Category Archives: Hebrew Bible

Oy Vey! Roundup of Hebrew Tshirts

Whether you are a Hebrew student looking for a way to impress your prof or an attendee at the annual SBL conference looking to stand out in the crowd, you need to check out our list of “must-have” t-shirt links.

We’ll start with the ol’ basic aleph-bet.

Aleph Bet tshirt

Want to go paleo?

Paleo Aleph Bet tshirt

For those of you in Chicago:

Hebrew Chicago tshirt

California?

Hebrew California tshirt

Love caffeine?

Hebrew Starbucks tshirt

Not a coffee drinker? How about a beer?

Hebrew He'Brew tshirt

… even better than a t-shirt, a bike jersey!
Hebrew He'Brew Bike Jersey

This is not strictly Hebrew… but close enough. T-shirt from real-life Shmaltz Brewing Company, the makers of HE’BREW gourmet Kosher beer, including Messiah Stout and Genesis Ale.

Can’t afford gourmet?

Hebrew Budweiser tshirt

From the “I can’t make this up” category:

Hebrew Older-than-dirt tshirt

From the designer: What better way to tell the world that you (or a forgiving female friend) are Older Than Dirt than in the language of divine revelation? Uses feminine grammatical forms. Biblical Hebrew and English.

I am not endorsing this, merely passing it on:

Hebrew What-the-hey tshirt

If you aren’t one of these, you know someone who is:
Hebrew Geek tshirt

Got any you want to add to the list?

(It’s time again) Abbott & Costello Teach Hebrew

It’s about that time in the semester for new Hebrew students to begin to encounter pronouns. So, we’ll post this oft-repeated (but worthy) tribute to confused Hebrew students everywhere.

Abbott & Costello Learn Hebrew
Aka “Who’s On First“…
© Rabbi Jack Moline

ABBOTT: I see you’re here for your Hebrew lesson.
COSTELLO: I’m ready to learn.
A: Now, the first thing you must understand is that Hebrew and English have many words which sound alike, but they do not mean the same thing.
C: Sure, I understand.
A: Now, don’t be too quick to say that.
C: How stupid do you think I am – don’t answer that. It’s simple – some words in Hebrew sound like words in English, but they don’t mean the same.
A: Precisely.
C: We have that word in English, too. What does it mean in Hebrew?
A: No, no. Precisely is an English word.
C: I didn’t come here to learn English, I came to learn Hebrew. So make with the Hebrew.
A: Fine. Let’s start with mee.
C: You.
A: No, mee.
C: Fine, we’ll start with you.
A: No, we’ll start with mee.
C: Okay, have it your way.
A: Now, mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: No, no, no. Mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: You don’t understand.
C: I don’t understand? Did you just say me is who?
A: Yes I did. Mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: No, you misunderstand what I am saying. Tell me about mee.
C: Well, you’re a nice enough guy.
A: No, no. Tell me about mee!
C: Who?
A: Precisely.
C: Precisely what?
A: Precisely who.
C: It’s precisely whom!
A: No, mee is who.
C: Don’t start that again – go on to something else.
A: All right. Hu is he.
C: Who is he?
A: Yes.
C: I don’t know. Who is he?
A: Sure you do. You just said it.
C: I just said what?
A: Hu is he.
C: Who is he?
A: Precisely.
C: Again with the precisely! Precisely who?
A: No, precisely he.
C: Precisely he? Who is he?
A: Precisely!
C: And what about me?
A: Who.
C: me, me, me!
A: Who, who, who!
C: What are you, an owl? Me! Who is me?
A: No, hu is he!
C: I don’t know, maybe he is me!
A: No, hee is she!
C: (STARE AT ABBOTT) Do his parents know about this?
A: About what?
C: About her!
A: What about her?
C: That she is he!
A: No, you’ve got it wrong – hee is she!
C: Then who is he?
A: Precisely!
C: Who?
A: He!
C: Me?
A: Who!
C: He?
A: She!
C: Who is she?
A: No, hu is he.
C: I don’t care who is he, I want to know who is she?
A: No, that’s not right.
C: How can it not be right? I said it. I was standing here when I said it, and I know me.
A: Who.
C: Who?
A: Precisely!
C: Me! Me is that he you are talking about! He is me!
A: No, hee is she!
C: Wait a Minute, wait a minute! I’m trying to learn a little Hebrew, and now I can’t even speak English. Let me review.
A: Go ahead.
C: Now first You want to know me is who.
A: Correct.
C: And then you say who is he.
A: Absolutely.
C: And then you tell me he is she.
A & C: Precisely!
C: Now look at this logically. If me is who, and who is he, and he is she, don’t it stand to reason that me is she?
A: Who?
C: She!
A: That is he!
C: Who is he?
A & C: Precisely!
C: I have just about had it. You have me confused I want to go home. You know what I want? Ma!
A: What.
C: I said Ma.
A: What.
C: What are you, deaf? I want Ma!
A: What!
C: Not what, who!
A: He!
C: Not he! Ma is not he!
A: Of course not! Hu is he!
C: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t care. I don’t care who is he, he is she, me is who, ma is what. I just want to go home now and play with my dog.
A: Fish.
C: Fish?
A: Dag is fish.
C: That’s all, I’m outa here.

