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Rating: 
Summary: an excellent text for learning
Review: Being primarily a self-taught student, I really liked this grammar. It has a few drawbacks that would apply to other independent learners like me (unfortunately it seems there is no escaping this no matter where you turn). But on the whole it measures up to the highest standards, and somehow even possesses a kind of gracefulness, which is a strange thing to say about a grammar. I imagine the author as a charming and extremely intelligent and gifted teacher, if her book has anything to say about her.
This grammar begins with the most frequent verbal constructions and provides useful clues for recognizing and analyzing them. Each chapter ("lesson") is taught through a real phrase or sentence from Scripture, illustrating the grammatical form of the lesson. Basically this is an "inductive" or "tutorial" approach. I think it is appealing to students who are in danger of being bored to death by exercises and charts. She has a nice way of finding helpful clues to get you thinking your way through trouble spots, mostly in terms of recognizing so-called weak letters ("missing letter rules"; "footprint dagesh"; "traveling dagesh"; "dot vowel" characteristics, etc.), and offers useful grammatical tips that make a big difference (this is where she really seems like a teacher who is "with you" while you study). Later lessons reinforce earlier ones. by the end you will have worked through, word by word and verse by verse, all these passages: Gen 22:1-14; Gen 28:10-29:11; Ex 3:1-17; Gen 37:1-24; Deut 6:1-25; 1 Kgs 17:1-24; 1 Kgs 18:20-46; 1 Kgs 19:1-21; Ps 24; and Ps 100. Quite an accomplishment!
a negative is that the book seems to presuppose a classroom setting (even though it is very thorough in its explanations -- almost as if it were a transcript of an actual class). Therefore, in cases where Kittel provides a paradigm for you, often you need to "fill it out" yourself, and this can leave you with an uneasy feeling since you probably (at least once) would like to "see" it. There are full paradigms in the back of the book but they are always confusing to beginning students. It would help to have another grammar for an occasional take on the "complete" picture of a certain stem (Qal, Piel, Nifal, etc.). With this book, you may find you need to stop every now and then and just practice a single verb construction for a few days.
One tip: if you are a complete beginner without a teacher and tutor and you find Hebrew completely frightening, work through "The First Hebrew Primer" by Simon et al. It will open all the doors for you, and you'll be able to tackle the other grammars from there. And finally, I can say that I've used about four or five Hebrew grammars to help me learn and get practice, but this one by Kittel is the only one I've worked through page by page, learning all she has to teach and doing all the translation work and exercises. I hope some other students will be inspired to do the same, as this is what it is really designed to do.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent text for learning
Review: Being primarily a self-taught student, I really liked this grammar. It has a few drawbacks that would apply to other independent learners like me (unfortunately it seems there is no escaping this no matter where you turn). But on the whole it measures up to the highest standards, and somehow even possesses a kind of gracefulness, which is a strange thing to say about a grammar. I imagine the author as a charming and extremely intelligent and gifted teacher, if her book has anything to say about her.
This grammar begins with the most frequent verbal constructions and provides useful clues for recognizing and analyzing them. Each chapter ("lesson") is taught through a real phrase or sentence from Scripture, illustrating the grammatical form of the lesson. Basically this is an "inductive" or "tutorial" approach. I think it is appealing to students who are in danger of being bored to death by exercises and charts. She has a nice way of finding helpful clues to get you thinking your way through trouble spots, mostly in terms of recognizing so-called weak letters ("missing letter rules"; "footprint dagesh"; "traveling dagesh"; "dot vowel" characteristics, etc.), and offers useful grammatical tips that make a big difference (this is where she really seems like a teacher who is "with you" while you study). Later lessons reinforce earlier ones. by the end you will have worked through, word by word and verse by verse, all these passages: Gen 22:1-14; Gen 28:10-29:11; Ex 3:1-17; Gen 37:1-24; Deut 6:1-25; 1 Kgs 17:1-24; 1 Kgs 18:20-46; 1 Kgs 19:1-21; Ps 24; and Ps 100. Quite an accomplishment!
a negative is that the book seems to presuppose a classroom setting (even though it is very thorough in its explanations -- almost as if it were a transcript of an actual class). Therefore, in cases where Kittel provides a paradigm for you, often you need to "fill it out" yourself, and this can leave you with an uneasy feeling since you probably (at least once) would like to "see" it. There are full paradigms in the back of the book but they are always confusing to beginning students. It would help to have another grammar for an occasional take on the "complete" picture of a certain stem (Qal, Piel, Nifal, etc.). With this book, you may find you need to stop every now and then and just practice a single verb construction for a few days.
