A First Hebrew Reader: Jonah, Ruth, and Esther

Book 1 in Hebrew Bible Readers

This is a Hebrew reader for the books of Jonah, Ruth, and Esther. The books selected for this reader contain some of the simplest passages of the Hebrew Bible, as such they are often among the first books to be read and studied by students. It is designed as a useful cost-efficient tool for two groups of people. First, for students learning Biblical Hebrew after a year’s worth of study this book and provides the material to grow in reading ability from the primary texts. Second, this book is designed for pastors, rabbis, scholars, and curious lay people looking to refresh their Hebrew, or use them in preparation for their work of study, preaching, and teaching.

The book immerses the reader in the biblical texts in order to build confidence reading Biblical Hebrew as quickly as possible. To achieve this, all uncommon words that occur 80 times or fewer in the Bible are glossed as footnotes. This enables the reader to continue reading every passage unhindered. Therefore, the book complements traditional language grammars and is especially ideal for beginner and intermediate students learning to read Biblical Hebrew. However, even advanced readers will appreciate the glossing of the rare words, since it saves time reading the text. In addition, unlike other readers, this book is small and light, so very easy to carry around and a pleasure to read.

Other features include:

• Biblical maps in Hebrew
• Glossary of all the words not glossed below the text
• Formatted poetry
• Qere / Ketivs marked in the margins
• Tables of Masoretic accents
• Wide margins
• Unpointed text to practise reading without vowels
• Jonah and Ruth written in the same font as a Dead Sea Scroll