The course presents the main phonological, morphological and syntactic structures of the Ancient Hebrew language, namely: Orthography and Phonetics. The place of Hebrew among the Semitic languages. History of Biblical Hebrew. Phonology. The NPh (forms and functions): article; noun; adjective; genitive structures; participle. Pronouns: demonstrative, personal, interrogative, relative. Verbal patterns: stems and inflection of the strong verb.
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Karl Elliger, Wilhelm Rudolph (a cura di), Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaf, 1997.
One of the following Grammars:
Carrozzini, Antonio. Grammatica della lingua ebraica (Genova: Marietti, 1966 e ristampe);
Stähli, Hans-Peter. Corso di Ebraico Biblico 1 (edizione italiana a cura di Bruno Chiesa; Brescia: Paideia Editrice, 1986);
Sawyer, John F.A. A Modern Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (London: Oriel Press, 1976).
The following articles
Zatelli, Ida. “Una lingua per un popolo. Il caso della riattivazione dell’ebraico”, in Studi linguistici offerti a Gabriella Giacomelli dagli amici e dagli allievi (Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica – Studi 4; Università degli Studi di Firenze, Padova, 1997), pp. 411–420.
Zatelli, Ida. “Le lingue della Bibbia, in La Bibbia a stampa da Gutenberg a Bodoni”, a cura di Ida Zatelli (Firenze, 1991), pp. 39–51.
Learning Objectives
1. Knowledge of the Phonology, Morphology and Grammar of the Ancient Hebrew language.
2. Ability in reading, analyzing and translating simple texts in Ancient Hebrew.
The course aims at achieving a basic level of knowledge of the Hebrew language [corresponding to level A1 – Basic user “breakthrough or beginner”, of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, developed for the evaluation of the knowledge of European foreign languages]
Prerequisites
Proficiency in a modern European language is required.
Teaching Methods
Teaching sessions delivered with a lecturer-students interaction approach; use of support material as handouts and slides; training session in analyzing and translating texts.
Further information
The teacher will be available via e-mail (romina.vergari@unifi.it), or, by appointment, via video chats and voice calls through the main applications for instant messaging and VoIP.
During the course, the teacher is available on Thursday (from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.), at the “Sala delle Riviste”, piazza Brunelleschi.
The teaching material will be distributed during classes.
Further reference works
Grammars
Joüon, Paul. Grammaire de l’hébreu biblique (Rome: Institut Biblique Pontifical, 1923).
= Joüon, Paul and Takamitsu Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 2 vol. (Subsidia Biblica 27; Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006)
Verbal System
Joosten, Jan. The Verbal System of Biblical Hebrew (Jerusalem: Simor, 2012).
Lexica
BDB
Brown, Paul, Samuel Rolles Driver and Charles Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1951²).
HALAT/HALOT
Koehler, Ludwig and Walter Baumgartner. Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament, 3. Auflage, 5 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1967–1995)
= The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: The New Koehler-Baumgartner in English. Subsequently revised by Walter Baumgartner and Johann Jakob Stam, trans. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1994–2000).
CLINES
Clines, David J. A. The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield: Academic Press / Phoenix Press, 2009).
In Italian:
Reymond, Philippe. Dictionnaire d’hébreu et d’Araméen bibliques (Paris: Cerf, 1991)
= Dizionario di ebraico e aramaico biblici, a cura di J.A. Soggin, F. Bianchi, M. Cimosa, G. Deiana, G. Garrone, A. Spreafico (Roma: Società Biblica Britannica e Forestiera, 2011²).
Position of Hebrew within the Semitic Languages’ group
Hetzron, Robert. (ed.). The Semitic Languages (London: Routledge, 1997).
History of the Hebrew language
Sáenz-Badillos, Angel. Historia de la Lengua Hebrea (Sabadell: Editorial AUSA, 1988) = A History of the Hebrew Language (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)
Hadas Lebel, Mireille. L’hébreu, trois mille ans d’histoire (Paris: Albin Michel, 1992)
= Storia della lingua ebraica (Firenze: Giuntina, 1994).
Textual analysis of Num 22, 1–39
Garbini, Giovanni, “L’iscrizione di Balaam Bar-Beor”, Henoch 1 (1979), pp. 166–188.
Levine, Baruch A. “The Balaam Inscriptions from Deir ʿAlla”, in The Context of Scripture, vol. 2, edited by W. W. Hallo et. al. (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 223–229.
Levine, Baruch A. Numbers 21–36 (Anchor Bible; Yale University Press, 2009), especially pp. 135–275.
Safren, Jonathan D. “Balaam and Abraham”, Vetus Testamentum 38 (1988), 106–113.
Type of Assessment
Oral interview.
Course program
The course deals with the main phonological, morphological and syntactical structures of the ancient Hebrew language. The course will provide the overview of the main tiers of the Ancient Hebrew. In particular, the lessons will treat the following topics: 1. Orthography and Phonetics. 2. The place of Hebrew among the Semitic languages. 3. The diachronic tiers of the language. 4. Phonology. 5. The Nph (forms and functions): article, noun. 6. The Nph’s modifiers: adjective, genitive relationship, attributive participle. 7. The NPh definiteness. 8. The pronominal system: demonstratives, personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns and adverbs, the relatives. 9. The verbal system: stems and inflection of the strong verb.
During the course, simple texts in Ancient Hebrew taken from the Bible will be read, analyzed and translated, especially from the Nathan’s parable passage in Num 22, 1–39.