First you bear down and memorize all kinds of grammatical forms in order to make sense of a language. But then it is best to dig a little deeper to ascertain why all those forms look the way they do and why they are translated as they are.

Biblical Hebrew is by no means an exception to this trend, and resources like John Cook’s The Biblical Hebrew Verb: A Lingustic Introduction helps to provide a deeper, more enriched understanding of our understanding of Biblical Hebrew.

While the subheading declares this book a linguistic “introduction,” it is by no means a basic level foray into Biblical Hebrew. It is an introduction inasmuch as it does not go into as much scholarly detail as the author can, and has, done in other occasions.

Instead, it is an overview of the Biblical Hebrew verbal system for the intermediate to advanced student of Biblical Hebrew. The author is well versed in Biblical Hebrew, historical linguistics, and has dedicated himself to the study of the verbal system.

Disclaimer: I am well acquainted with the author’s material; he was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before me, and Cook’s and Holmstedt’s introductory grammar was used in our curriculum. Thus, I was already somewhat familiar with many of the arguments in this book which many might see as controversial.

This work does well at its purpose: it well covered, synchronically and diachronically, the various forms of verbs and verbal-adjunct forms in Biblical Hebrew, what the various binyanim are all about, and how the verbs and verbal-adjunct forms are marked, especially for tense, aspect, and mood (TAM). The author goes into significant diachronic depth into how each TAM-marked form developed and became what it was, and argued well for how they should be translated in many instances.

Throughout the author liberally provides examples from the Biblical text; the final chapter features verbal analysis of whole sections to demonstrate all the principles fully adumbrated before.

If you are well-skilled in Biblical Hebrew, go get this work if you haven’t already.

Why a book just on verbs? Why is this book important? Who can best benefit from this book? Why would anyone read this book? These questions might be good to ask before picking up this book. It is academic and technical, even for Hebrew students. It is important for students, pastors, preachers, and anyone wanting a more in-depth knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. As a linguistic introduction, this book aims to broaden our learning and understanding of the nuances demonstrated by Hebrew verbs.

From "valency" to "tense-aspect-mood/modality," students can find it challenging to deal with when, how, and where verbs manage both subjects and objects. Other nuances include the use of tenses (time-based), aspect (temporal nature), and mood (actual vs potential). The author recognizes an existing gap between scholarly treatises and textbook treatments of the topic. The former might be too technical or academic for new students while the latter lacks the space to explain the vast complexities of the Hebrew verb. In filling this "niche," it is hoped that students will develop a "linguistic framework" to connect the literal meaning with the historical contexts. This will enable one to give clearer linguistic explanations of the verb in question. This road is often uphill and requires much diligence. As an introductory book, author John Cook provides us many examples to facilitate our learning. Chapter One covers the "Linguistic Background" to show us how Latin-mindsets differ from Semitic-mindsets; various linguistic theories used; terminologies; and the differences between "text" and "language." Hebrew being a more "Internal-language" can be quite challenging for English-language speakers. This is more so when we are asked: "Which Hebrew? Biblical, Rabbinic, or Modern?"

Chapter Two covers "The Thematic Domain" which deals with the lowest level of the morphology hierarchy. From this level we get the roots underlying adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs, etc. Cook describes the Infinitive, Adverbial Infinitive, and the participle in detail, followed by the Situation Aspect. Simply put, the Infinitive is a "verbal noun." The Adverbial Infinitive is a "Verbal Adverb," and the participle a "Verbal Adjective." We are also introduced to the seven basic binyamin: Qal, Niphal, Piel, Pual, Hithpael, Hiphil, and Hophal; the use of voice, and valency. Care is taken to show readers about how "valency" plays out in the verbal lexical strategies.

Chapter Three is about the "Inflectional Domain" associal with the triad: Tense, Aspect, Mood. Tenses locate the meaning in time. Aspects refer to viewpoints that one chooses to interpret from, such as "perfective" (complete) or "imperfective aspects" (in-progress). Mood and modality refer to classifications of actual, potential, hypothetical, or counterfactual situations. Cook even gives us a TAM overview toward the end of the chapter. This is considerably more complex as the author describes the different linguistic theories of definitions and oppositions.

Chapter Four combines the Hebrew syntax with the situational contexts to show us how the TAMS interact with contexts, concluding with a glossary of linguistic terms for easy reference.

My Thoughts
In Hebrew, verbs are considered one of the most central pieces of the Hebrew grammar. Not knowing it would be a big handicap. Hebrew verbs in particular are not only necessary by complex in nature. The chapters in this book are progressively more challenging to read and understand. With verbs being such a major part of the language, and also one of the most difficult ones to learn, author John Cook has dedicated an entire book for us to review, refresh, or reinforce our understanding of Hebrew. It is not an easy book to study, let alone read. Even students who have studied Hebrew before will find it challenging to make sense of the grammatical nuances. Depending on the entry-level of the reader, the subtitle of the book "introduction" can be quite deceiving. That said, even the casual reader will be wowed by the power of the Hebrew language. Unlike English, the Hebrew can nuance events, emotions, and situations in more ways than one.

Studying Hebrew is hard work, especially for those of us who come from an English-speaking background. This probably has to do with learning Semitic languages with our Latin-based mindsets. Those who manage to pick up some Hebrew will find the process rewarding. That said, the learning path is often more uphill and even discouraging. May the love of the Bible enable the prospective student to press onward to deeper insights that leads to much biblical inspiration.

In summary, this is more an "Intermediate" level book for anyone learning or refreshing their Hebrew.

John A. Cook (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages and director of Hebrew instruction at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is also a research fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in North America at the University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee campuses), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Wheaton College, and Grace College and internationally in the Philippines, Singapore, Russia, and India.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

The Biblical Hebrew Verb addresses the most basic task of biblical Hebrew studies: understanding and interpreting how verbs are used in the ancient text. Cook’s new publication offers a comprehensive linguistic analysis of all verb forms attested in the Hebrew Bible. This is a thing that you should read to know more about Hebrew Bible.