A Hebrew Reader for Ruth

Anyone who has taught Classical Hebrew knows the importance and the difficulty of helping students make the transition from completing exercises in an introductory grammar to reading the biblical text on their own. Training students to use the reference grammars so that their learning of Hebrew can continue independently is particularly difficult. It is with this in mind that Hebrew Reader for Ruth was created.

Hebrew Reader for Ruth presents the complete Hebrew text of the book of Ruth, a verse-by-verse translation, and an analysis of every word, including morphology, meaning, and syntax. Further, utilizing all of the standard reference grammars, Vance references every discussion of Ruth found in them, usually including the discussion itself in quotation or in summary.

The book of Ruth makes an excellent first text for students of Classical Hebrew, with its interesting story and standard grammar (including a number of feminine verb forms), and Hebrew Reader for Ruth is intended for classroom and personal study. Worksheets are also available to facilitate and reinforce learning by providing space for students to parse each form and translate each verse.

Donald R. Vance, associate professor of biblical languages and literature at Oral Roberts University, studied Northwest Semitic Philology at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and received a PhD in Biblical Interpretation from the Joint Doctoral Program of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. He is the author of The Question of Meter in Biblical Hebrew Poetry.