Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic

Beginning with the Essentials of Biblical Hebrew these courses are designed to bring the student to a mastery level of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic.
Content is based on The Essentials of Biblical Hebrew by Kyle M. Yates, Ph.D.

Hebrew Alphabet - Lesson 1
The Hebrew alphabet has twenty-two consonants. The Hebrew language is written from the right to the left. Five consonants are modified when at the end of a word. Six consonants have two ways of pronunciation (hard and soft).

Hebrew Vowel - Lesson 2
The Original Writings of Hebrew do not use vowels. The Palestinian System was developed to preserve proper pronunciation and meaning after the language ceased to be a living language. This system employs points and signs above, below, and within the consonant letters.

Technical Matters - Lesson 3
Daghesh Lene
Daghesh Forte
Syllable Divider
Măppîk
Makkeph
Interrogative Particle
Sign of the Direct Object
Accents

The Guttural - Lesson 4
The letters ח ה ע א are called gutturals. By virtue of the fact that they are breathings, they entail certain peculiarities.

The Syllables- Lesson 5
A general rule to follow for marking the syllable will be: Beginning from the end of the word, find the first full vowel, include the consonant preceding it, and place the dividing mark there.

The Article - Lesson 6
Hebrew has no indefinite article. Indefiniteness is generally indicated by the absence of the article

Preposition - Lesson 7
Prepositions are words prefixed to verbs and nouns to clarify their relationship to other parts of the sentence.

Conjunction and Adjective - Lesson 8
The conjunction וְ “and” is always written as an inseparable prefix.
The adjective may be used attributively or predicatively.

Nouns - Lesson 9
The Hebrew language uses circumlocution (The use of unnecessarily wordy language, especially when being vague or evasive) in the expression and formation of the case of nouns.

Pronouns - Lesson 10
Personal Pronouns
The Demonstratives
The Relative
The Interrogatives

Principles of Syntax - Lesson 11
The verb usually stands first in the sentence.
When particular emphasis is wanted, any word may be given first place.
The subject usually follows the verb.
The subject is followed by its modifiers.

The Perfect Verb - Lesson 12
Hebrew has no “tenses.” Tense indicates time related to the action of the verb. The time of a Hebrew verb is indicated by the context, not the use of a form.

The Imperfect Verb - Lesson 13
The imperfect, expressing unfinished action, is formed from an abstract substantive preceded by the fragments of the personal pronouns (ן, א, תּ, י) which are called performatives, תּקְטֹל, יִקְטֹל, אֶקְטֹל.

The Imperatives, Infinitives, and Participles - Lesson 14
The imperative is never used with a negative. Prohibitions are expressed either by לֹא (not) with the imperfect or by אַל (not) with the jussive (command, permission, or agreement). The jussive is usually an abbreviated form of the imperfect. It is employed in the second-person and third-person to express command, wishes, and prohibitions.

The Stems of the Verb - Lesson 15
In addition to the simple verb (QAL) form already studied, we have six other stems, each representing a different aspect of the primary meaning of the verb. Finding a suitable name for these sets of forms is difficult. They can hardly be called conjugations, moods, or voices; therefore, it will be best to speak of them as stems. These stems are formed from the QAL stem (or root) by prefixes, vowel changes, and doubling of certain letters.

Perfect of the Remaining Stems - Lesson 16
The Niph’al נִקְטַל (נַקְטַל)
The Pi’el קִטֵּל (קַטַּל)
The Pu’al קֻטּל (קֻטּל or קָטַּל)
The Hithpa’el הִתְקַטֵּל (הִתְקַטַּל)
The Hiph’il הִקְטִיל (הַקְטַל)
The Hoph’al הָקְטַל (הֻקְטַל or הָקְטַל)

Imperfect of the Remaining Stems - Lesson 17
The Niph’al (יִקָּטֵל)
The Pi’el (יְקַטֵּל)
The Pu’al (יְקֻטַּל)
The Hithpa’el (יִתְקַטֵּל)
The Hiph’il (יַקְטִיל)
The Hoph’al (יָקְטַל)

Imperatives, Infinitive, and Participles of the Remaining Stems - Lesson 18
The imperative shares the same stem as the imperfect. The passives stem for Pu’al and Hoph’al do not have an imperative form. Only the second person masculine and feminine singular and plural use the imperative.