HOW BIBLICAL LANGUAGES WORK by SILZER AND FINLEY

4.0 of 5.0

 

The bottom line: A basic intro to the mechanics of Hebrew/Greek, not the languages themselves.

 

 

The basic thrust of this book is that if you understand truths about language in general, then you will better learn the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. This “big picture” approach is designed to make your life as a beginning learner of the biblical languages easier. In my humble opinion, this book was a useful guide and provided a beneficial set of tools to accelerate my proficiency in Hebrew. At the very least, readers will have a better understanding of how language works in general.

There is some information in the book that is very basic (like the discussion of nouns, verbs, and phrases) but the explication of semantics (the study of the meaning of language), the nonliteral aspects of meaning (e.g., metaphors, idioms, and ambiguous language) and discourse patterns (groups of words that are considered to be a unit) equips you make better interpretive sense than the mere words on paper. The final chapter of the book describes the three different types of learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile) with an assessment to help you discern which way you learn best. This is the chapter will empower you to know the practical strategies you can employ to make your time studying the most productive.

I purchased this book as required by a graduate level seminary course (Introduction to Hebrew). As a student that has referenced many other self-study Hebrew books, I can sincerely say How Biblical Languages Work enabled me to not only learn and speak Hebrew with greater ease, but it also gave me a practical guide to navigate Hebrew with clarity. I recommend it for any serious Bible student seeking to learn Hebrew or Greek for the purpose of reading the OT/NT in the original languages.

 

Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal

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