One tip: if you are a complete beginner without a teacher and tutor and you find Hebrew completely frightening, work through "The First Hebrew Primer" by Simon et al. It will open all the doors for you, and you'll be able to tackle the other grammars from there. And finally, I can say that I've used about four or five Hebrew grammars to help me learn and get practice, but this one by Kittel is the only one I've worked through page by page, learning all she has to teach and doing all the translation work and exercises. I hope some other students will be inspired to do the same, as this is what it is really designed to do.
Rating:
Summary: Great Learning Tool
Review: Concerning another's review, I must disagree on some things. Learning from the most common grammatical constructions to the least makes sense. And yes, the Vav consecutive/conversive rule does seem a bit odd place to start, if one knows Modern Hebrew. But this book is about Biblical Hebrew, and the vav consecutive is about the most common grammatical feature with verbs in the Bible. Also, the issue of pronunciation is no big deal. Unless one is going to be a chanter, it doesn't matter. No one has determined which pronunciation is correct for Biblical Hebrew, and there are MANY variations of Modern Hebrew just in Israel alone. My only complaint would be that the editors should have used the easiest vowel system available since pronunciation is not an issue. Many courses, by Jewish teachers and professors, use the simpler Modern Hebrew pronunciation.This book has been an excellent resource for learning Biblical Hebrew in my experience. One commentator said you need to learn the alefbet first. Well, of course you do, and it is in the front of the book. The book instructs from the most common grammar and vocabulary to the less common. There are times when you feel like a question has been raised by the lesson and you wonder if it will be answered. But I have found that it has been later on, when it needs to be. And if you are willing to reference through the book, looking at points in later chapters or study the glossary, you'll find the answers sooner than you really need to know them. Important information is charted and can be referenced ANYTIME for rote memorization. Rare is the person who will find a good Hebrew book easy. That's because Hebrew is not for the timid, though it's far from the hardest language to read. Some may find this book difficult to learn from, but the problem is not the book. The problem is the lack of seriousness of the student to learn Hebrew correctly. Any person who thinks they can just memorize words and know a language doesn't understand language. This book is excellent for the serious learner. It is laid out well. After the first lesson, you will have learned 4% of the Hebrew Bible!, with only learning 3 words and one particle. Verb conjugations in Hebrew can be very discouraging; but they can be in any language since they are the hardest part of any language to learn. If one is willing to slow down on the verb sections and truly study the patterns, they will get it. If anyone doesn't want to learn verb conjugations, don't try to learn any language. The book handles the verb issue excellently---the second best I've seen. Develop a work ethic, be patient and determined, and you'll learn it.
Rating:
Summary: Honestly Challenging, Not for the Lazy
Review: Concerning another's review, I must disagree on some things. Learning from the most common grammatical constructions to the least makes sense. And yes, the Vav consecutive/conversive rule does seem a bit odd place to start, if one knows Modern Hebrew. But this book is about Biblical Hebrew, and the vav consecutive is about the most common grammatical feature with verbs in the Bible. Also, the issue of pronunciation is no big deal. Unless one is going to be a chanter, it doesn't matter. No one has determined which pronunciation is correct for Biblical Hebrew, and there are MANY variations of Modern Hebrew just in Israel alone. My only complaint would be that the editors should have used the easiest vowel system available since pronunciation is not an issue. Many courses, by Jewish teachers and professors, use the simpler Modern Hebrew pronunciation. This book has been an excellent resource for learning Biblical Hebrew in my experience. One commentator said you need to learn the alefbet first. Well, of course you do, and it is in the front of the book. The book instructs from the most common grammar and vocabulary to the less common. There are times when you feel like a question has been raised by the lesson and you wonder if it will be answered. But I have found that it has been later on, when it needs to be. And if you are willing to reference through the book, looking at points in later chapters or study the glossary, you'll find the answers sooner than you really need to know them. Important information is charted and can be referenced ANYTIME for rote memorization. Rare is the person who will find a good Hebrew book easy. That's because Hebrew is not for the timid, though it's far from the hardest language to read. Some may find this book difficult to learn from, but the problem is not the book. The problem is the lack of seriousness of the student to learn Hebrew correctly. Any person who thinks they can just memorize words and know a language doesn't understand language. This book is excellent for the serious learner. It is laid out well. After the first lesson, you will have learned 4% of the Hebrew Bible!, with only learning 3 words and one particle. Verb conjugations in Hebrew can be very discouraging; but they can be in any language since they are the hardest part of any language to learn. If one is willing to slow down on the verb sections and truly study the patterns, they will get it. If anyone doesn't want to learn verb conjugations, don't try to learn any language. The book handles the verb issue excellently---the second best I've seen. Develop a work ethic, be patient and determined, and you'll learn it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for inductive learners, but know the alphabet first!