First ever B2B contest (win some Hebrew magnets!)

UPDATE: We have a winner, Ken Brown. Congratulations!

I’m inspired by some fellow bloggers to get a contest going on this blog (and no, Ros, I haven’t forgotten that you won the prize for posting the first comment on the “new” blog. I’ve got your surprise ready for SBL). I’ve had several people comment or contact me about the Hebrew letter magnets for the ‘fridge. So, I’ve decided that I will offer one set of these magnets as a prize. Since this is the first time I’ve done this, I’ll run the contest for 2 weeks (ending October 10th).

Aleph_Bet magnets

Continue reading →

Resources for Teaching Biblical Hebrew with Cantillation Marks

I’ve added the following two items to my Hebrew Resources page.

The British Foreign Bible Society has a terrific article, “The Masoretes and the Punctuation of Biblical Hebrew” which explains the cantillation marks and how they can be used to help identify syntax.

Naama Zahavi-Ely, who teaches at William & Mary, has a very helpful handout on cantillation marks, “Using cantillation marks to break Biblical verses into units for teaching purposes” (from her presentation at SBL).

(right-click on the titles to download the PDF documents)

I’ve used both of these resources in my classes and found them to be helpful. The first article is more than most beginning students are interested in (they are confused enough), but inquisitive students appreciate getting additional reading material to supplement the class lectures. I use Naama’s handout to point out the major teamim to all first semester students as a supplemental tool to help find clause boundaries in biblical texts more easily.

iPhone Apps for Reading Hebrew Bible

I’ve been using two iPhone apps over the past few months to read the Hebrew Bible and I thought I would pass on my thoughts about both of them.

Olive Tree COMPARED TO HebrewBible

I was first using Olive Tree’s BibleReader with BHS (I also have the GNT, but we’ll focus on the Hebrew here). Then I was contacted by the developer of the HebrewBible (Ze’ev (Bill) Clementson of Clementson Consulting) and he kindly gave me full access to the app so that I could try it out.
Continue reading →

See the highest stars

Butterfly

Planetary nebula NGC 6302, a star in the final stages of its life, from the repaired Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA)

To read the NASA press release and see more amazing photos and videos, go here.

Job 22:12

““Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!” (NRSV)

Tohu vavohu (no, not Tofu… boohoo)

A few recent comments on blog posts have brought back to mind some thoughts on translating Genesis 1:2. Specifically, I am referring to this phrase:

tohu vavhohu

background artwork from Seven Days of Creation Edgar G. Boevé, 1958, encaustic on masonite

tohu vavohu (or tohu vabohu or tohu wabohu, etc. depending on your transliteration preferences)

Here are some translations (and commentary or notes where available).

Robert Alter: welter and waste
“welter and waste The Hebrew tohu wabohu occurs only here and in two later biblical texts that are clearly alluding to this one. The second word of the pair looks like a nonce term coined to rhyme with the first and to reinforce it, an effect I have tried to approximate in English alliteration. Tohu by itself means emptiness or futility, and in some contexts is associated with the trackless vacancy of the desert” (Genesis: Translation and Commentary, 1997, pg 3).

NRSV: formless void

NIV, NASB: formless and empty

NET: without shape and empty
“Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as ‘the earth’ was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later [tohu] and [bohu], when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2” (NET notes, Gen. 1:2).

ESV, KJV: without form and void

JPS: unformed and void

JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible: without rhyme or reason

Doug Green: desolate and deserted

To read what HALOT has to say, click here and download a PDF of the entries.

What are your preferences? How would you convey both the meaning and the literary artistry?

JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible

I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of my copy of the soon-to-be-released JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible.

JPS Illustrated Children's Bible

The illustrations look to be beautifully rendered. But even more than the illustrations, I am looking forward to reading the stories from a fresh point of view.

From the introduction:

My chief aim in writing this book has been to introduce American children to the language and rhythms of the Hebrew Bible.

You can download (PDF file) the introduction here. A sample chapter is also available for download.

But if you want to see more, and especially if you’re interested in reading the Author’s notebook which includes explanations about choices made for the translation (a very worthwhile read!), you can find sample pages of the book on Google Books. Here’s a link to the search I performed. You can also follow the link on the JPS page to another Google Preview.