[Free] Communicative Biblical Hebrew
Learning the Language of the Bible Naturally – Free Course
What you’ll learn
- Basic vocabulary
- Basic grammar
- The alphabet
Requirements
- No prerequisites.
Description
Biblical Hebrew can be expensive, intimidating, and frustrating. We want to change that. Our method can help anyone, in any language.
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Learn as a child learns: seeing and hearing.
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No stress. Go at your own pace, and enjoy it!
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No lists of rules to memorize.
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No book required.
For most people, learning the biblical languages is like becoming a priestsomething they would never imagine doing, but they know that some people feel called that way. In other words, most people think that learning Greek and Hebrew is NOT for the common man. Over the years people have even begun to think that pastors dont really need to study the biblical languages.
The question I want to ask is: how did we get to this point in history where we think the biblical languages are only something for the spiritual elites and scholars? Three main reasons: 1) intimidating methodology, 2) insufficient technology, 3) expense. Lets break these down one by one:
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Since the middle ages most people have taught Hebrew with what is called the grammar method. This method treats the language more like a code youve got to learn to crack, rather than something you use and enjoy. With this method youre swiftly introduced to complicated paradigms that you have to learn through rote memorization. In a lot of ways it feels like doing math. In other words, its not at all like the way you learned to speak your mother tongue as a child. For most people its just too intimidating, so they leave it to the professionals.
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By insufficient technology I mean that for centuries there has been no way for one person to teach millions of people (like you can on YouTube today). You could print a book that teaches people, but because of the intimidation factor, most people wouldnt buy your book, and if they did, they wouldnt end up using it. Languages are learned best with a teacher who shows you how to use the language, so that you hear it a lot, see the context its being used in, and get a feel for how it works. You just cant do that with a textbook. On top of that problem, books appeal to literary cultures, not oral cultures. And 70% of the worlds cultures are oral. That means that the vast majority of Christians in the world dont come from a culture thats used to learning things from books. Jesus lived in an oral culture, which is why he spent so much time talking to people instead of handing out books.
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Only in the last 150 years have books become affordable to normal people who live in literate cultures like the West. But in most of the rest of the world books tend to be unaffordable for the average person. If they do save up for a book, theyll buy something thats not intimidating (exactly, not a Hebrew grammar). And whats worse: Hebrew textbooks tend to be way more expensive than other books, and theyre almost never translated into other languages outside of the West. Why? Because books dont sell well in oral cultures! So most of the Church gets left with no option to learn Hebrew because theyre too poor, dont know English, and didnt grow up in a literate culture. I dont know about you, but that situation seems a bit unfair.
So at Aleph with Beth were working hard to use the new technology God has given us to teach Hebrew to the world in a way that works for them. Since our videos are audio-visual, fun, and immersive, they resonate with people from oral cultures. The intimidation factor is gone. And since theyre free, and always will be, theres no cost obstacle. Finally, since theyre monolingual videos, anyone in any people group can learn, without having to know English.
Actually, Learning Languages Is Normal
We now live in a world where learning languages is normal. There are hundreds of millions of active users just on Duolingo, one of the most popular language learning apps. Most people in the world have to use two or more languages to function in their daily life, and theyre used to learning new languages. Learning a new language is like learning lots of other skills which people do all the time. Even Jesus and Paul knew more than one language.
Playing an instrument is a difficult skill to master, just like a language, but millions of normal people still learn all over the world. So if people are spending so much time learning instruments and other languages, why cant they learn Greek and Hebrew? Its totally possible if we help each other and make quality teaching available for free!
We Don’t Live in the Middle Ages Anymore
Timesaving technology allows more people than ever to learn new things. Education was a luxury for people in the middle ages, but now its possible for more people than ever. Trillions of hours of free time will be spent on something each year. Why not make it learning the languages of the Bible?
We all know that we are supposed to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18). So why cant part of the goal of growing in that knowledge be to learn the languages of the Bible, in order to better study it and see more of Jesus?
Some BIG Reasons
We live in a world that is increasingly hostile to the Bible. False teaching is a greater threat than ever because of the Internet. Those who dont have access to the original languages end up being vulnerable to false teaching and to those who challenge the trustworthiness of the Bible.
What if you saw a video online of a man preaching this: Ive looked at the original Hebrew and it says that our salvation is based on the amount we give! Should you believe him? Hes probably preaching with convincing authority, wearing a fancy suit, and standing in a massive church with thousands of people saying, Amen! How can we explain to others why hes wrong? We simply cant, because we dont know Hebrew. So were not able to confront him about the lie hes preaching, and were not able to speak with any authority to warn our brother or sister.
Heres the thing: the more people learn the biblical languages, the less false teachers will be able to deceive them. Jesus said, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15). And Paul warned: I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (Acts 20:29). What do you do when you see wolves about to devour sheep? You use a weapon. The knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is one of the most powerful weapons for defending people against fierce wolves. But what if theres only one person in your whole church who has that weapon? What if hes not around when the wolves come? The more people who are armed in the Body of Christ, the less chance the wolves will have to ravage our brothers and sisters. If we know that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8) we must arm ourselves with the Truth. And when we make the effort to learn the biblical languages we are able to mine the treasures of Gods truth with certainty.
A New Normal
Lets think about something else. Christians spend a lot of time reading and listening to other peoples opinions about God. They go to conferences, buy lots of books, and spend hours arguing with others about what translation to use. If they instead spent all of that time and energy learning the biblical languages, they would have the tools to be more discerning and humble, and know how to feed themselves better spiritually, rather than being helpless without others to feed them.
We all know the saying that its better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish. What if Christians spent their time helping others learn the biblical languages for free, rather than simply telling them about all the great insights that they got from knowing the biblical languages? Our churches would grow so much deeper, people would be able to hold their leaders accountable to sound doctrine, parents would be able to teach their children better, and fewer people would wander off into myths (2 Tim. 4:4). Lets start a movement to make this the new normal. With God all things are possible!
Real Theology
A guy named Bitzer once said, The more a theologian detaches himself from the basic Hebrew and Greek text of Holy Scripture, the more he detaches himself from the source of real theology! And real theology is the foundation of a fruitful and blessed ministry. We all need real theology, and we are all called to our own fruitful ministry as part of the body of Christ. Lets help each other get the tools we need to do that well!
So lets commit to doing something radical: lets stop criticizing translations of the Bible, lets stop criticizing people who dont know much theology or agree with our theology, lets stop criticizing other denominations, and use all that energy and time to learn the languages of Scripture. And lets do it with humility, and outdo one another in showing honor (Rom 12:10).
Author(s): Andrew & Beth Case
