OTS 511A/B Foundational Hebrew: Language of OT

WSOLC – Western Seminary Online Campus Course Number: OTS 508E – Spring 2015 Course Title: Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Instructor: Jan Verbruggen, Ph.D. Lectures by: Jan Verbruggen, Ph.D. Credit Hours: 3

COURSE SCHEDULE

This course is only offered in a 16 week schedule. You can see a “Course Schedule by Week” in this syllabus. After enrollment in the course you can see a course schedule with specific dates in the learning center for your assignments.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this class, you will acquire a good foundation of Biblical Hebrew. You will learn the basic grammar up to the strong verb (and actually starting the weak verb a little bit). You will be introduced to the fundamentals of basic Hebrew Syntax. You will further sharpen your Hebrew skills by doing exercises, by reading portions of the book of Ruth, by learning basic vocabulary, and by the use of appropriate Hebrew language tools. Three credit hours.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Global Objective: At the end of the semester the student should be able to read and understand, with the aid of a lexicon, selected portions of standard Biblical Hebrew prose, have a good grasp of the strong verb paradigm and be knowledgeable about the different Hebrew Verb formations (binyanim).

 Learning Objectives

 The student will acquire a basic reading fluency in Hebrew

 The student will learn basic Hebrew vocabulary

 The student will learn the Hebrew grammatical system up to the strong verb

 The student will become acquainted with Hebrew through the translation of texts, which are provided in the exercises.

 Attitudinal

 Maintain an attitude of humble submission to the text of Scripture

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 1 of 8  Come to realize how much more the knowledge of Hebrew will open God’s word to you

 Convince yourself from the beginning: I can do this (thousands have done so before you, and they were not all smarter than you).

 Cultivate a humble spirit in relation to those who have not been privileged to study Biblical Hebrew

 Reflect on the application of lessons learned from Hebrew grammar to your ministry and personal spiritual growth.

TEXTBOOKS

Required:  Jan Verbruggen, Essential Biblical Hebrew. The Language and Life of Ancient Israel, (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014). ISBN 13: 978-1500736156. Retail price: $ 39:99

 Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon. Hendrickson Publishers, 1996 (not needed if you have Bibleworks 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 or 8.0). ISBN 13: 978- 1565632066. MSRP: $34.95.

 Todd J. Murphy, Pocket Dictionary for the Study of Biblical Hebrew, IVP, 2003. ISBN 13: 978-0830814589. MSRP: $10.00.

 Gary A. Long, Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew, Hendrickson, 2001. ISBN 13: 978-0801046940. MSRP: $20.00.

Highly Recommended: Bibleworks 9:00 have a vocabulary program to drill you on your vocabulary. ASIN: B000EGHMKG

Optional but recommended:  Box of Hebrew Vocabulary Cards by Vis-Ed

Important Note: Required and recommended course texts are subject to change at any time. You are encouraged to purchase these titles through the Amazon.com associate program; you may use the links provided above, or the search option found on the Western website under “Students/Online”: http://www.westernseminary.edu/students/online

COURSE FORMAT

1. Course Audio/Video Materials. Shortly after your course registration, you will receive instructions about how to download your course using the Integr@te program (not earlier than three weeks from your start date).

2. Learning Center. You will also be given access to a web-based learning center which functions as your classroom for the course. There you will find:

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 2 of 8  The course syllabus. Please Note: The syllabus in your learning center is the governing course syllabus. Syllabi downloaded from the seminary website, or received from any other source, are for informational purposes only.

 A week-by-week schedule to help you successfully complete the course on time with the least amount of stress. To discuss changing the assignment due dates within the schedule, please contact Jon Raibley: [email protected]

 A progress report for each lesson, by which you will indicate whether you completed your lesson requirements. While still allowing great scheduling flexibility, progress reports help us help you should you begin to fall behind.

 Assignment summaries and links for uploading assignments.

 Links to discussion forums, your course instructor and other students, the distance learning support team, as well as links to other helpful communication and instructional resources.

3. Responsibilities. Before the end of the first week of the session, you need to log onto the online learning center to complete and upload the course affirmation file. By federal law, we now need to ensure that students participate in courses for the full length of the course. So failure to complete the course affirmation on-time will result in a loss of course points and may impact your financial aid eligibility.

Students will receive on-time completion points for finishing their course work according to the schedule. This means students in the 8 week sessions are required to have all their course work into their course instructor by the end of week 7. Students in the 16 week sessions are required to have all their work into their course instructor by the end of week 15. If you have not been granted an extension, graded assignments turned in after 8:00 a.m. on Monday of the final week may be subject to a late penalty of up to 10% per day. No online completion points will be granted after that time.

