A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew: Revised English Edition

by Paul Joüon; Takamitsu Muraoka

Publisher:

Pontifical Biblical Institute

, 2006

Overview

Already well-known in its two-volume first edition, this is the most extensive revision yet of Paul Joüon and T. Muraoka’s Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, one of the most complete Hebrew grammars available in English. The first English edition of 1991 was based on the original work in French by Paul Joüon published for the first time in 1923. This new revised edition brings the work up to the present by taking account of developments in our understanding of the Hebrew language during the intervening years. As with the earlier edition, students of the Old Testament, Hebrew, and Semitics, who have a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, will find much useful insight and information here.

Key Features

• Textual errors in the first edition corrected
• Incorporates developments in Hebrew linguistics since the first English edition in 1991
• Expanded citations and bibliography

Contents

Top Highlights

“Hebrew, like other cognate languages, makes an extensive use of pseudo-prepositions; these are a combination of one of the prepositions mentioned earlier—notably ב‎, כ‎, ל‎, מן‎, על—and a substantive, often lexemes denoting parts of body such as יָד‎, פָּנִים‎, עֵינַ֫יִם‎, פֶּה‎, רֶ֫גֶל in the status constructus. Such nouns are mostly not used in their primary, but in their figurative sense: e.g., Gn 41.42 וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ עַל־יַד יוסף‎ and he put it on Joseph’s hand as against Ex 2.5 נַעֲרֹתֶ֫יהָ הֹלְכֹת עַל־יַד הַיְאֹר‎ the maidens were strolling along the Nile. Other examples are: בְּיַד‎, כְּיַד‎, לְיַד‎, מִיַּד‎, עַל־יַד‎; בְּפִי‎, כְּפִי‎, לְפִי‎, מִפִּי‎, עַל פִּי‎; בִּפְנֵי‎, לִפְנֵי‎, מִפְּנֵי‎, מִלִּפְנֵי‎, עַל פְּנֵי‎; לְרֶ֫גֶל. A description of their lexical meanings belongs to dictionaries.” (Page 319)

“The most advanced stage of post-exilic Hebrew is represented by the language of Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles(²).” (Page 10)

“tend to point to a continuous, if not straight and linear, development from Late Biblical Hebrew onwards.” (Page 10)

“Differences in language must have existed, for instance, between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. But the data at our disposal hardly enable us to pinpoint those differences sufficiently to speak of a northern dialect and a southern dialect.” (Page 10)

“But how arbitrary the BH orthography can be in this regard may be illustrated by” (Page 46)

Praise for the Print Edition

If you cannot read German but you can read English, your native language is not a Semitic language, you have passed elementary Biblical Hebrew and you are reading the Hebrew Bible, you must have . . . Joüon-Maraoka handy! They are indispensable, readable, and helpful!

—Steven Blackwelder

Joüon’s Grammaire, with its fine treatment of syntax, aims at reaching those who desire to advance beyond the beginner’s stage but are not prepared to halt at all minutiae.

—F. W. Danker, Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study

Remarkably erudite.

—Douglas Stuart, Old Testament Exegesis

Product Details

• Title: A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew: Revised English Edition
• Authors: Paul Joüon, Takamitsu Muraoka
• Publisher: Pontifical Biblical Institute
• Print Publication Date: 2006
• Logos Release Date: 2009
• Pages: 772
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Hebrew language › Grammar
• ISBNs: 9788876536298, 8876536299
• Resource ID: LLS:JM2
• Resource Type: Grammar
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-02T22:28:39Z

About Takamitsu Muraoka

Takamitsu Muraoka was born in Japan and educated at the Tokyo Kyoiku University in English Philology (B.A. 1960), Greek, Hebrew, and general linguistics (M.A. 1962), and Hebrew and Semitic Linguistics (Ph.D. 1970) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He taught Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Ethiopic at the University of Manchester, U.K. (1970–1980). He was Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia, teaching those languages (1980–1991). He was Professor of Hebrew at Leiden University, the Netherlands (1991–2003). His publications include Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew (Jerusalem/Leiden, 1985), Modern Hebrew for Biblical Scholars, (Wiesbaden, 1998), and A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Chiefly of the Pentateuch and the Twelve Prophets) (Leuven, 2002). With B. Porten he also wrote A Grammar of Egyptian Aramaic (Leiden, 2003), Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar with a Chrestomathy (Wiesbaden, 2005), as well as many other books and articles. Professor Muraoka has recently received the distinction of being elected as an Honorary Member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language in Jerusalem (2006).