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Hebrew Studies 49 (2008) 320 Reviews WILLIAMS’ HEBREW SYNTAX. By Ronald J. Williams. Third Edition. Revised and Expanded by John C. Beckman. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Paper, $24.95. Williams’s Hebrew Syntax appeared previously in two editions, in 1967 and 1976. It was a short syntactic outline, still very useful not only for students , its prime target audience, but also for scholars, and it successfully drew attention to important features in Biblical Hebrew syntax: word order, syntax of the noun, the verb and the particles, and major types of clauses. The new third revised edition discussed here, revised and expanded by John C. Beckman, again concentrates in these fundamental issues and basically maintains their earlier treatment, adhering to the basic structure of the earlier editions. However, it is more than double the size of the earlier editions. This is due to its enlarging and updating the discussion of each section, adding more details, examples, explanations, and references to scholarly works on various topics, and expanding and revising the bibliography (titled “References” in the new edition) and the indices of passages, subjects, and Hebrew words. Especially important in this revised edition are the new references and terms inserted into the various discussions, which can benefit scholarship in Biblical Hebrew linguistics in general and Biblical Hebrew syntax in particular , as well as students taking their first steps or continuing their studies in Biblical Hebrew syntax. Another welcome contribution is synchronization through footnotes with other major Biblical Hebrew teaching and reference books. Examples are P. Joüon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (rev. ed.; Subsidia biblica 27; Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006); C. H. J. van der Merwe, J. A. Naudé, and J. H. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2002); and B. K. Waltke and M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990). Because of all these changes, the third edition of the book deserves to be treated not just as a teaching tool but as a reference work tool. The terms used in the book are perhaps not always the best possible choice, but can mostly be justified, as stated by the reviser, by the need to maintain continuity in Biblical Hebrew research. An example is the continued use of the terms “perfect” and “imperfect” for the suffix and prefix conjugations, although other terms are also now displayed (see explanation of the reviser on p. xiv). In other cases, terms have been modified, for example , the title of chapter 1, in which “nominals” replaces the old “noun,” and for a good reason as explained in footnote 1 (p. 1); or the title of chapter 1, C (previously II, 3), “Construct chain” (p. 7), instead of the old “Bound structure ,” now mentioned in parenthesis under the new name, and again among Hebrew Studies 49 (2008) 321 Reviews many other useful parallel terms in the new passage §28a on p. 7. Alternatives for various terms are in fact scattered throughout the new edition. Examples are the assortment of terms displayed for “nominative absolute,” mentioned on p. 12, §35, the alternative terms for the “perfect conjugation” and “imperfect conjugation” on pp. 66–67, 69, more terms for “concord” on p. 92, and for the accusative particle on p. 168, §475a. Being acquainted with the constant struggle of students and scholars to bridge between various distinct terms for similar phenomena, I find such lists of parallel terms and their explanation extremely useful. The following are several examples of modifications made in the new revised edition. Phenomena which were not treated at all in the early editions are now discussed, for example, “Construct with a genitive adjective” (p. 10,§30e), “Stem (theme)” (the beginning of chapter 2 A in the new edition, p. 56), and “Aspect” (the beginning of chapter 2 C in the new edition, p. 66). The new edition also discusses and better demonstrates various features noted very briefly in the earlier editions or explained differently. One example is the treatment of “a construct term with the directive suffix” on p. 9,§30a, which explains and demonstrates an issue presented previously only in a single sentence without any...

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