The First Hebrew Primer: The Adult Beginner's Path to Biblical Hebrew, Third Edition

by Ethelyn Simon

THE comprehensive grammar for the beginning student. Systematically teaches Biblical Hebrew in a straightforward style. 30 lessons include: verb, grammar and spelling charts; vocabulary lists; oral reviews; exercises; stories; biblical quotes; Book of Ruth. Introduces 95% of words appearing over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible. Revised edition includes explanatory endnotes. 402 pages.

Genres: Judaism, Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Jewish, Religion, Judaica

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for someone who doesn't know anything about Biblical Hebrew. I like the revamped children's tales that are given with the vocabulary you've so far learned: The Boy Who Cried Wolf; The Gingerbread Man; The Three Little Pigs and a few others. Finishes up with a revamped Book of Ruth.

[Sue]

Wonderful. No, you will not know all the grammatical terms that Hebrew scholars use and you will not become a translator by studying this course. You can, however, become someone who reads from the Hebrew Scriptures and enjoys it.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book in a Hebrew III course, but worked through the first half on my own to catch up to the level of the other students before the course started. It has a lot of exercises, which are more useful when you have the companion answer book. The explanations of grammar are pretty good compared to some other books I've looked at, but it would be most helpful with a teacher to go through the pronunciation.

[Ben Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wahooooo! This book taught me how to read my Bible. תודה רבה!

[Melissa J Dyches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for learning biblical Hebrew!

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I really enjoy learning Hebrew from this book. It gets you reading Hebrew early in Chapter 4. The first three chapters are mostly alphabet review. It has oral/written exercises and you can also purchase the biblical flashcards and the answer key to the exercises. Yes, I would recommend either getting the answer key or having a Hebrew teacher, just in case. :)

[Keegan Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huuuuuuge chunks of reading practice for every ten or so words learned. One of the best language-learning textbooks I've ever used.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for someone who has not learnt another language. Well evenly paced presentation of new vocabulary that doesn’t overwhelm. Each chapter starts with an oral review to get you practicing pronunciation of Hebrew. The book includes a grader reader of the book of Ruth. Progressively builds up till you are reading the actual biblical text towards the end of the reader. The books audience is not seminary students so does simplify the presentation of topics and does use unique terminology that for some grammar concepts that differ to what would be used in an academic textbook but does provide a glossary explaining how the terms they use differ from other grammars. The book also does not cover all seven verb stems normally covered in Hebrew grammars. A couple of the less used passive stems are not included.

Despite its limitations and quirks it is a good primer to start digging into Hebrew for the person who has not learnt another language previously and is not wanting to get lost in the weeds of an academic level grammar. There is a companion audio files (available separately) provides audio of all the Hebrew in the first eight chapters and then continues to provide audio for the oral review, vocabulary and guided reader in the book of Ruth in the remainder of the book. There is also a vocab app keyed to the book available on iOS.

[D. Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Hebrew Primer provides the new-to-Hebrew student with a solid understanding of biblical Hebrew, from letter recognition and writing to translations of full Old Testament verses. A good synopsis of the method is the old saying, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice practice.

The Primer, however, is not comprehensive by any means. It frequently leaves out conjugations or words that appear infrequently in the Tanakh, and in the verb charts leaves out the entire 3rd-person feminine forms in most cases. While this may be pragmatic, it can hinder the student's recognition of those forms when they do occur in Scripture.

The other principal weakness is that the exercise pages do not provide sufficient space for recording answers. This made submission in an online class format especially difficult. This student's solution was to create independent Word documents with the exercises and ample space for answers, print them, write the answers, then scan and submit the work to the online learning environment.

Overall though, The First Hebrew Primer is a useful resource for learning biblical Hebrew from the ground up in an engaging and well-paced format.

[Brett Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started learning biblical Hebrew a year prior to finishing this book but I used easylearnhebrew.com to learn the alphabet. But you absolutely must go through a grammar primer, or you will be totally lost trying to read biblical Hebrew. So, I had picked a few books starting with Mansoor. His is an older book but I found it tough to follow even with his answer key. I then found this book from torah resource and put a lot of hours in studying, making flash cards, and going through the very long exercises. I finally finished chapter 30 and did very well. I think this book is a must, but it isn't a totally complete work on every possible grammar detail you likely want to know. Now I'm going through the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia readers edition to read through the Masoretic while at the same time I bought 1000 older biblical Hebrew flash cards to help memorize the remaining words. In a nutshell this is a difficult thing to attempt so if you don't have the time this likely isn't for you.

[Genghis Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very encouraging. If you Work at it regularly, then you will be rewarded with tangible progress relatively quickly. I still get a buzz from remembering the first day that I was able to translate a full sentence.

This primer does not inundate you with technical language and does not try to overwhelm you with too many concepts at once.

I found it better not to try and go through it too quickly. Better to reflect on some of the explanations 2-3 times before diving into the exercises. Your mileage may vary.

I purchased the Logos Bible software version of this book and found being able to search for words electronically most convenient.

A pity that it is no longer in print. Unfortunately Logos Bible software no longer offers it either.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been and continue to use many different 'primers' in my personal study of biblical Hebrew. I found this one to be particularly suited to my learning style and appreciate the methods of reinforcement used within. I recommend it as a definite necessary tool in a set of tools to understand not only the nuts and bolts of Hebrew, but the nuances of the language as well.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It goes well with the audiobook. Hearing all the homework and lessons spoke helps a lot. The answer book helps you check your stuff as well to make sure your on the right track

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very helpful!

[Squire Whitney: Hufflepuff Book Reviwer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although textbooks are not my favorite way to pursue language learning, The First Hebrew Primer admirably performs its task of teaching Hebrew to a novice.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too simplified, to the point that you won't learn things that you need to know.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like 'Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way' better than this book, but this is still pretty good. I am learning, slowly.