AUTHOR: John A. Cook
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024, (352 pages).
Why a book just on verbs? Why is this book important? Who can best benefit from this book? Why would anyone read this book? These questions might be good to ask before picking up this book. It is academic and technical, even for Hebrew students. It is important for students, pastors, preachers, and anyone wanting a more in-depth knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. As a linguistic introduction, this book aims to broaden our learning and understanding of the nuances demonstrated by Hebrew verbs.
From "valency" to "tense-aspect-mood/modality," students can find it challenging to deal with when, how, and where verbs manage both subjects and objects. Other nuances include the use of tenses (time-based), aspect (temporal nature), and mood (actual vs potential). The author recognizes an existing gap between scholarly treatises and textbook treatments of the topic. The former might be too technical or academic for new students while the latter lacks the space to explain the vast complexities of the Hebrew verb. In filling this "niche," it is hoped that students will develop a "linguistic framework" to connect the literal meaning with the historical contexts. This will enable one to give clearer linguistic explanations of the verb in question. This road is often uphill and requires much diligence. As an introductory book, author John Cook provides us many examples to facilitate our learning. Chapter One covers the "Linguistic Background" to show us how Latin-mindsets differ from Semitic-mindsets; various linguistic theories used; terminologies; and the differences between "text" and "language." Hebrew being a more "Internal-language" can be quite challenging for English-language speakers. This is more so when we are asked: "Which Hebrew? Biblical, Rabbinic, or Modern?"
