Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew January 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Yery good for new students, as well as one how wants to review. You can get iVocab Cd for the Vocabs and also a review handbook answers for the exercises
Hebrew November 3, 2006
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
With a good understanding of English grammer, I am reading and understanding Hebrew.
This book is a well organized learning tool.
 warning: no Hebrew-English glossary in revised edition July 28, 2006
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
While no one grammar is perfect, this one is fatally flawed by not having a Hebrew to English glossary. Had I known this, I would have purchased the first edition instead, which does have one. I also don't like having to use a separate Hebrew text (plus a dictionary) to do the exercises, which means you cannot use this grammar on the go. The explanations are not clear, and Seow gives you too many vocabulary words and not enough easy excercises to reenforce them.
The pros are that you do read a lot of the Hebrew Bible and you are more prepared to move on to real reading, but even so, I think a much better choice is Weingreen's "A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew." At the very least, though, get Seow's first edition because trying to use a grammar without a Hebrew to English glossary is a nightmare. I don't know what Seow was thinking in leaving one out. I really regret buying this book.
 Technically correct, but pedagogically lacking... May 24, 2005
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
From what I understand Seow's quite the expert, and finds flashcards fun. While I find languages interesting and fascinating, they are still rather difficult for me, and this book didn't help that very much. There are very few typos, and he has plenty of examples, but he didn't use very clear language in explaning how the language works, my professor had to translate from Seow to student so that we could translate Hebrew!
While I'm sure this would/will make an excellent review book, I do not reccommend it for beginners. I also second the earlier comments about how he explains each minute detail of an aspect (and every exception of that detail, no matter how rare) of the language before moving on to the next aspect, which allowed me to forget things much easier: I've worked steadily at Hebrew for almost two years now, and still only remember most of the basic grammar with the help of a flashcard of the binyanim and constant review. My Greek, on the other hand, while I've studied it for half the time, is much better.
 good beginner handbook June 12, 2004
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Seow's progression through the basics of Hebrew grammar is recognized in many seminaries and universities. Sometimes his definitions and explanations of certain Hebrew phenomena are oversimplified, but all in all this is a great tool for the beginner. It's compact, hardbound, and easy to follow. The basic edition lacks an answer key, so one should be hesitant to utilize this book outside a classroom setting or for independent study. The only problems with the book are it's lack of exhaustive index at the rear, it's inability to teach the student to think from English to Hebrew, and some of its Hebrew spellings are incorrect (as pointed out by a former instructor). All in all, I recommend it.
|
