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. The chapter focuses on all the topics expected in a first-year Biblical Hebrew course, including the Hebrew writing system, pointing rules, nouns and adjectives, parsing, mastery of strong and weak verb paradigms and full attention to syntax. Hebrew is a fascinating language with a rich history spanning 3,000 years. Hebrew 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. Biblical Hebrew also has a qalpassive participle. Like its active counterpart, the passive participle is based on a verbal root but more closely resembles an adjective in form. However, in contrast to the active participle, the function of the passive participle is very straightforward: it serves as an adjective describing something that has been done to the subject.
