A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew

by Jonathan G. Kline

Publisher:

Hendrickson

, 2019

Overview

Many of the sayings in the biblical book of Proverbs are difficult to read in Hebrew, even for those who know this language well. A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew is designed to help readers of all levels of Hebrew competence meditate on and understand the concise and sometimes enigmatic sayings found in the book of Proverbs.

Each verse is presented on one page, which is marked with a day number (from 1 to 365) and a date (January 1 to December 31) so the book can be used as a daily reader or devotional. On each day’s page, the verse for the day is divided into two halves, based on the fact that each of the proverbs in the book constitutes a poetic couplet consisting of two parts. After each poetic line, all the words it contains are laid out and glosses are provided. All verbs (including participles) are fully parsed. Finally, at the bottom of the page, an English translation of the verse from two pages earlier is provided. This allows readers who are struggling with the meaning of a given day’s proverb, or those who wish to see one possible way it can be rendered, to flip the page and see a translation for it at the bottom of the next two-page spread. In this way, readers can choose to avail themselves of an “answer key” for any of the proverbs when they wish to, but they can also ignore this information (since it is located on the next two-page spread, there is no risk of accidentally seeing it while trying to puzzle through a proverb’s meaning).

A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew helps readers who have studied Hebrew access the original text of a fascinating and well-loved portion of the Hebrew Bible. It offers readers a simultaneously academic and spiritual experience, walking them slowly and on a regular basis through difficult and enigmatic sayings that invite contemplative reading and sustained reflection.

Key Features

• Provides one daily proverb for reflection
• Enourages readers to digest proverbs slowly in order to contemplate their meanings
• Offers a simultaneously academic and spiritual experience

Praise for the Print Edition

Thank you, Jonathan Kline, for this helpful and carefully presented guide to reading proverbs in Hebrew one day at a time. I enthusiastically recommend this book to all who want to keep up and improve their Hebrew skills. Not only will the reader’s language ability grow, but so will their knowledge of the book of Proverbs. If you want to grow in wisdom, read Proverbs; and if you want to grow in your understanding of Proverbs, read A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew.

—Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

This book has so many good qualities to commend it: it is informed, it will encourage flagging Hebrew readers, it is brief enough to be doable for most of us, and even more: it helps us to tap daily into the glories of the wisdom culture that comes to expression in these proverbs. Ours is a world swamped by everything new, while Proverbs takes us into a world where the old is ever renewable. Daily ponderings of wisdom make for a wise person.

—Scot McKnight, Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

Acquiring wisdom requires tedious grappling with proverbs, sayings, and riddles (Proverbs 1:6), many of them terse and obscure—some virtually impenetrable. Having navigated the path ahead of us, Kline is our able tutor on a difficult but rewarding journey. Every bit as clever as the sayings themselves, this book is part Hebrew grammar, part devotional, part poetry, and part introduction to wisdom literature. This little book achieves a style of translation that the eminent Hebrew translator Robert Alter believes is sadly lacking in our modern English Bibles.

—Ryan P. O’Dowd, author of Proverbs (The Story of God Bible Commentary) and co-author of Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction

Product Details

• Title: A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew
• Editor: Jonathan G. Kline
• Publisher: Hendrickson
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 416
• Resource Type: Devotional
• Topic: Proverbs

About Jonathan G. Kline

Jonathan G. Kline (PhD, Harvard University) is the author of Allusive Soundplay in the Hebrew Bible and co-author of Biblical Aramaic: A Reader & Handbook. He currently serves as the academic editor at Hendrickson Publishers.

Sample Pages from A Proverb a Day in Biblical Hebrew