THEL310 - Advanced Biblical Hebrew

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

THEL211 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew C OR THEL212 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew D

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, language seminars and online learning. The remaining hours typically involve individual reading of texts, preparation for class, analysis of advanced grammar and complex vocabulary, research, and the preparation of tasks for assessment. 

Unit rationale, description and aim

The unit is normally offered in Online Scheduled mode. Students learn through formally structured and sequenced learning activities that support the achievement of the learning outcomes through highly interactive language learning and textual analysis. Students are asked to critically reflect, analyse, and integrate new information with existing knowledge, draw meaningful new connections, and then apply what they have learned. Collaborative and peer learning is also emphasized.  

These face-to-face activities enable students to acquire and assimilate knowledge of the language, major theological concepts, and historical background of the Bible, particularly through modern interpretative approaches, through the presence and articulation of the lecturer and tutors. Students will be guided to develop the academic skills needed for advanced level study of the biblical text in its original language. Students will be provided with opportunities for the development of practical skills in applying linguistic knowledge to highly complex research problems, as well as technologies and strategies needed for successful academic research on the Bible, including one or more of the following: flexible learning, academic writing, and academic honesty.   

THEL310 emphasises students as active, adult learners. Students are recognised as adult learners who engage best when what they are learning is relevant to them and gives them the opportunity to be responsible for their own learning. In many ways, the student is the one who drives the learning forward. Active participation in this unit is essential and is at the core of its learning strategy. Learning is designed to be an engaging and supportive experience, which helps students to develop critical thinking and reflection skills. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include:

• Advanced level Hebrew grammar;
• Translation of texts across a range of different genres;
• The literary and theological message of the texts studied;
• The nature of biblical law in its Ancient Near Eastern context;
• The role of law in ancient Israelite society;
• The semantics of the expression of key theological concepts in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament, such as covenant.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The unit is normally offered in Online Scheduled mode. Students learn through formally structured and sequenced learning activities that support the achievement of the learning outcomes through highly interactive language learning and textual analysis. Students are asked to critically reflect, analyse, and integrate new information with existing knowledge, draw meaningful new connections, and then apply what they have learned. Collaborative and peer learning is also emphasized.

These face-to-face activities enable students to acquire and assimilate knowledge of the language, major theological concepts, and historical background of the Bible, particularly through modern interpretative approaches, through the presence and articulation of the lecturer and tutors. Students will be guided to develop the academic skills needed for advanced level study of the biblical text in its original language. Students will be provided with opportunities for the development of practical skills in applying linguistic knowledge to highly complex research problems, as well as technologies and strategies needed for successful academic research on the Bible, including one or more of the following: flexible learning, academic writing, and academic honesty.   

THEL310 emphasises students as active, adult learners. Students are recognised as adult learners who engage best when what they are learning is relevant to them and gives them the opportunity to be responsible for their own learning. In many ways, the student is the one who drives the learning forward. Active participation in this unit is essential and is at the core of its learning strategy. Learning is designed to be an engaging and supportive experience, which helps students to develop critical thinking and reflection skills. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to attempt all assessment tasks and achieve an overall grade of Pass (50% or higher).

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.

The unit’s main focus is on establishing advanced level skills in translation across a range of genres in order that students can use these advanced linguistic skills to interpret texts in context, enabling them to evaluate and defend sophisticated academic arguments about the texts’ interpretation.

The first assessment task examines how well students can understand and translate complex Hebrew grammatical forms. It thus enables assessment of students’ ability to demonstrate advanced knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. 

The second assessment task asks students to research and evaluate data from primary sources and their interpretation in secondary sources in order to defend an argument regarding the interpretation of the sources. It assesses the students’ ability to apply advanced linguistic skills to the analysis of research problems in the biblical text. 

The third assessment task examines translation ability, i.e., the ability to apply advanced knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary to the interpretation of the texts, and the students’ ability to analyse significant features of texts across a range of genres.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

George Athas and Ian Young, Elementary Biblical Hebrew, 5th ed. (Sydney: Ancient Vessel Press, 2016).

Pamela Barmash (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). 

Assnat Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Casuistic Laws of the Pentateuch, SBLAIL 5 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010).

Michael D. Coogan, The Ten Commandments: A Short History of an Ancient Text (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014). 

Paul Joüon, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, translated and revised by T. Muraoka, Subsidia Biblica 27, 2nd ed. (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2006). 

William S. Morrow, An Introduction to Biblical Law (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). 

Bruce K. Waltke, and M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990).

David P. Wright, “The Origin, Development, and Context of the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19),” in The Book of Exodus, Composition, Reception, and Interpretation, Vetus Testamentum Supplement 164, edited by Thomas Dozeman, Craig A. Evans, and Joel N. Lohr (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 220–44.