Intermediate Hebrew II

CLAS338-01

Old Main 011
Macalester College
Spring 2004
Instructor: Nanette Scott Goldman   e-mail

MWF 10:50-11:50 a.m.
Office: Old Main 308 Phone: 651 - 696 - 6659 (x6659)
Office Hours: M 9:00 - 9:40 a.m. Tu 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. and by appointment.

SECTION I: Biblical Poetry

In this penultimate section of our survey of the Hebrew language, we will focus on the poetry found in Tanach. We will attempt to identify the hallmarks of Biblical prosody, become familiar with technical terms, styles, vocabulary, Akkadian, Ugaritic and Egyptian antecedents. We will do close stylistic and grammatical readings of several passages, utilizing research tools such as the critical apparatus, commentaries, literary-critical studies. At mid-semester each of you will lead the class through an analysis of a Psalm of your choosing, completed by a formal written version of your analysis. There will be two quizzes, several written assignments and a comprehensive one-hour exam on March 12th. Opportunity for extra credit is available in the form of a book review or creative project of your design. The final half of this semester will be devoted solely to reading, writing and speaking modern Hebrew. The syllabus for this second section will be distributed just before mid-semester break. No book purchases are necessary until then.

Required Texts:

1. Hebrew Bible: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, ed. R. Kittel (BHS/KBH/BH)
OR Horev Bible. Horev Publishers, Jerusalem

2. Hebrew-English Lexicon: A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Holladay, W.L. Eerdmans OR Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Brown, Driver, Briggs. Oxford (BDB)

3. English Bible: HarperCollins Study Bible. HarperCollins OR Tanakh. Jewish Publication Society

4. Supplemental Grammar: The First Hebrew Primer for Adults, 3rd ed., Simon et al. EKS Publishing (EKS) OR Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar, Kelley, Page. Eerdmans OR A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, Weingreen J. Oxford OR Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, Kautsch/Cowley. Oxford OR Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Lambdin. Prentice Hall