Review: Here is what I liked about this book: (1) It is aimed at people who like inductive learning, which specifically means this: It doesn't teach all the exceptions to the rules and stuff at first, nor does it overwhelm you with huge complete charts of grammar rules. Instead it teaches the rules and patterns that are most commonly found in the Biblical texts first (which are incomplete but easy), then it gradually expands to fill in the gaps. (2) It has a great vocabulary list in the back that lists the Hebrew words in order according to how frequently they appear in the Old Testament. Great! (3) Each lesson, on average, focuses on only one or two new concepts, and applies it to a Scripture, so that after each lesson you will be able to translate that much more Scripture. Here are several things to be careful about, though: (1) You should be comfortable with the Hebrew alphabet before even starting the lessons, or else you might be frustrated and feel like your progress is slow. (2) It teaches inductively and gradually, exposing rules little by little. If you are dependent on seeing all pertinent rules about a given aspect of a language at once, then it might be confusing. (3) The content may seem dry and technical if you can't concentrate without being entertained. Any excitement you experience will be from personal discoveries through the lesson, and not from induced humor from the authors themselves. Most importantly: Know the Hebrew alphabet first! I hated this book before I knew it, but once I got past that, I started over and saw the genius of its presentation. :) I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it's not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: If you want to master Biblical Hebrew, avoid this book!
Review: I cannot emphasize enough how inadequate this book is. Perhaps if you want only the most rudimentary acquaintance with Biblical Hebrew, this grammar will suffice. However, for anyone who has ever tried to master an ancient language, the shortcomings and failures of this book's "innovative" approach will be strikingly apparent. The introduction of grammatical structures and verb morphology is entirely unsystematic: for example, the student is introduced almost immediately to a form commonly known as the "waw-consecutive." While this is an exceedingly common form in Biblical narrative prose, introducing it at the start with no explanation of its form and use is extremely confusing to the beginning student and greatly impedes their ability to slowly come to grasp the subtleties of the verbal system (especially the historical grammar which led to a form's use). This grammar is designed for singing songs and feeling jolly about yourself; it's not about getting a solid, systematic grounding in classical Hebrew. If the student wishes ever to go on to intermediate or advanced study, I cannot sufficiently stress that this is not the grammar for you. Pick Weingreen, Davidson, Seow, or (most challenging for the student, but clearly the best) Lambdin. This book is not how you teach a classical language; were this grammar used in a college or seminary Hebrew class, I'd recommend the students revolt.
Rating:
Summary: Great for honest comprehension!
Review: I find this book a joy to use- it makes learning the language simple! The one quibble I have is with the English-to-Biblical Hebrew translations: they are unness. for studying the Bible in Hebrew, and insufficient for studying modern Hebrew as a spoken language... but as they are limited to a single ex. every four chapters or so, omitting them does not pose a problem. I find the introduction of words and grammatical concepts in the order of their freq. fabulous! (You aren't constantly seeing things 'that you will learn in chapter 56') And the frequency-controlled vocabulary in the early chapters makes the index easy to use. I have successfully used a King-James Bible to check my Hebrew-English translations for word order and the like (as all exercizes are taken from the Bible and the book chapter and verse are given) and phonetically read random pages from the Hebrew Bible(before I know the vocab) to increase my speed. The level of education and understanding with this text is very high, and the presentation is consistant with the way a language is naturally learned. The process is based on 'immersion learning' and anyone trained for foriegn service is taught language in this way, as it makes concepts immediately available for use. I am having glorious fun with this text and hope to teach a group of friends with it next year.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent text for a beginner in Hebrew
Review: I have used this book as the primary text book in an introductory Biblical Hebrew course at the seminary level and I believe it has helped me develop an excitement for and a proficiency at reading Hebrew faster than another text would have.
As another reviewer has pointed out, this book does not follow the traditional layout of a grammar textbook. Rather than slowly build from the simplest constructions to the more complicated, this book teaches grammar as well as vocabulary in the order of its frequency in the Bible. This technique has the advantage of getting you to the point of reading the Bible (which is why we're doing this in the first place) faster than you otherwise could. The disadvantage, as pointed out before, is that you may not grasp the subtleties of the more complicated, but more frequent, constructions until later in the book. I think that's a worthwhile trade-off. By the end of the course you will still have covered the same material at the same depth as in another course, but this text gets you reading real material sooner, which is advantageous in holding a student's interest in learning a classical language.
In sum, of the introductory Hebrew grammars I've seen, I would recommend this book most strongly to anyone wishing to learn to read the Hebrew Bible. This book does an excellent job of getting the beginning student to the level where they can comfortably read biblical prose and are ready for more advanced grammatical study.
Rating:
Summary: A smart way to learn Hebrew
Review: This is a large book with a sturdy cover, very pleasant to handle. The font is clear, the text well ventilated.
The whole approach is highly imaginative and stimulating. Instead of just throwing heaps of vocabulary and verbs at your face, the author takes one Biblical sentence(all the material covered in the book is Biblical!) and analyses it with great accuracy and refinement, all the while asking you very intelligent questions, so that there is a real dialogue between you and the book. This I find the most outstanding feature of this manual.
