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The First Hebrew Primer: The Adult Beginner's Path to Biblical Hebrew, Third Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Ethelyn & Stahl. Simon
Publisher: Eks
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $33.99
You Save: $0.96 (3%)
New (7) Used (5) from $30.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 90986
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3rd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 401
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0939144158
Dewey Decimal Number: 492.482421
EAN: 9780939144150
ASIN: 0939144158
Publication Date: February 1, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
THE comprehensive grammar for the beginning student. Systematically teaches Biblical Hebrew in a straightforward style. 30 lessons include: verb, grammar and spelling charts; vocabulary lists; oral reviews; exercises; stories; biblical quotes; Book of Ruth. Introduces 95% of words appearing over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible. Revised edition includes explanatory endnotes. 402 pages.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 A Good Introduction September 14, 2008
0 out of 21 found this review helpful
Stahl, Ethelyn and Simon, "The First Hebrew Primer: The Adult Beginner's Path to Biblical Hebrew, Third Edition", EKS, 1992.
A Good Introduction
Amos Lassen
Having learned modern spoken Hebrew, I took it upon myself to investigate the language of the Old Testament. I looked around for the best sources I could find when I came upon "The First Hebrew Primer" and I was surprised to find how easy it made everything look. The book is based upon a basic knowledge which does not necessarily include the alphabet and each lesson builds on the one before it making it quite painless to get through. Progress happens fast as the book does not get muddled down by explanations. The lessons are arranged well and they are not difficult if approached with a desire to learn. I found myself being able to read through the Five Books of Moses with little difficulty and with understanding of what I was reading.
The book contains vocabulary lessons, exercises in translation, and some brief explanations which are quite easy to follow.
There are some problems of course--the main one being the use of terminology which is nonstandard instead of straight forward explanations. Some features of the language are omitted altogether and therefore the book is really good just as an introduction which should be supplemented later.
The book approaches grammar on a high level so that the student will be able to translate from the Biblical sources and this could be the reason that detailed explanations are not given. What the book basically does is provide a comfort zone for those learning Hebrew. What the book does demand is self-motivation and for self-education this is a book that I recommend.
 The Best Biblical Hebrew Text I Have Found July 3, 2008
I have spent a lot of money searching for a Biblical Hebrew book that works for an adult learner. The First Hebrew Primer is the only book that meets all of my needs. After studying the 30 quite manageable lessons, the student is fully prepared to move on to more advanced levels of Biblical Hebrew. The First Hebrew Primer is one of the few books I found that actually has the student translating directly from the Hebrew Bible. There is none better!
Excellent resource if used correctly June 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm learning Hebrew on my own, and this book has been a fantastic resource, though I'm not all the way through it yet. It lays things out in a logical format, paces lessons well, and introduces useful vocabulary in a timely manner. But it should be used correctly in order to benefit the most. Some tips:
1) The sections on the alphabet are a few short chapters at the beginning. Do not proceed further until you have thoroughly mastered this or you will be frustrated beyond belief. I made myself flash cards copying from the chart on the last page of the book and learned the vowel points at the same time. If you move on without knowing all the letters and what they sound like, the rest of the book will seem too much.
2) It gives pronunciation guides but you really need to listen to someone say it. There are enough free online resources to at least get a general idea without spending more money on audio tapes.
3) Also, the pronunciation given in the book is Sephardic, but it is very easy to work around this if that's not what you want to learn. There are only a few minor differences with Ashkenazic pronunciation that can be quickly figured out looking at online transliterations of Jewish liturgy. The major differences I have found are in the pronunciation of tav with no dagesh, which sounds like an S not a T in Ashkenazic, and the vowel point kamets, which the book does not differentiate from patach but which is more of an O sound in the Ashkenazic rendering. Chassidic is probably harder but you can start by saying the cholem as "oy" instead of o.
4) Use other resources for reading practice. I have an Artscroll Chumash with Hebrew and English where I just read aloud a couple of pages a day to try to get faster. Transliterated siddurim are also good for double-checking pronunciation. You may start making vocabulary and conjugation connections on your own!
5) Don't go too fast. A chapter or two a day is probably enough. I find myself getting frustrated and forgetting things if I do more than that. It is not a language you can cram.
Awesome course November 26, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book system to teach myself Biblical Hebrew. After a few weeks and only 11 chapters or so, I find myself easily recognizing words and phrases out of the Torah, and also identifying verb conjugations, prepositions, and the like that I had never recognized before.
I am hungry to finish the rest of this course!
After getting the book, I got the answer book, and also the flashcards, and then the computer-based system with integrated audio. The whole system is awesome.
The authors do a great job of not getting bogged down into the picky details of grammatical rules that are rarely exercised. If you do have a complaint about that, work through this course's material, and then get a heavy grammar like Seow to dot all the i's and cross t's. These authors go by the 80/20 rule, and as you run across exceptions, you can still get the gist of what's going on.
One of the BEST features of this book system is that it maintains an unspoiled Jewish viewpoint. Any instruction books that refer to the 24 books of the TaNaKh (Hebrew Bible) as the "Old Testament" (this one does not) should send up RED FLAGS OF WARNING. I looked at several other materials that blithely wove in non-Jewish biases (i.e. "Greek" testament topics) before finding this one.
The best teachable book for Hebrew beginners July 13, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I am very enthusiastic about this book. Until now, I have bought many Hebrew Grammars as the Weingreen, Pratico, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar and others in the Greek language. None is so teachable as this one for Biblical Hebrew. The beginning is very soft and easy. There are not many grammar details or exceptions of the general rules, only the main rules. But the teaching is not simplistic; there are also endnotes, where you can read more details or exceptions.
The pronunciation is the same as in modern Hebrew. So you learn to spell ancient Hebrew as modern Israelis speak now. This is easier and useful. Other Grammars teach another way of pronunciation that could be more accurate regarding the ancient pronunciation, but Israelis don't speak now like that. So in the future, if you want, you could learn much easier the modern Hebrew.
This is not a complete Hebrew Grammar. If you want to learn more, you can buy for example the Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar by Pratico and Van Pelt.
It contains many exercises which make you learn the language by repetition of the words and the rules. This book doesn't contain detailed terminology. The kind of teaching is modern and pleasant.
If you are a beginner and you want to learn Biblical Hebrew, don't hesitate to buy this book. You will not waste your money. I advise you to buy also the "Primer Answer Book" of the exercises, and the "Audio Companion tape or CD set". So you could learn better the pronunciation by Hebrew teachers.
There is also an excellent digital edition for self study, which contains the Textbook, the Answer book and the Audio Companion together. You can buy the Audio CD set and the Digital Edition only by the EKS Publishing Co. (www.ekspublishing.com). The rest you can buy also by the Amazon.com.
May you enjoy teaching and learning of Biblical Hebrew by this book!
Spyros Karalis
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