Brian L. Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew with CD-ROM (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Many thanks to Cambridge University Press (CUP) for providing me with a review copy of The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (CIBH) authored by Brian L. Webster (Ph.D. Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion). I’ll say up front that I have worked through this grammar and I’m well pleased with what it has to offer, so do continue to read the detailed information below.

Table of Contents:

Below you’ll find the Table of Contents in order to lay the framework for discussion and to provide you with a brief overview of how Webster structures his grammar. To the left is the chapter number followed by its title.

Introduction

Ch. 1 – Signs and Sounds: Orthography and Pronunciation

Ch. 2 – Syllables: The structural girders of Hebrew

Ch. 3 – Nouns Pt. 1: State, Gender and Number

Ch. 4 – Nouns Pt. 2: More noun patterns

Ch. 5 – Prepositions, Conjunction, Article, Interrog. Particle, Direct Object

Ch. 6 – Pronouns; Pronominal suffixes on substantives and prepositions

Ch. 7 – Adjectives

Ch. 8 – Participles, Infinitive construct

Ch. 9 – Selected words, Numbers

Ch. 10 – Introduction to Verbs; Qal perfect

Ch. 11 – Qal perfect weak verbs

Ch. 12 – Qal imperfect and preterite: strong verbs

Ch. 13 – Qal imperfect and preterite: weak verbs

Ch. 14 – Qal volitives and infinitive absolute

Ch. 15 – Pronominal suffixes on verbs

Ch. 16 – Derived Stems: Participles and Infinitives

Ch. 17 – I-class Imperfect Strong Verbs: Niphal, Piel, Hitpael, Hiphil

Ch. 18 – I-class Imperfects: R3 = Weak, R2 = G, R1 = G, R2 = n, R1 = n

Ch. 19 – I-class Imperfects: R2 = yod/waw, R1 = yod/waw, R2 = R3; Weak Imv., Inf. & Ptc.

Ch. 20 – A-class Imperfect Verbs: Pual, Hophal

Ch. 21 – Derived stem perfects: Strong verbs, R3 = Weak

Ch. 22 – Derived stem perfects: R1 and R2 = Weak roots. Rare binyanim

Excursus A – Sorting through forms: Stem ID badges and Alias Profiles

Excursus B – Introduction to the Syntax Unit

Ch. 23 – Pauses and Drama

Ch. 24 – Lexicography

Ch. 25 – Noun syntax

Ch. 26 – Verb Syntax: The Piel

Ch. 27 – Verb Syntax: Participles

Ch. 28 – Clausal Syntax in Narrative; Movies in the mind

Ch. 29 – Particles: asher and hinay

Ch. 30 – Verb Syntax: Infinitives

Ch. 31 – Perfect and vav plus perfect

Ch. 32 – Poetry and time frame

Appendix A – Additional Vocabulary Lists

Appendix B – Glossary

Appendix C – Paradigms and Alias Profiles

A New Approach

Syllable Principles

Webster’s approach to Hebrew grammar is, to my knowledge, very innovative in that one of the main thrusts of his teaching is a heavy emphasis on the syllable principles. While most other grammars give brief mention to this, Webster devotes an entire chapter (2) which becomes the basis for all future morphological rationale within. With regard to nouns, students are expected to learn 7 syllable principles. That is, the accent will always be placed on the syllable that either (1) is closed and long (ACL), (2) is open and short (AOS), or (3) ends in a qametz-he (ACH). Moreover, pretonic syllables in all parts of speech (not just nouns) are required to be either (4) open and long (POL) or (5) closed and short (PCS). And finally, detailed explanation of the propretonic syllables is given, addressing the principles of (6) shewa in “problem position” (SPP) (in all parts of speech) and (7) the syllable preceding a shewa in problem position is typically preceded by a short vowel (PSV). With regards to verbs, all of these principles carry over except for principles of accentuation. There really is no governing reason as to why verbs act like they do, but once the accent is recognized, everything preceding the accent is business as usual.

On the negative side, the emphasis on learning the syllable principles could be considered a potential pitfall. A student is only getting to the second chapter of the grammar when he is hit with a lot of difficult concepts. On the positive, however, once these syllable principles are mastered, a student doesn’t have to constantly wonder, “Why is the pointing of this noun/verb so strange?” Students are able to recognize with ease the morphological changes and consequently should be able to parse with ease. Moreover, Webster, as necessary with such an approach, begins discussion of the weak-consonants, gutturals, etc. in this same chapter—easing students in to the difficulties of the weak-consonants. Throughout the book, he continues to allude to and explain the behavior of the weak consonants, gutturals, etc., with the result that when a student finally gets to weak-verbs he is better prepared to handle the chaos (unlike for example, Ross’s grammar, which leaves discussion of weak verbs at the very end of the grammar).

