Biblical Hebrew: A Compact Guide

by Miles V. Van Pelt

Biblical A Compact Guide offers a one-stop guide for those who have taken first-year Hebrew to refresh the memory on language forms, grammar, and word meanings. Students who are in second-year Hebrew courses can use this reference resource to assist them in the identification of words in the biblical text and the way they are used in sentences. Ultimately, this inexpensive reference gives the most important information on biblical Hebrew grammar.

Genres: Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2012

About the author

Miles V. Van Pelt, Ph.D. is the Alan Hayes Belcher, Jr. Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages, Director of the Summer Institute for Biblical Languages, and Academic Dean for the Jackson and Brazil campuses. Miles has strong commitment to and passion for teaching students the Bible in its original languages and has published extensively in the area of Hebrew and Aramaic language instruction, as well as biblical theology. At the RTS campus in Jackson, Miles teaches Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew Exegesis, Joshua-Esther, and courses on the books of Judges and The Song of Songs. Miles is also a competitive CrossFit athlete. He and his wife Laurie have been married for almost 30 years (rock solid and white hot!) and they have four fantastic children.

Reviews

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was massively helpful for review. There's so much information to hold in my head that being able to carry around a back-up in my pocket has been extremely valuable. The abbreviated lexicon in the back is also super helpful for getting quick glosses for translating. I'll likely read this one a few more times.

[Abram K-J · Rating 5 out of 5]

At long last, a compact reference guide to Biblical Hebrew! Not long ago Zondervan released Biblical Greek: A Compact Guide, a helpful and portable distillation of Mounce’s oft-used grammar. Many such little books already exist for easily reviewing Koine Greek: Dale Russell Bowne’s Paradigms and Principal Parts for the Greek New Testament, Paul Fullmer and Robert H. Smith’s Greek at a Glance, and even the back of Kubo’s Reader’s Lexicon has a good summary of Greek grammar with paradigm charts.

There seem to be more resources available to students of Biblical Greek than to students of Biblical Hebrew. For example, while there is just one (excellent!) “Reader’s” Hebrew Bible (uncommon vocabulary is glossed at the bottom of the page), I am aware of at least three Reader’s Bibles that exist for the Greek New Testament. So Miles Van Pelt’s Compact Guide, based on his and Gary Pratico’s Basics of Biblical Hebrew, is a welcome addition as far as this eager Hebrew student is concerned.

The book is not terribly dissimilar from Pratico/Van Pelt’s Charts of Biblical Hebrew, but unlike that work, A Compact Guide is more than just a collection of charts and paradigms. Each section includes a distillation of what is in the larger grammar textbook, followed by paradigms and charts for quick reference. Seeing Van Pelt’s world-famous color-coded verbal diagnostics is a highlight.

Oddly enough, at times there seems to be more precision and detail in this little book than in the larger grammar. Or perhaps it’s just more nuance or smoother grouping of material that has come about with the passage of time since the publishing of the grammar’s second edition. For example, there is a section in the Compact Guide on “particles” that is a unique and clearer grouping than what is in the larger grammar. And whereas the grammar lists three kinds of Hebrew prepositions (independent, Maqqef, and inseparable), the Compact Guide adds a fourth: compound prepositions, where “two different prepositions, or a preposition and a noun” (28) combine to make a new preposition. (This fourth category appeared in the larger textbook later in its chapter as “Advanced Information”; having everything grouped together in the Compact Guide was easier.)

The primary focus of the guide is morphology (how words are formed, including paradigm charts) and syntax (how words are used in sentences, i.e., grammar). Unlike Basics of Biblical Hebrew there is not much in the Compact Guide by way of vocabulary, save for a Hebrew-English mini-lexicon at the back of the book. Unfortunately, there was no introduction or explanatory note as to what constituted inclusion on the lexicon. (In Mounce’s Greek Compact Guide, the lexicon notes that it includes words that occur in the New Testament 10 times or more.)

