Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 64:2 (Jun 2021)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 64:2 (June 2021) p. 357

Book Reviews

Basics of Hebrew Accents. By Mark D. Futato Sr. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020, 128 pp., $16.99 paper.

At the outset of Basics of Hebrew Accents, Mark D. Futato Sr. is clear that the Masoretic system is “complicated and can be perplexing” (p. 13). However, he is also quick to add that readers do not need to have mastered this system “to have a working knowledge that will help in reading and interpreting the text” (p. 14). His work does not contribute an advanced introduction, therefore, nor does it intend to do so; in less than 100 pages, Futato provides students with a very accessible framework for understanding and interpreting the most salient features of the Hebrew accent system.

After a brief introduction that orients readers to the work as a whole, the book contains five chapters, each of which deals with a key introductory component of this topic. In chapter 1, “The Three Jobs of the Accents” are set forth as providing information on the stressed syllable in words, the syntactic relationship between words, and the intonation of words for singing or chanting (pp. 17–30). While all three jobs are briefly outlined, since the second job—that of highlighting the syntactic relationship between words—is most helpful for reading the Hebrew OT, it is the focus of the rest of the book. Chapters 2 and 3 then overview the disjunctive and conjunctive accents in turn (pp. 31–58; 59–66). In each case, summary charts are provided, and ample examples help the reader to gain understanding. In the case of the disjunctive accents, the roles of the major and minor accents are also outlined. Further, while all of the accents are identified in charts, the introductory nature of this book leads the author to focus on only the most prominent half of them in his explanations and examples.

Chapter 4 covers “The Accents and Exegesis” (pp. 67–90). As Futato puts it, while “the accents will not help with all matters exegetical … they do provide an ancient commentary on the syntactic relations of every word in every verse of the Hebrew Bible” (p. 67). By way of example, Futato highlights Deuteronomy 26:5a as a text which modern translations tend to interpret differently than the Masoretic scribes (pp. 81–83). Whichever side one takes on the matter, having access to this “ancient commentary” is a helpful means of awakening interpreters to alternative exegetical possibilities. In this regard, since the accents are indeed an ancient commentary, they are not free from error (e.g., Isa 40:3a, pp. 84–89).

Although the system of accents in “The Twenty-One” is the primary focus of the book, Futato concludes w...