Many people inquire about Hebrew learning resources, especially while our classes at Beth Shechinah are suspended. Here are some of the best online resources I have found:
Hebrew for Christians: an excellent site with detailed lessons and exercises, audio and printer-friendly pages for talmidim (students) of all levels. He has done extensive research into Hebrew and Jewish customs as well, and includes articles and teachings based upon Hebrew studies. With downloadable PDF's and frequent updates, this is a site you will want to bookmark.
Navigating the Bible II: This is an online bar/bat mitzvah tutor, offered in English, Russian, and Spanish. It will help you locate the parasha reading for your Hebrew birthday, and has audio files to help you pronounce it and cantor it, and a summary of each portion. It has a reference guide to the people, places, plants and animals mentioned in the Bible and a text search.
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network: Here there are many fun and colorful exercises and learning aids. Don't think this is just kid's stuff- Hebrew is Hebrew, and the more fun it is to learn, the more you will retain. They have information on all the Jewish customs, festivals, traditions, and Bible characters, besides crafts for the holidays and a "Hebrew Word of the Day". An excellent resource for home-schooling as well.
BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages: I include this because it is a handy tool to use as a concordance, flip back and forth between Hebrew and English, and to compare various translations. On the homepage, type in your keyword or reference, and then you will be able to choose from the versions and languages. (Languages are listed alphabetically.) The main site is also available in Spanish.
Showing posts with label Hebrew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrew. Show all posts
Monday, October 23, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Book Review: Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus
Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin and Roy B. Blizzard
There are many expressions in the Gospels which are difficult to understand, and many which are so familiar we think we know what they mean. But do we? This book approaches the Gospels from a unique hermeneutical angle. The thesis is that Hebrew, not Aramaic or Greek, was the language of the common people in the first century C.E. They postulate that an account of Yeshua's life was originally written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek, as the need arose, and eventually this morphed into the three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Many Hebraic sayings and idioms appear to be translated word-for-word into Greek, with confusing consequences for modern English readers. They believe the original chronology of the gospels has become jumbled, and therefore these parables and teachings have lost their original contexts.
I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a greater understanding of the cultural context of the Gospels, and to anyone who has come away from a parable of Yeshua with more questions than answers.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 6, Page 88:
"The kingdom of God has come near you.
"In Hebrew, 'to come near' means 'to be at.' If we try to understand Luke 10:9 and 11, quoted above, by reading the Greek word engiken (translated 'has come near') we are in trouble. Engiken means 'about to appear' or 'is almost here'. However, if we translate it back into Hebrew, we get an entirely different meaning. The Hebrew equivalent of engiken is the verb karav, which means 'to come up and be with' or 'to be where something or someone else is.'
"The Greek engiken, or the English, 'near,' mean: 'It's not yet here.' The implication is that the Kingdom of God is futuristic, not yet here. The Hebrew karav means the exact opposite: 'It's here! It has arrived!' "
This book is available at Beth Shechinah.
There are many expressions in the Gospels which are difficult to understand, and many which are so familiar we think we know what they mean. But do we? This book approaches the Gospels from a unique hermeneutical angle. The thesis is that Hebrew, not Aramaic or Greek, was the language of the common people in the first century C.E. They postulate that an account of Yeshua's life was originally written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek, as the need arose, and eventually this morphed into the three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Many Hebraic sayings and idioms appear to be translated word-for-word into Greek, with confusing consequences for modern English readers. They believe the original chronology of the gospels has become jumbled, and therefore these parables and teachings have lost their original contexts.
I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a greater understanding of the cultural context of the Gospels, and to anyone who has come away from a parable of Yeshua with more questions than answers.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 6, Page 88:
"The kingdom of God has come near you.
"In Hebrew, 'to come near' means 'to be at.' If we try to understand Luke 10:9 and 11, quoted above, by reading the Greek word engiken (translated 'has come near') we are in trouble. Engiken means 'about to appear' or 'is almost here'. However, if we translate it back into Hebrew, we get an entirely different meaning. The Hebrew equivalent of engiken is the verb karav, which means 'to come up and be with' or 'to be where something or someone else is.'
"The Greek engiken, or the English, 'near,' mean: 'It's not yet here.' The implication is that the Kingdom of God is futuristic, not yet here. The Hebrew karav means the exact opposite: 'It's here! It has arrived!' "
This book is available at Beth Shechinah.
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