From what I can tell, though, the Hebrew Compact Guide reproduces exactly the Hebrew-English lexicon in its larger textbook counterpart. In this case, the lexicon covers Hebrew words that occur 50 times or more in the biblical text. The Basics of Biblical Hebrew lexicon notes that it also adds “less frequently occurring words that appear in the grammar and workbook.”

In addition to a thorough listing of paradigms (the 11-page section on pronominal suffixes is particularly helpful), the book is filled with examples from the Hebrew Bible (with English translation). The Hebrew font used, while not quite as easy to read as that of the grammar, is readable enough. (And that may just be a matter of personal preference anyway.)

The section on verbs is a particular strength of this work–in addition to examining all the forms and stems (both strong and weak), there are extensive listings of paradigms for easy review.

All in all, I give a hearty two thumbs up to this work–and express my gratitude that it is now on the scene for those who want to keep their Biblical Hebrew fresh! For a beginner in Biblical Hebrew I would recommend the full-length grammar textbook, but for those with even a semester or two of Hebrew (and beyond), this small reference guide will be a valuable and inexpensive addition to their library. As Van Pelt notes in his preface, even “veterans” of Hebrew will be able to utlize the guide to “keep fit” in their language use.

Icing on the cake: the pocket-sized paperback comes encased in a sturdy, translucent plastic cover.

Note: I received a review copy from Zondervan for the purposes of this review.

[Josué Pineda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un excelente resumen de bolsillo de Fundamentos de Hebreo Bíblico.

[ניקאָלע]

whoops i already read this but categorized it as “currently reading.” Lol!

[Jeff Sulman · Rating 5 out of 5]

20 years after graduating from seminary I was encouraged by a friend to get back to reading Greek and Hebrew. I still used it in my studies through commentaries but could no longer read it without the constant help of grammar aids like Logos. I'd forgotten all the declensions, parsing's and grammar from both biblical languages. So this year I broke out the grammars, bought a nice Readers Hebrews and Greek Bible and began to long slow process of relearning what I once knew. The problem was getting access to the information. I had many Hebrew grammars but digging through hundreds of pages in each one was becoming such a burden that I almost gave up. Then I started writing my own guide where I would take everything I could find on various aspects on phonology, morphology, vocabulary and grammar and put them into a concise organized form. This likewise turned out to be a very difficult task, even with the help of the internet and the many great resources it put at my fingertips. One of the problems was that my Hebrew grammars were somewhat dated. In seminary we used Seow's grammar but I was never happy with it and ended up selling, losing or giving it away some time ago. The ones I used the most were Weingree and Lambdins, both very good grammars but not organized well and very wordy. For a first time learner they were great, but for somebody needing to relearn Hebrew they were not the best. What I needed were not detailed descriptions with lots of examples but quick summaries of the pertinent information of the grammar. So I decided to purchase a new introductory Hebrew grammar to help me. As I was searching I came upon this book. I knew of Dr. Van Pelt, having listened to a number of his lessons on various OT books and greatly enjoyed his teaching. In reading the description of the book it seemed to be just what I needed, a nice precise summary of what he wanted his students to know for the tests he gave in his Hebrew class. I was somewhat shocked by the price, pretty high for a small hand book under 200 pages but based on the reviews I decided to get it.

Well, it came yesterday and I could be more pleased. It is a wonderful book. Its binding is sturdy, as a handbook should be. It has a nice clear soft plastic sheath that keeps it protected. It can easily fit in a back pocket and it is filled with well-organized information: helpful information on every important aspect of Hebrew grammar that a beginner or "relearner" could need. I could not be happier with this book. I only wish I had something like this while I was learning Hebrew 20 some years ago. This book will be my constant companion and friend as I begin the arduous task or relearning Hebrew.

[Robert Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for what it is. A really small, really handy reference. Bam!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple way to review Hebrew grammar for those who kn(e/o)w it.

[Ian Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what Miles would call a "bacon saver." This little book is so helpful. It only provides essential information working as an awesome quick reference. This one will not leave my book-bag.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little gem helped me pass biblical Hebrew at the Albert-Ludwig Universität Freiburg. Miles van Pelt was my MVP.