Hebrew Studies Collection (7 vols.)
Overview
Recent years have seen new developments in linguistics, literary theory, Old Testament scholarship, and other disciplines related to the study of Hebrew—from new understandings of language and language change, to more developed understanding of the difficulties involved in translations and interpretation.
The 7-volume Hebrew Studies Collection contains contributions from David Noel Freedman, Walter Brueggeman, Philip R. Davies, David J. A. Clines, and dozens of other scholars working at the intersection of Old Testament scholarship, Hebrew study, and linguistics. Contributors also examine the Hebrew texts of specific books and sections of the Hebrew Bible, including Johan Renkema on Lamentations, Carole Fontaine on Job, Mark F. Rooker’s important work on biblical Hebrew in Ezekiel, and much more. It also contains Alviero Niccacci’s landmark work on the syntax of Hebrew verbs. This collection will especially benefit scholars who specialize in Hebrew poetry, drawing from some of the most significant scholarship to appear in the past half century from Wilfred Watson and Michael Patrick O’Connor, co-editor of the Waltke/O'Connor Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax.
- Contains Alviero Niccacci’s landmark work on the syntax of Hebrew verbs
- Includes important works on Hebrew poetry from Wilfred Watson, Michael Patrick O’Connor, and others
- All Scripture references linked to the Hebrew texts in your library
- David Noel Freedman
- Walter Brueggeman
- Philip R. Davies
- David J. A. Clines
- Dozens of others
- Title: Hebrew Studies Collection
- Volumes: 7
- Pages: 2,638
Partially included
Structural Analysis of Biblical and Canaanite Poetry introduces a new method of structural analysis of biblical and Canaanite poetry pioneered by Pieter van der Lugt. This method incorporates translation and textual criticism, divides the texts into poetical verses, identifies internal parallelisms, and produces a concordance of all words—including suffixes—used in a passage. Contributors to this Structural Analysis of Biblical and Canaanites Poetry apply, critique, and engage van der Lugt’s methodology.
Contributions to this volume include:
- “Fundamentals of Ugaritic and Hebrew Poetry,” Marjo C. A. Korpel and Johannes C. de Moor
- “The Legend of Kirtu (KTU I.14–16): A Study of Structure and its Consequences for Interpretation,” Klaas Spronk
- “The Poetic Prose of Joshua 23,” William T. Koopmans
- “The Literary Genre of the Song of the Vineyard (Isaiah 5:1–7),” Marjo C. A. Korpel
- “The Book of Jonah as Poetry: An Analysis of Jonah 1:1–16,” Raymond de Hoop
- “Micah 1: A Structural Approach,” Johannes C. de Moor
- “Classical Hebrew Metrics and Zephaniah 2–3,” Harm W. M. van Grol
- “Psalm 110: A Psalm of Rehabilitation?” Willem van der Meer
- “Strophes and Stanzas in the Book of Job: A Historical Survey,” Pieter van der Lugt
- “The Form and the Function of the Refrains in Job 28: Some Comments Relating to the ‘Strophic’ Structure of Hebrew Poetry,” Pieter van der Lugt
- “The Literary Structure of Lamentations,” Johan Renkema
- “The Reconstruction of the Aramaic Original of the Lord’s Prayer,” Johannes C. de Moor
Willem van der Meer is Lecturer in Old Testament at the Theological University of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Kampen, the Netherlands.
The essays included in this volume are indicative of the directions in the study of biblical Hebrew poetry—not only reflecting the directions of study in the past, but also pointing the way for future exploration. Biblical study which focuses on literary form cannot help but touch upon the larger field of literary criticism. Authors have incorporated a variety of approaches—some traditional; others innovative and controversial—to suggest the richness of the study itself and to provide a sense of its expansiveness into the future.
Contributions to this volume include:
- “Another Look at Biblical Hebrew Poetry,” David Noel Freedman
- “Narrative Poetics and the Interpretation of the Book of Jonah,” Duane L. Christensen
- “Alternating (ABA'B') Parallelism in the Old Testament Psalms and Prophetic Literature,” John T. Willis
- “The Parallelism of Greater Precision,” David J. A. Clines
- “The Case for the Prosecution: Isaiah 41:21–42:17,” Jerome T. Walsh
- “The Use of Inclusion in Habakkuk 3,” Theodore Hiebert
- “On the Interpretation of Psalm 133,” Adele Berlin
- “The Mock-Simha of Psalm 137,” Harris Lenowitz
- “The Pseudosorites: A Type of Paradox in Hebrew Verse,” Michael Patrick O’Connor
- “The Holy City as Daughter,” Elaine R. Follis
- “Poetry in the Courtroom: Job 38–41,” Sylvia Huberman Scholnick
- “Folktale Structure in the Book of Job: A Formalist Reading,” Carole Fontaine
- “Samson: A Play for Voice,” William J. Urbrock
- “Two Songs of Victory: A Comparison of Exodus 15 and Judges 5,” Alan J. Hauser
- “The Song of Miriam Poetically and Theologically Considered,” Bernhard W. Anderson
- “A Response to ‘The Song of Miriam’ by Bernard Anderson,” Walter Brueggemann
Elaine R. Follis is Professor of Religion, Principia College, Elsah, Illinois.
