Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 52:4 (Dec 2009)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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JETS 52:4 (December 2009) p. 831

Book Reviews

Hebrew for the Rest of Us. By Lee M. Fields. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008, xvi + 281 pp., $29.00 paper.

Lee Fields, associate professor of Bible and biblical languages at Mid-Atlantic Christian University (formerly Roanoke Bible College), has written a companion volume to the popular Greek for the Rest of Us by William D. Mounce. The purpose of the volume is “to enable English Bible students to maximize the benefit gained from using the many tools that exist to help bridge the language gap,” and the goal “is to move toward greater independence in Old Testament studies” (p. ix).

In a five-page preface, Fields discusses the rationale for mastering tools for OT study, the purpose, style, and scope of the book, expectations, “how to use this book,” and resources. Fields divides his work into six “Weeks.” Week 1 covers the Hebrew alphabet (chap. 1) and the history of Hebrew (chap. 2). Week 2 covers the Hebrew vowels (chap. 3) and “Canon, Text, and Versions” (chap. 4). Week 3 covers Hebrew roots, clauses, the waw, and prepositions (chaps. 5-8 respectively). Week 4 covers nominals, the article, case functions, and adjectives (chaps. 9-12). Week 5 covers verbs (generally), the perfect forms, imperfect forms, volitional forms, and infinitives/participles (chaps. 13– 17). Week 6 covers word studies, study tools (both paper and electronic), and Hebrew prose and poetry (chaps. 18-21). Fields also provides three appendices: some Hebrew songs, a guide for doing word studies, and a table of figures.

Fields writes in a readable, non-academic, sometimes even entertaining fashion. He gives catchy titles to many of the chapters, like “Get the Point?” for the chapter on Hebrew vowels, “Yes, Virginia, There Are . . . Clauses,” “Where There’s a Will, There are . . . Volitional Forms,” and “To Infinitives and Beyond!” Several of the chapters end with a section called “Advanced Information and Curious Facts.” These briefly discuss issues like the meaning of 666 in the book of Revelation, the language Jesus spoke, reading from a Torah scroll, and whether or not the Hebrew word for God teaches the Trinity. This supplemental information is interesting and motivational for the student.

Having just used this book as a textbook in a class on “a practical approach to Hebrew,” I must say I encountered problems with the book that range from the merely frustrating to major methodological disagreements. Evidence of a lack of careful editing and proofreading abound. Fortunately, such errors can be corrected in subsequent printings, but my students did not have that benefit. Several examples will illustrate this. The numbering of exercises sometimes repeats the same number (pp. 9-10) or skips a number. So...

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