answer to the often asked question as to what difference does it make to read the original Hebrew Bible as apposed to reading any number of translations.

The objective of Volume 5 is to provide the reader with a selection of some of the more simple but nevertheless vivid examples where a basic understanding of biblical Hebrew grammar will enable one to realize that most modern translations have in many instances fallen short in conveying the true meaning of the source text.