Introduction

Why learn Biblical Hebrew?

See what this course will give you and how to use it

שָׁלוֹם

šālôm: "peace", and more than that: wholeness, nothing missing

This first lesson is the film above. It asks one plain question: why would a busy person spend time on a language this old? Watch it first; the rest of this page tells you how the course is built and how to use the site.

1. What you will be able to do

You will not become fluent, and you do not need to. The aim is to open the Hebrew text and see for yourself: how a word is built, how a sentence holds together, how a story moves. A dictionary can remember words for you; this course teaches how Hebrew means what it means.

2. How the course is built

Stage	Lessons	What you learn
1. Reading	1–3	just enough of the alphabet and the vowel points to read slowly
2. Building blocks	4–6	roots and patterns, the small words glued to the front, nouns and "of"
3. The verb system	7–16	what the verb forms really signal, and how a story is told
4. Syntax	17 on	word order, clauses, poetry; reading whole passages

Every lesson starts from a real verse, teaches one thing at a time, and ends with exercises and folded answers. From Lesson 4 everything is written in transliteration first, with the Hebrew script beside it, so you can keep going even before the letters are second nature.

3. How to use this site

Lessons: one at a time, in order. Each has its own video at the top.
Flashcards: letters, vowel marks and every word met so far. Pick "up to lesson" so you only see what you have learned.
My progress: lessons done, videos watched, time studied and your flashcard reviews. It is kept in this browser, and in your account if you sign in.
♪ Music: quiet study music; it pauses by itself while a video plays.

4. Next

Mark this lesson as done below, and go on to Seventy words: the seventy commonest words of the Hebrew Bible, learned by ear before the letters. Then Lesson 1: six letters and five vowels, enough to read the Bible's first two words.