Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages

by John Kaltner

Beyond Babel provides a general introduction to and overview of the languages that are significant for the study of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel. Included are essays on biblical and inscriptional Hebrew, Akkadian, Northwest Semitic dialects (Ammonite, Edomite, and Moabite), Arabic, Aramaic, Egyptian, Hittite, Phoenician, postbiblical Hebrew, and Ugaritic.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589830350
• ISBN13: 9781589830356
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book - wish there was more of it!

This book is not so much a handbook as it is a basic introduction to near eastern languages and literature. It is geared toward beginning/intermediate students of biblical hebrew who want to supplement their studies with comparative methods. This book will give you a small taste of the field without excess detail or jargon. Each chapter focuses on a particular language, providing a brief grammatical survey, an overview of the literature and suggestions for further study. Additional background material would have made the book much more useful-- things like historical timelines, comparison of grammatical paradigm's, more samples of literature, glossary of terms etc. In sum, beginners will find a user-friendly starting point, advanced students are advised to look elsewhere for more practical help.