Basics of Biblical Aramaic: Complete Grammar, Lexicon, and Annotated Text

Basics of Biblical Aramaic

Zondervan

Introduction

This grammar was not written for Aramaic scholars or for students interested in comparative Semitic grammar. Rather, the purpose and design of this grammar is to provide the average student with a working knowledge of the Aramaic language appearing in the Old Testament. It was written for those students who desire to study, teach, and preach faithfully from those portions of the Bible that appear in Aramaic.

There are, in fact, 269 verses in the Old Testament that contain Aramaic. These texts are located in Genesis 31:47 (two words), Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4b-7:28; and Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26. Though it is not uncommon to refer to the Aramaic of this corpus as "biblical" Aramaic, the official label for this dialect is Jewish Literary Aramaic. There were many other Aramaic dialects too, such as Palestinian and Egyptian Aramaic. But the single purpose of this grammar is to provide a descriptive introduction to the Jewish Literary Aramaic located in the biblical text. For this reason, all vocabulary, examples, and exercises are derived from the biblical text.

The grammatical presentation in this text follows the model of Basics of Biblical Hebrew. It begins with the alphabet and vowels, moves to the nominal system, and then progresses to the verbal system — covering first the Peal stem in each conjugation and then the derived stems in the same manner. Weak verb morphology is emphasized throughout given its ubiquity in the biblical Aramaic text. Other important features of the grammar include the following:

1. Hebrew First. It is assumed that students will have studied at least one year of biblical Hebrew before working with this grammar. The presentation of vocabulary, pace of instruction, and grammatical explanations assume this prior study. One of the benefits of studying biblical Aramaic is that it can improve your knowledge and understanding of biblical Hebrew. Thus, in many instances, Aramaic is taught in opposition to, or in comparison with, Hebrew. 2. Vocabulary. There are just over 700 different Aramaic words in the biblical text occurring just over 7,000 total times. In the vocabulary lists that appear at the end of chapters 1-17, students will memorize all 268 Aramaic words that appear four or more times in the biblical text. This will give students access to approximately 91 percent of the biblical text without significant recourse to the lexicons. Aramaic vocabulary corresponding to previously memorized Hebrew vocabulary is grouped together for ease of memorization or simple review (chapters 1, 2, and 12). When possible, grouping by semantic domain (chapters 3 and 8) or part of speech (chapters 7, 9, 10, and 11) is utilized. 3. Aramaic—English Lexicon. The lexicon that appears at the back of this textbook contains all Aramaic words that appear in the biblical text. The definitions are helpfully derived from HALOT. Students will certainly want to have their own copy of HALOT for additional morphological information and lexical analysis. 4. Exercises. At the end of each chapter (excluding chapters 1 and 12), brief exercises are provided for the student to practice and reinforce the material presented in a given chapter. All exercises are derived from the biblical text. Nothing has been "made up." When possible, the vocabulary from each chapter is utilized in that chapter's exercises. In some instances, however, the student will need to use the grammar's lexicon to complete the homework. The answer key for the exercises is located at basicsofbiblicalhebrew.com or textbookplus.zondervan.com. 5. Annotated Biblical Text. At the end of this volume there appears a complete biblical Aramaic text with annotation. This annotation is intended to reinforce the material presented in the grammar, assist with textual difficulties, and introduce students to helpful secondary resources (e.g., HALOT, Rosenthal, Jerusalmi). The selection of notes was a difficult task. Some will prefer more annotation, others less, and still others would have made different selections altogether. The current selection of notes is largely derived from my experience with students in the classroom over the past several years. I am always happy to receive feedback in this area. With a forthcoming electronic version, modification of the annotated text will be possible. Additionally, if requested, I would be willing to send out an electronic version of the annotated text so that instructors or students may customize the notes to suit their own particular needs. 6. Kethiv/Qere. The Kethiv/Qere phenomenon appears throughout the biblical Aramaic text with well over one hundred instances. To aid the beginning student, it was decided to follow the convention adopted by Accordance (BHSW4) and provide both readings. The Kethiv appears first in the text with pointing indicative of its consonantal makeup. The Qere follows the Kethiv and is identified with square brackets (e.g., [[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] at Daniel 2:4). 7. Statistics. The number counts and statistics appearing throughout this grammar have been derived from Accordance (9.1, BHS-W4). No software is perfect, but none is better than Accordance. Additionally, in matters of counting, both Qere and Kethiv forms are counted independently for the sake of consistency. On a few occasions, some minor corrections were necessary. These do not account for any major statistical variance. There is one final point to make. In my opinion, learning biblical Aramaic is a four step process. First, study the grammar and work through the exercises. Second, carefully work through the annotated text included in this grammar. Third, carefully work though a biblical text without annotation, using HALOT and other secondary resources when necessary. Fourth, never stop reading the biblical Aramaic text. If you want to keep the language, then you must use it regularly. If you translate just one verse per day, five or six days per week, you will be able to read through the entire biblical Aramaic corpus each year. In the course of a regular academic semester, you may be able to accomplish the first two steps. Completion of steps three and four will normally require special determination, commitment, and accountability outside of the classroom.

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Excerpted from Basics of Biblical Aramaic by Miles V. Van Pelt Copyright © 2011 by Miles V. Van Pelt. Excerpted by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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