Class: MW 2:30-3:45, F 2:25-3:15
Location: 119 Van Hise
Instructor: Jim Kirk
Email: jkirk@wisc.edu
Office: 1336 Van Hise Hall
Office Phone #: 262-8240
Office Hours: F 3:15-4:30 or by appointment

Welcome to Biblical Hebrew! The purpose of this course is to acquire a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew in order to read easier prose and poetic texts. Biblical Hebrew is the ancient Semitic language in which (most of) the Old Testament/Tanakh was written. Other texts written in ancient Hebrew are found in several hundred inscriptions, letters, and administrative documents discovered by archaeologists, as well as in the famous Dead Sea scrolls. Biblical Hebrew was used in ancient Israel, in speech or writing, from about 1200 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) to roughly the destruction of the second Jewish temple in 70 C.E. (Common Era).

This year (including the spring semester) we have four general learning goals:
  -to read Hebrew narrative by sight come May.
  -to see the literary importance of reading the Bible in Hebrew, not just in translation.
  -to learn to be a skilled and strategic language learner.
  -to enjoy reading Hebrew (so much that you spend your summer reading Hebrew for fun!).

REQUIREMENTS:

1) Attendance is crucial for your success in this class. You are expected to come to class with all the assigned work completed and ready for active participation. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to get notes from another student and to be prepared for the next class session.

2) Every Monday we will go over a new lesson from the textbook. As part of your preparation for class you must read over the new lesson before class. Even if you don’t understand everything in it, our class time will be more productive if you have read through the material beforehand. You should be prepared to read the Hebrew examples aloud.

3) Homework exercises from the textbook will be assigned for each class period. We will go over these assignments at the beginning of the next class period and I will collect them. Simply handing in these assignments will be worth 15% of your grade. DO NOT LOSE POINTS HERE. These assignments cannot be handed in outside of class, except by special permission.

4) Every Monday we will begin class with a brief 10 minute quiz focused on material covered the previous week. However, since this is a language class you may consider every quiz cumulative (especially when it comes to vocabulary). No surprises at all on the quizzes. Just know everything! The quiz will start at the beginning of the hour, so please do not be late. There will be no make-up quizzes (except at my discretion), but your lowest quiz score will be dropped.

5) We will have a mid-term (Friday, Oct. 20) and a final exam (Friday, Dec. 22 at 5:05 P.M.). Both exams will be cumulative. We will discuss them in more detail later in the semester. You must take the final exam at the scheduled time; the only exception is Sabbath observance. Please contact me immediately to make alternate arrangements.
6) Oral recitation: It is important that you gain the ability early on in your study of Biblical Hebrew to not only understand the grammar of the language and translate, but also to read Hebrew aloud fluently. To encourage you in this you must prepare a text—either Numbers 6:22-27 or Deuteronomy 6:4-9—and read it for me during office hours (or by appointment). You do not have to memorize the passage (but I recommend it). This is due by December 1 (feel free to complete the assignment earlier in the semester).

A NOTE ON VOCABULARY AND MEMORIZATION:
The vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible includes roughly 10,000 words. This fall and spring we will memorize almost all the words that occur 50 times or more in the Hebrew Bible (~739 words). There are no short-cuts to memorization and very few people can cram 100 new words into their brain an hour before a test. Therefore it’s important that you keep up with vocabulary. With each new lesson, one of the first things you should do is sit down and make vocabulary flash cards. Then carry that stack of cards around with you everywhere you go and whenever you have a free moment go through them. You should do the same thing with anything else that needs to be memorized (I will let you know). You can buy blank flashcards of various shapes and sizes at the UW Bookstore.

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND PREPARATION:
Classes will follow a simple pattern. First, we will go over the previous day’s assignment. You should be prepared to read the Hebrew exercises fluidly and translate from the Hebrew (not just reading your English translation!). I don’t expect you to necessarily have all the right answers, but I do expect that you have given it a good-faith effort. If you are stuck, try and identify exactly what’s causing your confusion. We will not always have time to go over every exercise in class, so tell me which ones would be most helpful for us to go over together. Second, we will go over any new material (you should have read the new lesson before class). Third, we will review old material.

EMAIL LIST:
I have set up a course email list for our use. The address is: hebrst103-1-f06@lists.wisc.edu.
Please feel free to use this list to communicate with your fellow students, arrange study groups, ask questions, or do anything else related to Biblical Hebrew.

GRADING: (approximate %) Grading Scale:     A 93-100 (Outstanding)
Daily Assignments: 15%                                     AB 89-92 (Exceptional)
Quizzes: 25%                                                     B 82-88 (Good)
Midterm Exam: 25%                                           BC 79-81
Final Exam: 25%                                                 C 70-78 (Adequate)
Oral Reading: 10%                                             D 60-69 (Marginal)
                                                                           F 0-59 (Inadequate)

TEXTBOOK:

Cook, John A., and Robert D. Holmstedt. 2005. Ancient Hebrew: A Student Grammar. Unpublished. Pick up at Student Print in Memorial Union [~$18.65]

Day Date Lesson Topic Exercises (TBA)
Wed Sept 6 #1 Alphabet (Consonants) 1-8
Fri 8 #2 Syllables, Dots, Dashes, and Vowels 1-5
Mon 11 QUIZ #1 6-10
Wed 13 #3 Article; Inseparable Prepositions; Conjunction
Fri 15
Mon 18 #4 QUIZ #2; Singular Nouns; Qal Perfect; Objects
Wed 20
Fri 22
Mon 25 #5 QUIZ #3; Plural/Dual Nouns; Qal Perfect; ???
Wed 27
Fri 29
Mon Oct 2 #6 QUIZ #4; Constructs; Irregular nouns
Wed 4
Fri 6
Mon 9 #7 QUIZ #5; Pronouns; segolate nouns; modal perfect
Wed 11
Fri 13
Mon 16 #8 QUIZ #6; Qal Imperfect; Past Narrative;???? ; ????
Wed 18
Fri 20 MIDTERM EXAM
Mon 23 #9 NO QUIZ; Adjectives; Demonstrative pronouns
Wed 25
Fri 27
Mon 30 #10 QUIZ #7; Personal Pronouns; Qal Participle
Wed Nov 1
Fri 3
Mon 6 #11 QUIZ #8; Intro to Binyanim: Piel, Hifil
Wed 8
Fri 10
Mon 13 #12 QUIZ #9; Piel, Hifil: Imperfect, Past, Participle
Wed 15
Fri 17
Mon 20 CLASS CANCELLED (SBL Meeting)
Wed 22 Review and Hebrew reading
Fri 24 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
Mon 27 #13 QUIZ #10; Jussives, Imperatives
Wed 29
Fri Dec 1 ORAL RECITATION DUE
Mon 4 #14 QUIZ #11; Infinitive construct/absolute
Wed 6
Fri 8
Mon 11 #15 QUIZ #12; Passive-Reflexive Binyanim
Wed 13
Fri 15
Fri 22 FINAL EXAM (5:05 P.M.)

If you have trouble accessing this page, contact: Chris Dargis  (cadargis@wisc.edu)
Latest revision date: 8/25/2006 (cad)

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