75716 - Hebrew Language and Literature (LM)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course students obtain basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and contemporary Hebrew as well as fundamental aspects of Jewish culture and its literary history. More specifically, they know the historical-critical methods and the socio-anthropological contributions to analyze the texts of the Jewish tradition. They are able to deal with critical problems related to the translation of Hebrew texts and related interpretative theories. They develop an ability to research and critically examine materials, bibliographic and documentary sources of different types, in order to conduct historical-religious investigations. They can communicate the acquired knowledge in written and oral form, documenting accurately the information on which they base their conclusions and giving an account of the methodologies of investigation used and are able to give form to the results of their own research in the field of Jewish Studies. They can apply knowledge of language and texts and their historical contexts to the history of Judaism and its culture. They know how to collect, also thanks to the use of specific databases, a relevant bibliography to document and adequately deepen their own competences.

Course contents

The course aims at offering an essential survey of the principles of Biblical Hebrew grammar (phonetics, morphology and syntax) and of the basic elements of the history of the Hebrew language with comparative materials concerning Rabbinical and Medieval Hebrew. Beside a basic knowledge of the Language, the course will offer, on the basis of the lexical elements studies in theory and in the exercises, fundamental notions of Jewish culture, highlighting particularly the religious, political and anthropological aspects. Special attention will be devoted to the semantic fields concerning contracts (covenant, promise, trust) and the structure of society (family, tribe, nation) in their horizontal as well as in their vertical, more specifically religious dimension.

Readings/Bibliography

- Grammar: J. Weingreen, Grammatica di ebraico biblico, Glossa, Milano 2011.
- Biblical Text: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia , Editio quinta, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1997.
- History of the Hebrew language: A. Sáenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002.
- Dictionaries: F. Brown – S. R. Driver – Ch. A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic based on the Lexicon of W. Gesenius, The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1906 (https://archive.org/details/ahebrewandengli00briggoog ); Ph. Reymond, Dizionario di ebraico e aramaico biblici, Società Biblica Britannica e Forestiera, Roma 1995; L. A. Schökel, Dizionario di ebraico biblico, Edizioni San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo (Mi) 2013.

 

Non-attending students are required to learn the contents of the grammar and to do all the exercises of Wengreen's method. Moreover, they are invited to contact the instructor in order to receive an individual programme.

Teaching methods

The lectures will be composed of two instalments: a traditional lecture on Hebrew grammar and seminarial discussions on the exercises of translation from Biblical Hebrew to Italian.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Oral exam; translation of selected Biblical passages.

The exam candidates will receive a note falling into one of four assessment ranges: 1) excellent (28-30 cum laude); 2) good (24-27); 3) sufficient (18-23); insufficient (fail), according to their capacity to express themselves, to articulate their knowledge and to answer appropriately to the questions of the instructor.  

Teaching tools

Besided the textbook (Weingreen), which comprises theory and exercises, during the lecture supplementary materials aimed at easing  the learning process, will be offered and put at the disposal of the students in the virtual repository, especially Biblical texts with complete masoretic annotations.  

Office hours

See the website of Saverio Campanini