ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to Biblical Hebrew language and texts. It presents essentials of biblical grammar and vocabulary in a systematic way. The chapter examines 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 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 a special category of qal verbs called stative that denote physical, mental, or emotional states rather than actions. The meaning of these stative verbs corresponds to that of the English to be plus an adjective. Stative verbs differ to some extent in form and usage from the non-stative qal verbs which are familiar. The entire qaal paradigm of roots with pata in their second syllable is identical to that of non-stative qal qaals.
