Biblical Hebrew Simplified (Learning to Read Through Hebrew-English Blends)

Biblical Hebrew Simplified is a collection of twenty-five familiar passages from the Hebrew Bible, each of which is adapted to promote the reading of authentic Biblical Hebrew for language students at all levels, from beginner to advanced, thereby promoting vocabulary mastery and reading fluency.

The book begins with an introduction that briefly explains the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory behind its format and provides instructions for using the resource. The main part of the book presents each selected passage at eight levels:

• English translation only
• Four levels in which an ever-increasing number of the English words in the passage are replaced with Hebrew words
• Hebrew text only
• English translation with only nouns in Hebrew
• English translation with only verbs in Hebrew

A set of questions is included at the end of each of the Bible passages that targets each level of the diglot weave, with the goal of testing and reinforcing comprehension and vocabulary mastery while drawing students’ attention to important aspects of the text. The book also includes a parsing appendix that students can use to look up difficult forms they will encounter in the various passages.

Using a Hebrew-English blend (diglot weave) is a unique approach to language development, informed by Second Language Acquisition research and practice, that makes the Hebrew Bible accessible to all levels of language learners. It makes an excellent supplemental reader for any Biblical Hebrew course, and it also serves well as a resource for those who want to maintain their language learning or review on their own.

Geared toward students of Biblical Hebrew and their teachers, as well as those who wish to maintain and/or improve their Hebrew reading proficiency beyond the classroom. This includes recent seminary graduates who want to maintain their language proficiency, clergy, faculty, individuals who are teaching themselves Biblical Hebrew, and those who have studied Biblical Hebrew in the past but have stepped away from it for a while. A helpful textbook for Biblical Hebrew classes of all levels, as well as Hebrew Bible classes, especially those with a Hebrew exegesis focus.