4. Course Instructor. You will be assigned a course instructor who will participate as appropriate in classroom activities; review, grade, and provide feedback on course assignments; and interact with you on any questions you have about the course. When you receive your course materials, you will also receive contact information for your course instructor. Please contact your course instructor within two weeks of your course start date and maintain regular contact throughout the course.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Participation Requirements. For each lesson, complete the items as instructed in your learning center, and submit the progress report verifying that you’ve done so. These progress reports are our primary means of verifying your attendance, and each is worth up to one point toward your final grade. If the progress report is submitted by the due date on your course schedule, you’ll receive 100% of the report grade. If you submit the progress report late, but within two weeks of the due date, you will receive 80%. If you submit the progress report more than two weeks late, you will receive 50%. And, of course, if you fail to submit a progress report at all, you will receive 0%. Certain changes are allowed within the course schedule, to allow for flexibility. You

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 3 of 8 may contact Jon Raibley for details: [email protected].

In addition, you are to complete three activities that will allow us to verify your participation at key points within the course, in compliance with federal regulations. Failure to complete these activities within the designated times may impact the amount or timing of federal financial aid you receive.

. First week participation: Within the first week of the posted course dates, complete and upload the affirmation file.

. On-time verification. By the date listed in the schedule, submit your final assignments and complete the verification assignment, to confirm that you finished the course work on time.

. Course evaluation and reflection. Within the final week of the posted course dates, complete the course evaluation and reflection assignment; a link will be emailed to you at that time.

Points: 34 points possible (22 for progress reports, 2 for affirmation file, 10 for on- time verification Time: 28 estimated hours

2. Memorization and Lesson Exercises You will learn the vocabulary, which is provided in the list at the end of every lesson (from lesson 2) in the workbook. For each lesson, there will be quizzes that will mainly deal with the vocabulary (but not exclusively). The vocabulary is cumulative.

You will also memorize the paradigm of the strong verb. You will study the weak verb (beginning in this course and continuing in the OTS 509E course) and know how it deviates from the strong verb. You will be able to parse all the verbs.

For each lesson, you will complete the assigned exercises and submit them to your course instructor before proceeding to the next lesson.

Time: 66 estimated hours Points: 22 points possible (1 point per lesson)

3. Lesson Quizzes Every class session will have a quiz on all the vocabulary covered up to that point in the semester and the grammar from previous class session. To prepare, review the grammar from the previous lesson, review your vocabulary, and complete the assigned exercises. You will complete the quiz (closed-book), and review the answer key given. These quizzes are for your learning experience; you will receive a grade in your progress report for completing the quiz, but your score on the quiz will not affect your grade.

Time: 44 estimated hours Points: 22 points possible (1 point per lesson)

4. Reading Hebrew To practice your Hebrew reading skills, you will read a verse in Hebrew out loud every day. Even though in the beginning you won’t understand what they are reading, it will

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 4 of 8 help you become acquainted with the language. Keep track of your progress; a sheet is provided at the end of this syllabus for this purpose. Recordings of Genesis 12-16 are aviable on the classroom’s webpage. At the final exam, you’ll be asked to write in percentages how much of this reading that you’ve done. There are a total of 105 days, but you are only required to read for 100. You are encouraged to read a verse, then listen to it read at the following web site: http://www.talkingbibles.com.

In addition, you will schedule five 10-15-minute phone calls with your course instructor. In these calls, you’ll practice your reading, and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Time: 22 estimated hours Points: 25 points possible (5 points per phone call)

5. Lesson Reviews You will complete and return 5 lesson reviews, according to the course schedule. You may scan and email the reviews to your grader, or mail or fax them to the Online Campus office. PDF format preferred.

Time: 10 estimated hours Points: 100 points possible (20 points per review)

6. Exams You will receive two exams (a mid-term exam and a final exam) to prove you’ve acquired the Hebrew writing system adequately. The mid-term exam will deal with all the grammar and vocabulary learned up to that point. The final exam will deal with all the vocabulary covered during the semester, and the grammar presented since the mid-term (Lessons 1-11). The final exam (Lessons 12-22) will deal with vocabulary, the strong verb and other points of grammar, translation of some passages.

Time: 10 estimated hours Points: 200 points possible (100 points each)

Note: The instructor will work through the workbook. Do not allow yourself to get behind. If you are behind, work twice as hard to get back on track as quickly as possible. All late exams must be taken within a week of the scheduled exam date.

GRADING SCALE:

A+ A A- B+ B B- 99- 95-98% 93-94% 91-92% 88-90% 86-87% 100% C+ C C- D+ D D- 84-85% 81-83% 79-80% 77-78% 74-76% 70-73%

ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY:

Assignment Approx. Points hours possible Participation Requirements Course Lectures & Reading 28 22

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 5 of 8 Policy Affirmation, On Time Verification, 12 Course Evaluation Memorization and Lesson exercises (22) 66 22 Lesson Quizzes (22) 44 22 Reading Hebrew (web and phone calls) 22 25 Reviews (5) 10 100 Exams (midterm and final) 10 200 Totals 180 403

COURSE SEQUENCE

Important: See the course schedule in the learning center for the due dates of your assignments.

