Jeremy Thompson

Category: Biblical Hebrew

  • The Limited Usefulness of Semantic Domains for Learning Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary (Part 2)

    I should preface this second post on the limited usefulness of semantic domains for learning Biblical Hebrew vocabulary by stating that I did not always think this was the case.  In my intermediate Hebrew course, I remember having Landes as the vocabulary text and thinking it was great to see someone finally do something other…

  • Finkbeiner and Nicol on Interference

    Yesterday I posted a bibliography on the problem of interference when learning semantically related words, which I have updated this morning.  However, I know that not everyone will have access to all of those works and that not everyone will have the time to read them all.  But, I have found one of the articles…

  • Interference When Learning Semantically Related Words (A Bibliography)

    This morning I wrote a first post stating one of the reasons I believe learning semantically related items is of limited usefulness, at least early on in the learning process.  There was a bit of interest in that post with the first part of my reasoning being  called into question.  But, it may be a…

  • The Limited Usefulness of Semantic Domains for Learning Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary (Part 1)

    New related post: Interference When Learning Semantically Related Words (A Bibliography) I hope that no one takes this post as too harsh of a critique as I applaud anyone’s effort to make Biblical Hebrew instruction better.  I have noticed in two recent posts materials for learning Biblical Hebrew vocabulary that make use of semantic domains. …

  • Spotlight on Tim Bulkeley and 5minutebible.com

    I was going to write a post today simply about the site 5minutebible.com, but then I started looking at all of the Biblical Studies work that Tim Bulkeley has been doing online.  Most of the work I was aware of, but I had never seen all of the links in one place to really appreciate…

  • Isaiah 53:11 – An Important Textual Variant

    The Old Testament lectionary reading for yesterday was Isaiah 53:10-11.  Verse 11 contains an interesting textual variant revolving around whether or not the word “light” is a part of the text.  It is one of those text critical issues where it really is a tough call.  An older manuscript contains the word light; however, the…

  • 4 Reasons Hebrew is Better Than Greek

    Before I give the impression that this matter is open to debate, rest assured it is not.  I am only supplying four reasons why Hebrew is better than Greek; there are a myriad of reasons.  Some might even argue that it makes no sense to call one language “better” than another.  I disagree.  This type…

  • "Old Salts" in Jonah 1.5

    In most English translations of the Bible, one of the words in Jonah 1.5 is usually translated as “sailors” or “mariners” (NRSV, ESV, NJPS, NASB, and others).  I can remember discussing this in my very first Biblical Hebrew class under Charles Isbell at Lousiana State University.  He uses the Book of Jonah (minus the poetry…

  • Karyn Has Linked to Some Cool Stuff for Teaching/Learning Hebrew

    My friend Karyn has linked to some pretty cool stuff for teaching or learning Hebrew.  There’s Hebrew Scrabble, Hebrew Comic books and a lot of other fun looking stuff.  Check it out HERE.

  • A Feature I Like in English Textual Notes

    I was reading in Jeremiah 1 today, and I noticed a feature that I like in my Hebrew-English Tanakh. Word plays are often marked in notes.  For instance, there is a word play between shaqed “almond tree” and shoqed “watchful” (their translation) in Jeremiah 1.11 & 12 that is marked.  So, I looked ahead into…