Learn Biblical Hebrew

I've gone through innumerable books trying to find one that makes learning Hebrew an organized process. There are only two that I've found that fit that bill: Dobson's Learn Biblical Hebrew and Simon's The First Hebrew Primer, 3rd Edition. Both are excellent--but assume that one knows the Hebrew alphabet (which does not waste time with multiple chapters going over this as do many other Hebrew language books).I like Dobson because each lesson is shorter and somehow it is just easier to learn from. However the Hebrew Primer has better exercises. You can't go wrong with either

He doesn't tell you what the names of the Hebrew Vowel markings are, but that's no big deal...Christians can look them up in a Strong's Concordance in it's Hebrew section for that. Other than this, it's possibly the best teaching course on the planet for speakers of English. If you can't afford E-Teacher, then you should do yourself a favor and get this. I don't know how many times I've read it. I wish I'd had it when I was 10 years old. The audio CD can be listened to anytime, but you should read and study this about halfway through before listening to it a second time. Dobson delivers.You'll never throw it away..!

The approach makes use of extensive reading practice with a minimum (for me) of grammatical scaffolding in each lesson. The idea, it appears, is to arrive gradually and inductively at an understanding of grammar by dint of extensive practice readings that sequentially introduce new grammatical concepts, bolstered by reference to a grammar summary in the back. Not much help with identifying the tonic syllables of new vocabulary as you go along, so I had to find those elsewhere and relearn pronunciations of words not accented on final syllables. To be fair, though, you should be able to glean these from careful, repeated listening to the accompanying audio recordings. I prefer a notation system that identifies the tonic syllables of new words so that you learn them correctly on first exposure. My copy was poorly bound and fell apart after a few uses, so be prepared to keep track of the sections that fall out.

Like the lesson format.

This is probably the best learning book I've gotten. Clearly written and easy to understand. Now if I could get my memory going I might learn the language. If you really want to learn the language purchase this book.

I would have given this 5 stars but it started out with good teaching methods, but as the book progresses, he gives so much new information that he sites passages; and you end up having to look up verses to get the answers. This book is NOT for beginners. It’s bit of “overkill” I basically wanted to learn how to read Hebrew. I guess I felt that it went too far; more information than I needed. He also has a lot of incorrect verses. I had to go back and forth to find them.

I wanted to learn Hebrew for a long time but never managed to do it despite several attempts. This book finally managed to give me a good and motivating start and I haven't stopped studying Hebrew for the past 8 months.

This book is great. I have been studying it for about 5-6 weeks now and am very suprised at how much I'm learning and am having fun and am excited. If you buy this book read the foreword and the preface so you get an idea of the method of study it suggests. I have modified his suggestions just slightly to fit my learning process and try to finish a lesson a week.The Second edition does NOT come with a audio CD but rather gives you a link to an online audio around the end of the preface.So far the only thing I don't like about this book is just that it's hard to keep open. If you're at all familiar with a quality book that you can set on a table and it will stay open to the right page, then know that this book is not like that! I believe that the price and the method of study make up for it though.

This book is invaluable! I also purchased John H. Dobson's "Learn New Testament Greek". Both books have online learning resources. The exercises are friendly you are translating from the beginning. But both of these books!

In common with his other textbook, "Learn New Testament Greek", the author gives an excellent and concise introduction to his subject. The format is easy to follow for the beginner without previous knowledge of the subject and any syntactical issues are covered adequately where necessary. There are various instances of somewhat "naive" learning techniques and the actual writing of Hebrew is discouraged, which can tend to put some students off. But overall, in spite of a few minor points, the text is excellent and comprehensive, the teaching system is thorough, the audio CD is very well produced (particularly for the first-time Hebrew students), the book is very well bound and and superb value for money. No serious beginner should need anything beyond this one book and a couple of hours a day to make a very good start in Hebrew either as a lone reader or part of a class.

I've been using this book since August 2005 when I first began learning Hebrew just before going to uni to read Biblical Studies. I wanted to get an advantage over my classmates and have the confidence to pass my exams. This book certainly helped me achieve that. Now, nearly 9 years later, using this user friendly textbook, I'm about to teach from it and earn a full time living.Long Live Israel!

I attended a class using a different book, made some progress, but found that after the class I forgot most of what had been learned, and the book was difficult to follow on its own/This book starts in a different way to get you to become familiar with the alphabet then leading into recognition and use of actual words. I found it good for getting back into the subject again and motivating me to learn more.So, not a dull and dry start but quite gentle and captivating, but thorough as well.So far, I'm enjoying it and making some progress.

I got to know this author from his Greek publication. I wanted to hear the Hebrew language spoken, hence the purchase. A most helpful work in this field and highly recommended. A bargain at the price.