Week Lessons Assignments & Notes 1 1. The Alphabet (Complete the exercises and quiz for each lesson) 2. Vowels Read: pp. 7-1 Grammatical Concepts 101 Read: pp. 12-15 2 3. Other reading markers, Syllables, Accent Read: pp. 3-6, p. 16 4. The Hebrew Verb in General and the Perfect Read: pp. 17-21 Verb in Particular 3 5. The Noun Phone call #1 6. The Imperfect Verb conjugation Complete Review #1: chapters 1-4 Read: pp. 25-38 Read: pp.84-98 4 7. Particles and Prepositions Read: pp. 123-126 8. Imperatives, Infinitives and Participles Read: pp. 73-83, 99-104 5 9. Adjectives Phone call #2 10. Pronouns Complete Review #2: chapters 5-8 Read: pp. 59-72 Read: pp. 39-58 6 11. The Preterite Read: pp. 105-115 12. ConstructState Read: pp. 127-142

7 13. The PielBinyan Phone call #3 Complete Review #3: chapters 9-12 8 14. Nouns with Pronominal Suffixes Complete: Midterm Read: pp. 143-150 9 15. The HiphilBinyan 16. The Perfect Verb with Pronominal Suffixes 10 17. Imperfects and Imperatives with Pronominal Phone call #4 Suffixes Complete Review #4: chapters 13-16 18. Particles, Interrogative Pronouns 11 19. The NiphalBinyan Read: pp. 116-120 20. The HitpaelBinyan 12 21. The Pual & HophalBinyanim Phone call #5 Complete Review #5: chapters 17-20 13 22. Different Noun Patterns 14 Complete: Final exam 15 On-time Verification Due 16 Course Evaluation and Reflection. If you have not been granted an extension, graded assignments turned in after 8:00 a.m. on Monday of the final week may be subject to a late penalty of up to 10% per day.

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 6 of 8 COURSE POLICIES

Attendance and Late Assignments: Student will receive on-time completion points for finishing their course according to the schedule. Students in the 8 week sessions are required to have all their course work into their course instructor by end of week 7. Students in the 16 week sessions are required to have all their work into their course instructor by end of week 15. If you have not been granted an extension, graded assignments turned in after 8:00 a.m. on Monday of the final week may be subject to a late penalty of up to 10% per day. No online completion points will be granted after that time.

Copyright Violation and Plagiarism: Research in secondary sources for the written project is permitted and welcomed. However, any appropriation of either ideas or wording taken from other sources, whether print or electronic, must be properly footnoted. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism which can result in substantial grade reduction or failure. Any unauthorized copying or use of copyrighted materials, including downloaded files of various kinds, can result in criminal charges and fines. For a fuller explanation of these issues or WS's copyright policy, see the Copyright Issues and Cheating" section of the Student Handbook: http://www.westernseminary.edu/academic/handbook-copyright.

Incompletes/Extensions: In the case of serious illness, family emergency, or other extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control, students may request one course extension of no more than 4 weeks. Registration for a distance education course is conditional upon the successful completion of any current course you are taking. If you have received an extension for your current course, you are expected to finish your current courses before your next Online Campus course start date to stay registered.

If students face a personal emergency that requires requesting an extension going beyond the end of the semester, it may affect their ability to receive financial aid in the next semester, and they may face the possibility that their next semester’s course registrations will be cancelled. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance.

Audit/Enrichment Students: Enrichment students are encouraged, but not obligated, to participate in assignments and class discussions. Professors are not obligated to grade participation for these students, but may opt to do so depending on class size.

The Availability of Disability Services at Western Seminary: Western Seminary is committed to responding to the needs of students with disabilities as outlined in both the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Western students are assisted individually as their needs dictate. It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to identify themselves and the nature of the disability. Any student who has a disability should contact the seminary’s Disability (Section 504) Coordinator, Ashley Mitchell, at 503-517-1819/1-877-517-1800, ext. 1819. Her office is at the Portland campus. Students at the northern California campuses may contact Student Services Coordinator – San Jose or Director of Student Services – Sacramento, or they may contact Ms Mitchell directly. Appropriate forms will be provided and must be submitted to the Disability Coordinator’s office.

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 7 of 8 Questions regarding this course or its materials should be directed to:

Western Seminary Online Campus 5511 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR, 97215 Attn: Jon Raibley, Email: [email protected] 1-800-893-8567 - In Portland: 503-517-1899

Calendar Mark up Sheet for Hebrew Reading Mark only those days where you have done the reading on time

At the final exam, you’ll be asked to write in percentages how much of this reading that you’ve done. There are a total of 105 days, but you are only required to read for 100.

Sun. Mon, Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. TOTAL Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

OTS 508E Introducing the Foundation for Hebrew Exegesis Syllabus. Page 8 of 8