Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew: Learning Biblical Hebrew Grammatical Concepts Through English Grammar (review)

Hebrew Studies 44 (2003) 234 Reviews and 269. The feminine plural imperative form of N':J would be i1~N!:l and not i1~Ni~ (pp. 172, 269). A feminine singular participle is not attested in the Bible, and it would probably be a segolate form n~~;:l~, not i1~~i:l~ (pp. 172, 269). n~':i is the infinitive construct of Qal from 11'", not i1¥-::r (p. 17S). n77 is the only form of infinitive construct Qal of ,r,•. i1?~ (p. 17S) is a noun. A general remark regarding the presentation of the weak verb is that the author's need to present full charts of these forms has sometimes led to the use of weak roots in stems or inflections in which they do not exist in Biblical Hebrew. It might have been better to replace these by genuine Biblical Hebrew forms. One such instance is the form '~~1 (p. 157), which does not exist in Hiphil. An instance like I;~~J might be better suited in this case. Another such example is the demonstration of the root t:il) in the Qal stem in the "perfect" and participle (pp. 167-16S, 266-267), while this root is attested in this stem only in the "imperfect," imperative, and infmitive. One more example is the inflection of :Jc;' in the Niphal "imperfect," imperative, and infinitive (pp. ISO-lSI, 270-271). These forms are not attested in Biblical Hebrew. A demonstration of these forms by ::1,.. for instance, would be a better choice. In any case, forms which do not exist in Biblical Hebrew should be marked as such. In conclusion, the book should be extensively corrected and thoroughly revised before it is recommended for use by students or anyone else interested in Biblical Hebrew. TamarZewi University ojHaifa, Haifa 31905 Israel tzewi@univ.haifa.ac.il GRAMMATICAL CONCEPTS 101 FOR BmLICAL HEBREW: LEARNING BmLICAL HEBREW GRAMMATICAL CONCEPTS THROUGH ENGLISH GRAMMAR. By Gary Alan Long. Pp. xvii + IS9. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2002. Paper, $19.95. College and university teachers of foreign languages in the Englishspeaking world recognize that their students' ignorance of English grammar provides major obstacles for their work. Explanations of such ignorance are sometimes offered, and various suspects brought forward; two favorites are educational permissiveness prompted by laissez-faire reforms and misguided attempts to profit from "modern linguistics." Whatever the proper explanation may be, foreign-language teachers are called on to remedy the Hebrew Studies 44 (2003) 235 Reviews problems. Manuals and handbooks may be recommended for students, put on reserve, or assigned. Some of these are introductory grammars of English in one pedagogic mode or another; others are books written by foreignlanguage teachers and thus designed to confront particular problems, albeit in the course of covering a broader swath of material. One such volume known to Hebraists is Robert A. Fradkin's Stalking the Wild Verb Phrase: A SelfPaced , Self-Correcting Adventure illlo the Grammar of English for EnglishSpeaking Leamers of Other Languages (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1991). Fradkin's book, although written by a Semitist and an experienced teacher of foreign languages, among them Modern Hebrew, is not geared to Semitic problems. Long's book is another such offering, designed specifically for students of Biblical Hebrew. The implicit goal of learning a written and literary language settles some of the questions raised by the search for a workable pedagogy. The goal of communicative competence is set aside in favor of understanding or texllIal competence. Long's book presupposes an introduction to Biblical Hebrew, despite occa'iional suggestions that it can be used as an accompaniment to such a course (e.g., p. 50); it also, perhaps wisely, expects familiarity with no language other than English. The presentation generally steers clear of controversial points, although the author sometimes hints at doubts about standard views (e.g., on the participle, pp. 78-79, 130-131). A companion volume by the same author is promised for Biblical Greek. Long is a doctoral alum of the University of Chicago Oriental Institute, best known for several papers on metaphor theory and its application to biblical materials ("Dead or Alive? Literality and God-Metaphors in the Hebrew Bible," JAAR 62...