ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to Biblical Hebrew language and texts. It presents the essentials of biblical grammar and vocabulary in an engaging and systematic way. Hebrew is a fascinating language with a rich history spanning 3,000 years. It is a member of the Afro-Asiatic language family, which is a large group of languages spread throughout much of northern Africa and the Middle East. The chapter discusses one major Biblical Hebrew conjugation: weqaal. The weqaal is composed of the waw-consecutive prefixed to the qaal. The weqaal looks in many ways like the mirror-image of the wayyiqol: although it resembles the qaal in form, it is used in the same ways as the yiqol, namely to convey sequences of future, habitual, and modal actions as well as commands. The weqaal is most commonly found in direct speech, conveying future actions following an initial yiqol. The weqaal also frequently appears in direct speech conveying commands following an initial imperative.
