Category Archives: Hebrew in HD

The Nausea of Purposeless Repetition (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)

It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this … Continue reading

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Gleanings From Genesis: A Cruel Act of Love

Continuing our gleanings from the book of Genesis, we come now to Gen. 34 concerning the rape of Dinah. The author describes both the act and the result with increasing intensity through the choice of verbs which build upon one … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: The God Who Promises

In Gen. 24, Abraham commissions his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac that the promise of offspring may be realized. In verse 7, Abraham responds to his servant’s inquiry concerning what the servant should do in the … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: Artistic Redundancy

When Sarah gives birth to Isaac, notice the redundancy in the verse emphasizing the miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth when compared to Hagar’s birth to Ishmael: Gen. 16:15 …Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. וַיִּקְרָ֨א אַבְרָ֧ם שֶׁם־בְּנ֛וֹאֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָ֥ה הָגָ֖ר יִשְׁמָעֵֽאל … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: The Lord’s Double Promise Fulfilled

Gen. 21:1 (my translation): And Yahweh visited Sarah as He said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as He promised. Gen. 21:1 (Hebrew): וַֽיהוָ֛ה פָּקַ֥ד אֶת־שָׂרָ֖הכַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמָ֑ר וַיַּ֧עַשׂ יְהוָ֛הלְשָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֵּֽר Notice the double emphasis on the Lord’s words being fulfilled.

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Gleanings from Genesis: Palistrophe

Palistrophe is another name for the literary device “chiasum” where a sequence of words/events are used and then re-used in reverse order (A-B-B-A). But where palistrophe differs from a typical chiasm is that it occurs over an extended portion of … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: The Emphatic Position

In Hebrew, the usual order of words in a sentence follows the structure of [Verb] –> [Subject] –> [Object]. Sometimes, however, the verb and subject are reversed to place emphasis upon the subject (cf. Gen. 22:1 where the emphasis is … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: Word Play

In Genesis 19, we find another aspect of Hebrew narrative: word play. Sometimes word play occurs between narrative episodes and their relation to one another (Jacob deceiving Isaac and Laban deceiving Jacob) or sometimes they occur within the narrative itself. … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: Narrative Pace

Coming now to Genesis 19 concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, we find an important element in Biblical Hebrew narrative: pace. Often, one can discern the pace of a story, especially that of slowing down, through the use of repetitive descriptions for … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: Watch Those Pronouns!

One thing that is easy to miss when reading Scripture in English is the conflation between you (singular) and you (plural), though I suspect this is not as much as a problem in the South (ya’ll), unless “ya’ll” is used … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: Important “Side Bar” Disjunctives

In Hebrew narrative, the preterite verbal conjugation provides the “narrative backbone” for the sequences of events within a story. However, when there is waw + [something other than a verb], it is a disjunctive clause, providing ancillary information for the … Continue reading

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2011 New Year’s Resolution

My goal for 2011 is to… Read through the NT Greek again using Lee Iron’s program: http://www.upper-register.com/papers/GNT_reading_program.pdf http://www.upper-register.com/papers/GNT_calendar_2011.pdf http://www.upper-register.com/papers.html#GNT Read through the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) in Hebrew, using the Parashat ha-Shavua as my markers for each week’s reading unit. Many … Continue reading

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Gleanings from Genesis: The Blame Game Up and Down the Chain

As I was reading Genesis 1-3 this morning in English and some parts in Hebrew, I came upon this fascinating chiastic structure in Gen. 3:9-19, which I have shown by way of indentation: [9] But the LORD God called to … Continue reading

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Living in the Promise of the Future (Isaiah 2:1-5)

Here is the sermon I preached last week at Providence Presbyterian Church. Sermon Title: Living in the Promise of the Future Text: Isaiah 2:1-5

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Teach Yourself Biblical Hebrew for Free!

Frederic Putnam has a new introductory Hebrew grammer to be released within the next month. However, until the book hits the shelves, he is offering an electronic copy of his grammar for free. Click the links below to download! Title: … Continue reading

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The Tension of Narrative

You’ll notice in my list of categories that I have complemented the category “Koine in Color” with “Hebrew in HD.” What I explore in the Greek NT, I will likewise do in the Hebrew OT. To begin this new category, … Continue reading

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Violent Devotion

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. As I was reading the first two verses of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) in Hebrew yesterday … Continue reading

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