Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language

Using the word "hallelujah" as a gateway to exploring the three different components of the Biblical Hebrew writing system; starting to learn Hebrew the natural way with a look at Genesis 1:3 and the first thing God does in creating heaven and Earth.

Getting to know the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; how Biblical Hebrew is pronounced; surprises include the silent letter aleph, the tricky letter samekh that resembles an "o" but sounds like an "s", and nearly identical pairs of letters.

The Tiberian system of marking vowels in Hebrew is used exclusively for more than 1,000 years; discovering the signs that mark short and long vowels; learning how vowels can change their spelling without changing their meaning.

Every Hebrew verb, and almost every noun and adjective, is based on a root of a group of consonants; Professor Carasik teaches how to begin recognizing the roots of verbs in Biblical Hebrew; discussing how God is referred to in the Hebrew Bible.

An introduction to the five different Hebrew verb forms, which include finite and infinitive; three ways of identifying something as definite, which are by using the definite article ha, by labeling it with a personal pronoun and by naming it.

Exploring three Hebrew letters that attach to the beginning of other words to create a new word; reading one's first complete paragraph in Biblical Hebrew from start to finish, which is the story of the first day of creation in Genesis 1:1-5.