The purpose of this work is to determine the place of the book of Ezekiel in the history of the Hebrew language, especially in relationship to the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew of Ezekiel contains grammatical and lexical features that are characteristic of the post-exilic and post-biblical periods, and should thus be distinguished from earlier Hebrew works of the classical period. It does not, however, contain as much late Hebrew as other canonical books deemed to be late. The book of Ezekiel should thus be regarded as the representative mediating link between pre-exilic and postexilic Biblical Hebrew.
Mark Rooker is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, North Carolina.
Syntax of verbs in Hebrew is fraught with problems. According to classic grammars, many Hebrew words can be translated by virtually all the finite tenses of modern languages. Such grammars include lengthy catalogs of special cases and rules for exceptional uses, which illustrate how difficult the problem of verb syntax is. In turn, translators select the equivalent tense of modern languages based more on their own interpretation than on the rules of Hebrew syntax itself.
In this landmark study on the syntax of Hebrew verbs, Niccacci re-examines the fundamental linguistic categories of prose and provides a systematic classification of the forms and constructions of Hebrew verbs. A final chapter deals with tense in poetry.
Alviero Niccacci is Professor of Hebrew at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem.
In this volume, leading Hebrew language scholars outline various views on the phenomenon of variation in biblical Hebrew and its significance for biblical studies. An important question that is addressed is whether late biblical Hebrew is a distinct chronological phase within the history of biblical Hebrew. Articles explore both chronological and non-chronological interpretations of the differences between early biblical Hebrew and late biblical Hebrew. These discussions have an important contribution to make to the wider field of biblical studies, not only to the history of the Hebrew language.
Contributions to this collection include:
- “The Importance of Loanwords for Dating Biblical Hebrew Texts,” Mats Eskhult
- “Hebrew and Aramaic in the Biblical Period: The Problem of ‘Aramaisms’ in Linguistic Research on the Hebrew Bible,” Avi Hurvitz
- “Style is More than the Person: Sociolinguistics, Literary Culture, and the Distinction between Written and Oral Narrative,” Frank Polak
- “Hurvitz Redux: On the Continued Scholarly Inattention to a Simple Principle of Hebrew Philology,” Gary A. Rendsburg
- “Further Evidence for North Israelite Contributions to Late Biblical Hebrew,” Richard M. Wright
- “Biblical Hebrew and the History of Ancient Judah: Typology, Chronology and Common Sense,” Philip R. Davies
- “Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts,” Martin Ehrensvard
- “The Transitions of Biblical Hebrew in the Perspective of Language Change and Diffusion,” Jacobus A. Naude
- “Dating Biblical Hebrew: Evidence from Samuel–Kings and Chronicles,” Robert Rezetko
- “The Habitat and History of Hebrew during the Second Temple Period,” David Talshir
- “Late Biblical Hebrew and Hebrew Inscriptions,” Ian Young
Ian Young is Associate Professor in the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney.
Before, during and after the preparation of Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques (also included in this collection), Wilfred Watson published several articles on Hebrew poetry in a wide range of periodicals. The present volume collects together the most significant of these writings, including a chapter from a book on chiasmus, as well as a few unpublished items. After an opening survey of current work on Hebrew verse the articles cover the following topics: parallelism (including half-line parallelism, previously almost unnoticed), antithesis, word pairs, chiasmus, figurative language and introductions to speech in verse. The last section deals with structural devices and a folktale motif in narrative verse, hyperbole, apostrophe and alliteration. Previously unpublished items are on the contribution of ethnopoetics, from the study of Native American literature to Hebrew narrative verse (a new topic in biblical studies), parallelism in the Song of Songs and a metaphor in Jeremiah. This anthology is intended as a companion volume to Classical Hebrew Poetry. It includes additions and corrections to that book and there are also several indices.
Wilfred Watson teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
In spite of debatable issues, such as meter, we now know enough about classical Hebrew poetry to be able to understand how it was composed. This large-scale manual, rich in detail, exegesis and bibliography, provides guidelines for the analysis and appreciation of Hebrew verse. Topics include oral poetry, meter, parallelism and forms of the strophe and stanza. Sound patterns and imagery are also discussed. A lengthy chapter sets out a whole range of other poetic devices and the book closes with a set of worked examples of Hebrew poetry. Throughout, other ancient Semitic verse has been used for comparison and the principles of modern literary criticism have been applied.
Wilfred Watson teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
