Necromancy at its Finest [heb + grc + lat]

[księżycowy]

Well, as I'm feeling a bit restless and need a change of scenery, I've begun applying to PhD. programs again (I tried once before, but only to one university, so this time I'm going bigger and broader!). Anyway, "what the heck does this have to do with making a new language log at LLORG?" might cross your mind. As I am applying to programs in Religious Studies, I wish to regain (and hopefully expand on) my knowledge of Biblical Greek and Hebrew. I might even stick some Biblical Aramaic, Latin and the broader Attic Greek in there at a certain point. Ugaritic, Sumerian, Egyptian, and Akkadian would be fun too. (Someone stop me before I get in too deep! )

My plan of attack is to actually finish the textbooks I was using for both of them:
-Basics Of Biblical Greek by Mounce
-Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar by Kelley

I may also stick in another textbook or two as well. I have quite a few.

I believe it would be best to tackle one at a time, and I've already started going through Mounce, so I'll stick with Greek until I'm done with Mounce. So far, I've made it through Chapter 6, and working on Chapter 7. I'm also very curious to see what New Testament Greek: An Introduction by MacLean is like.

[MorkTheFiddle]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with Mounce and the others!

[księżycowy]

Thank you! (Even though I've been on the forum for a while now. )

[rdearman]

Thank you! (Even though I've been on the forum for a while now. )

Nice log name.

[MorkTheFiddle]

Thank you! (Even though I've been on the forum for a while now. )

Oops. Now I see your sign-on date.

[księżycowy]

Nice log name.

Thanks, I thought so too!

Oops. Now I see your sign-on date.

No worries.

[Herodotean]

It's always good to see another dead language enthusiast. If I may offer some unsolicited advice: work some Attic into your Greek study sooner rather than later. (I started with Koine too, more or less, so I speak from experience.) Not only will it improve your Greek in general, it will be quite useful if you ever need to read Christian writers like Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus, etc.

[księżycowy]

I have been tempted to add Mastronarde along side of Mounce.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I was watching a playthrough of the game Eldritch Horror when I decided to take a break and have a look at this forum. Adventures among the Dead. So Lovecraftian.

[księżycowy]

Ok, let me recap what I've done this past week:

Biblical Greek:
I've largely decided to focus exclusively on Biblical Greek for the moment. After I complete Mounce I'll take a run through Mastronarde for Attic.

It was a bit slower this week, as I've been crafting a (admittedly rudimentary) presentation on Judges 11:1-12:7. I was able to complete Chapter 7 and plan to continue on this next week with (hopefully) Chapters 8-9. So far I've reviewed the 1 & 2 declensions of nouns, which has been relatively easy! I find Mounce a stellar textbook. I just love his explanations and enthusiasm, and the exercises are great.

Biblical Hebrew:
I've decided to pick up both languages, as I find remembering Greek to (so far) be relatively easy. Looking over the verse I was just working on for Judges (11:31), I'd say it should be pretty similar for Hebrew. The only problem I have at the moment is settling on a textbook I am willing to work through. I was going to go through the one I got for my Master's degree a few years ago (Kelley), but I'm not particularly in love with the exercises in it. I'll look through my ever increasing library of resources and see if I can settle on something. If not, I'll just flip a coin and go for it. Ideally I would like something that has translation and parsing exercises, and incorporates readings at some point. I am certainly open to suggestions, if anyone has any! (Basically something similar to Mounce, if such a thing exists.)

More to come!