A Consonantal Approach To Learning Biblical Hebrew by slaveofone
As it has been pointed out time and again, the way most people learn biblical Hebrew nowadays is basically the same way it’s been taught for the past several centuries. At a superficial level, all the Hebrew Grammars out there (and there are A LOT) give the impression that this is by no means a stagnant pool regurgitating the same pedagogical methods again and again. Unfortunately, that impression is deceiving. The crucial point about this is that these methods are not very helpful and in most cases very unhelpful. One begins learning biblical Hebrew and is suddenly thrust into the Masoretic pointing system, which controls and dominates their entire learning experience. The problems are:
- The Masoretes were masters of their linguistic craft and their pointing system is thus profound and difficult, which makes learning biblical Hebrew laborious, difficult, and unnecessarily confusing.
- The Masoretic system is a late invention applied to the Hebrew and thus should really be considered a SECOND LANGUAGE in addition to Hebrew.
- The Masoretic system was designed to fix/standardize/define the meaning of the Hebrew according to the way it was understood during THE MIDDLE AGES. Are we to believe against all evidence that in over half a millennium and more, the way the biblical texts were understood didn’t change? The standardizing pointing system by its very nature tends to limit and control what the text can or can’t say.
- The Masoretic system is BY NO MEANS THE ONLY WAY the Hebrew was vocalized at that time or before, so it should not be taken as the true and only way of vocalizing the consonantal text now. The standardizing pointing system by its very nature tends to limit and control how the text says what it says.
- Reliance on the later pointing system for defining, controlling, and interpreting ancient Hebrew means that when one actually approaches ancient Hebrew, they face unnecessary difficulties.
- The entire Masoretic system is based on the concept of a fixed/standard/defined canon of ACCEPTED (and thus by negation, REJECTED) collection of texts and the form of those texts therein. The ancient world from which the Hebrew texts originated knew no such limitations.
If one is a religious Jew or Christian attending seminary or yeshiva and believes in a certain fixed, inspired collection of texts and form of texts in agreement with the collection and forms as the Masoretes passed on, this is not detrimental, but for the scholar, the seeker of truth, or any secular, liberal arts education, such limitations cannot be accepted or inculcated.
The solution? A focus on the consonantal text with an emphasis on the Masoretic pointing system, not vice versa. Use more than just biblical texts. Don’t be confined by the HB/OT. This way, one first learns how to deal with the consonantal text on its own terms and, thereafter, begins using the Masoretic system as a further way to limit, define, and interpret. Here is a brief suggestion of how that might be done using the verbal Binyanim as an example.
Introduce Qal (Q), Niphal (N), Piel (Pi), Pual (Pu), Hiphil (Hi), Hophal (Ho), and Hithpael (Hit), describing what they communicate. Then introduce the Perfect, Imperfect, Imperative, Jussive, Cahortative, Participles, Infinitives, and Waw Consecutives, describing what they communicate. Run through exercises asking them what is what and what means what until everyone seems to have the binyanim and parts of speech down. Then begin teaching a list that says what a word is and what it could be if it is a strong “root” plus whatever prefix, suffix, or other. Have students work through consonantal words only and identify what the word HAS TO BE based on those rules. Then have them work through consonantal words only and identify what they COULD BE based on those rules. Begin only with strong roots. Here, for example, are some rules:
- root only = Q/Pi/Pu
could be: Q/Pi/Pu 3ms Perfect, Q/Pi 2ms Imperative, Pi/Pu Infinitive Abs, or Q Active Participle - root with Yod between 2 and 3 radical = Hiphil
- root with Waw between 2 and 3 radical = Qal
could be: Infinitive Abs or Passive Participle - Nun + root = Niphal
could be: 3ms Perfect, Passive Participle, or Infinitive Abs - Yod + root = Imperfect or Jussive
could be: Q/N/Pi/Pu/Ho 3ms Imperfect or Q/N/Pi/Pu/Hi/Ho Jussive - Mem + root = Participle
could be: Pi/Pu/Ho - Taw + root = Imperfect
could be: Q/N/Pi/Pu/Ho 3fs or 2ms - Alef + root = Imperfect
could be: Q/N/Pi/Pu/Ho 1cs
In this way, relying solely on the consonants, students begin to understand what a verb is and what it could mean without ever having to deal with vowel points. After they have mastered this, have them move from identifying what words are to giving possible interpretations of those words based on those rules. ONLY AFTER ALL THIS is Masoretic pointing introduced. This enables them to narrow down what a word is or could be based on the consonants to what the pointing makes it to be. Not only will this help students understand how the pointing restricts meaning, but it will enable them to make meaningful decisions about the language based on the consonantal text BEFORE turning to the pointing. In the end, what this will do is free them from the limitations and restrictions imposed by the pointing, enable them to approach the Hebrew text on its own terms, have greater and easier recognition of the Hebrew, and make plainly evident for them the part that either they or the Masoretes play as interpreters in the meaning of the scriptural text.