ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to Biblical Hebrew language and texts. Combining a fresh and innovative approach with an in-depth treatment of the language, it presents the essentials of biblical 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 a Biblical Hebrew conjugation: wayyiqo. The wayyiqo appears more frequently in biblical narrative than either the qaal or yiqol. The chapter presents many examples of the wayyiqol in the biblical stories. The wayyiqol is generally more straightforward in meaning than the qaal or yiqol: it is typically used to convey sequences of preterite actions, most commonly in narrative.
