TELEVISION

Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language

Series: Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language
4.9
(82)
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Episodes
36
Rating
TVPG
Year
2018
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Professor Michael Carasik has designed these 36 episodes as your authoritative primer on everything from the Hebrew alphabet and punctuation marks to essential vocabulary and advanced grammatical rules. Whether you're just starting out on a study of Hebrew or you already know the basics, these lectures are a helpful resource that include line-by-line readings of passages from the Hebrew Bible.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 36

1. Studying Biblical Hebrew

30m

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Use the word "hallelujah" as a gateway to exploring the three different components of the Biblical Hebrew writing system: letters, vowels, and diacriticals. Then, start learning Hebrew the natural way with a look at Genesis 1:3 and the first thing God does in creating heaven and Earth.

2. Learning the Aleph Bet

30m

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Get to know the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and how Biblical Hebrew is pronounced. Surprises include the silent letter aleph (the first letter of "God"), the tricky letter samekh, which resembles an "o" but sounds like an "s," and nearly identical pairs of letters such as gimel and nun.

3. The Tiberian Vowel System

34m

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The Tiberian system of marking vowels in Hebrew has been used exclusively for more than 1,000 years. In this episode, discover the signs that mark short and long vowels, and learn how vowels can change their spelling (and, slightly, their sound) without changing their meaning.

4. Roots of Semitic Verbs

35m

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Every Hebrew verb, and almost every noun and adjective, is based on a root, a group of three (or sometimes two) consonants. Here, Professor Carasik teaches you how to begin recognizing the roots of verbs in Biblical Hebrew, then he discusses how God is referred to in the Hebrew Bible.

5. Hebrew Verb Forms and the Definite Article

36m

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Get an introduction to the five different Hebrew verb forms: finite, infinitive, adjective, participle, and imperative. Plus, learn three ways of identifying something as definite (rather than indefinite): by using the definite article (ha), by labeling it with a personal pronoun, and by naming it.

6. Hebrew's Attached Prepositions

31m

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Explore three Hebrew letters that attach to the beginning of other words to create a new word. Then, armed with this new knowledge, read your first complete paragraph in Biblical Hebrew from start to finish: the story of the first day of creation in Genesis 1:1-5.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

The Great Coursesdirector
The Great Coursesproducer
Michael Carasikactor