Many thanks to the good folks at Cambridge University Press for my review copy of Brian L. Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew with CD-ROM (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Given that Rob Kashow has written up such a exceptionally helpful overview and review of this book, I see no reason to try to improve on what he has said (See also Danny Zacharias’s rave review here). However, I would like to add a bit of a different perspective and show-off the software that Professor Webster wrote for his grammar.

The binding on my copy is paperback, which cuts down on cost (good!) and durability (bad!). Of course, how long one needs an introductory grammar to last may be what was determinative here. Among the welcome additions brought forth by the CIBH is the treatment on narrative, poetry and verbal time frame, lexicography, and a foray into more advanced syntactical structures (chapters 23-32). Note that this book is at its best when accompanied by an intermediate grammar, like A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, by Arnold and Choi.

Each of the thirty-two chapters is succinctly written, with copious amount of supporting materials on the bundled CD-ROM. The best part of this CD-ROM is TekScroll. Tek what? Scroll, TekScroll. I’m confident that this is a program that will be engraved on the hearts of first-year Hebrew students all over the English-speaking world. Here’s why: (I had to break up the video in an awkward spot because of the rules for youtube.)

Overall, this grammar is highly recommended. The copious amounts of practice (always with the answers available) make this book ideal both for classroom use and for the autodidacts among us. Hebrew can be tough, but with The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew with CD-ROM, a prospective Hebrew student is well on his or her way to mastering this beautiful Semitic language.

(If I add to this review, I will update it with a time stamp.)