Hebrew Pedagogy: An Inductive Approach to Intermediate Hebrew
In the study of the Hebrew language, a twenty first century student is met with an host of obstacles to overcome. Not least among these obstacles is the physical, organic, connection to the environment that is a real part of the Hebrew sense of being. Students are immediately aware that the Hebrew sense of being in the world is different than that of the Greek, and thus it seems that the deductive, logic based way of encountering the rules of the language fall short in relaying a Hebrew sensibility.
As a Hebrew student, this author found a deep resonance in translating the text as an intuitive process, which developed over a time of building a relationship with a given text. Given my own experience then, I set out to develop an intermediate Hebrew language experience in which students engage the biblical narrative and study the rules of grammar and syntax in an inductive method. This paper includes complete translations of the books of Jonah, Ruth and chapters one-three of I Samuel. Additionally, it provides a sample lesson plan, course description, and curriculum overview for a complete thirty weeks, or two semesters of intermediate Hebrew. The translations are supplemented by "in context" lectures that offer exegetical criticism to the material studied.
This paper offers an approach to the study of biblical Hebrew that invites students to engage the text and develop grammar and syntax rules as they progress. In so doing, the process and methodology itself, honors the notion of an Hebrew sense of being in the world.