The only flaws are the fact that you have to buy an inordinately expensive answer book plus a Hebrew Bible in order to be able to fully use it.
The second part of the manual is a guided reading of Biblical passages, so that this grammar is also a Biblical reader for beginners.
Rating:
Summary: Best textbook in Reading the Hebrew Scriptures early
Review: This is THE best Hebrew textbook in learning how to read the Hebrew scriptures early and with ease. Why? Because you get to read 10 major Hebrew passages with the help of annotations (You need your own Hebrew Bible of course). These 10 passages alone are enough to take this book. This book has the most annotated passage reading compared to any other book. In fact, virtually all other Hebrew textbooks don't have any passage reading at all. The only other one that has annotated passage reading is Ehud Ben Zvi's 2nd year's "Readings in Biblical Hebrew: An Intermediate Textbook," published by the same University (but I think that it's not as good as Kittel's readings because most passages are only several verses long, so I was a bit disappointed with that). After you complete Kittel's textbook, you will have mastered the following major biblical passages: Gen. 22:1-14
Gen. 28:10 to 29:11
Exo. 3:1-17
Gen. 37:1-24
Deut. 6:1-25
1Kings 17:1-24
1Kings 18:20-46
1Kings 19:1-21
Psa. 24:1-10
Psa. 100:1-5 We need to face the facts, the only way one is really going to know how to read the Hebrew scriptures is to READ the Hebrew scriptures. Any textbook that does not have many and major passage readings like Kittel's should be avoided. You cannot improve substantially in your Hebrew understanding if all you're doing is learning the grammar and translating different individual verses all the time in each chapter. Passage reading will do this because then you will know how to translate and understand the passage in its entire CONTEXT. Each verse will then flow smoothly and contextually into the next verse. This is THE most important thing. I must say that I learned how to READ Hebrew quite quickly was because of this textbook's over 100-pages annotation of the above 10 major passages that helps you how to translate the passages, and explains potentially difficult grammatical constructions. One example that really caught my attention was the author's comment on Gen. 22:2 where it is traditionally said, "Take your son, your only one..." However, the author argues that if one were to translate it literally, by what the root Yod, Chet, Dalet means, then it should be rendered, "Take your son, the one with whom you are one..." In this context, with the relationship of Abraham's TWO sons, I find this quite convincing, for the connotation is then not of a quantitative relationship, but rather, more appropriately, of a qualitative relationship between father and son ("whom you love..."), and this would also give its great antitypical significance "I and the Father are one." (Jn. 10:30). Is it harder to sacrifice your only son, or the son with whom you are one? There are 55 lessons, and each lesson focuses on at least one new grammatical element from the verse topic sentence, so if you are one that likes to learn things iteratively, rather than, say, learning all the Hebrew stems in one chapter, or all the Hebrew forms in one setting, then this book is for you. I don't mind it actually since by the time you finish all 55 chapters, you will have had all the major Hebrew grammar. Also, every Hebrew sentence that you translate in each lesson is directly from the Bible, so you get hands-on experience with genuine material right from the beginning. If you see a textbook that has mostly made-up Hebrew sentences, likewise they should be avoided. If you get Kelley's comprehensive grammar reference (Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar) as a companion to Kittel, you are then well on your way to mastering Biblical Hebrew. On lesson 54 you will have finished the first eight passages. Then on the last chapter, lesson 55, is an introduction to Hebrew poetry and its terminologies, and gives an annotated walkthrough of Psalms 24 and 100. Now it is said that if one understands and masters the grammatical content of 1 Kings 17, 18 and 19, then you basically have the capability to translate just about any scripture passage. Therefore, getting this textbook is a must. It is good that The University of British Columbia is currently using this textbook. Of course, all Hebrew textbooks have their shares of errors, and this textbook is no exception, you will just have to have a keen instructor to point it out for you. One example is on page 65, Lesson 14, where it says: "In a construct chain the absolute noun may be modified by an attributive adjective, but construct nouns cannot be so modified." This is simply not true, the construct noun can indeed be modified by an attributive adjective, for example, in Hebrew you have, "THIS MASTER of the dreams is coming." (Gen. 37:19), since "this" is singular that corresponds to "master" which is also singular, while "dreams" is plural. All this textbook needs is an update (first published in 1989), so hopefully many people will start asking Yale University to hurry up with one. I gave this book five stars because, even though it has mistakes in the book, like I said before, I cannot stress enough that the annotated passage reading alone is enough to get this book, and I can guarantee that you'll actually start enjoying reading the Hebrew scriptures from them, and then eventually you probably wouldn't have the desire to read your English Bibles ever again, like me... :P
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