An Inductive and Deductive Approach

While Webster sets forth paradigms for rote memorization, he makes the memorization of these paradigms easy through stem “ID badges.” For example, if radical 1 (R¹) has a qametz below it, it is likely a qal perfect. Of course if there is an ending that takes the accent, e.g. the 2mp conjugation, there is propretonic reduction, but a student already knows to look for this because he has memorized the syllable principles. These “ID badges” along with other creative ways of teaching paradigms are unique in their pedagogical sensitivity, i.e. each chapter builds on previous chapters, making any additional paradigms easier to handle. Moreover, the interactive morphological illustrations through the TekScroll computer software (comes with the book – more on this below) are invaluable to the visual student, just as well the parsing program and practice sentences will be invaluable to the kinesthetic student.

Morphology and Syntax in One

Though CIBH only has one year of Hebrew in mind, it is written with an addendum of ten chapters of syntax (chs. 22-32). Generally speaking, the author suggests doing one chapter a week for covering the morphological portion of the grammar. That is, 11 weeks for each semester with plenty of time built in for review and examinations (most semesters can run 14-15 weeks). This then leaves 10 chapters of syntax to integrate into the first year of Hebrew or as an optional third semester which can be used in conjunction with textual translation (e.g. the book of Jonah). If, however, you are looking for in-depth syntactical analysis for third semester Hebrew, this is not going to be the grammar you use. While it does indeed go behind what normal first year grammars look to accomplish, this grammar by no means is as detailed and thorough in morphology and syntax as, say, GKC or JM. There is, however, a bit of intentionality here, because Cambridge has already put out a syntax book (Arnold & Choi) which, I’m guessing, looks to supplement and pick up where Webster left off. Nonetheless the introduction to Lexicography (ch. 24) and especially the introductory section on Poetry (ch. 32) is very helpful.

The Interactive CD-Rom

The inclusion of the Interactive CD-Rom is, in my opinion, worth the price of the book (only $39.99 in paperback). Not only does the CD include the TekScroll program, but it also includes a full workbook, several reference aids, and vocabulary flash cards ready to print.

TekScroll Program

Within the TekScroll program, each chapter of the book has a grammatical illustration, practice parsing, practice sentences, and the assigned vocabulary.

The practice parsing and practice sentences provide the answers as you go, thus giving the student immediate feedback. Vocabulary from the chapter the student is currently working on is excluded (only previous chapter’s vocabulary is given) in the practice sentences so that the student can immediately practice the concepts learned in the chapter without learning the new chapter’s vocabulary.

The vocabulary within each chapter of TekScroll displays the Hebrew word on the screen with the option to listen aloud how it is pronounced. Throughout all the lists on this vocabulary CD, the student will have learned all words occurring 50 or more times. Students can practice vocabulary within a single chapter, multiple chapters, or by frequency. If a student gets a vocabulary word wrong and wants to come back to it, he can opt to return to it at a later time (using the “keep in set” button).

Workbook and Misc Reference Aids

The workbook goes hand in hand with the grammar in that it gives practice material for each chapter, whether it be writing out paradigms, parsing, translation, etc. One of the downfalls, however, is that the workbook answers are provided for the student, thus giving a student the opportunity to bypass the necessary wrestling with the material and  necessary frustrations that are required for learning. If a student, however, can be disciplined to use the answer booklet only after he has worked through the material, then this resource will be helpful.

The compilation of the vocabulary flash cards, which come in two different sizes, gives each chapter’s Hebrew vocabulary on the front side, and then on the back gives (1) an English gloss, (2) the chapter of CIBH which the word occurs in, (3) its part of speech and gender, and (4) its frequency of occurrence in the Hebrew Bible.

Commendation

Overall, I highly recommend the Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew whether for the person interested in learning first year Hebrew individually or for professors of Bible colleges or seminaries who are looking for a cutting-edge grammar to use in the classroom. While this grammar is not for the faint of heart on the front end, the student who uses this grammar will likely have an easier time learning Hebrew throughout and likely come out ahead of those students using other grammars. Moreover, its pedagogical sensitivity provides a nice balance and should make learning first year Hebrew a joyful experience.