Green W.H. A grammar of the Hebrew language

New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1889. — 461 p.The twenty-seven years, which have elapsed since the first publication of this Grammar, have been exceedingly fruitful in the philological and exegetical study of the Old Testament. And important progress has been made toward a more thorough and accurate knowledge of the grammatical structure of the Hebrew language. This edition of the Grammar has been carefully revised throughout that it may better represent the advanced state of scholarship on this subject. Nearly every page exhibits corrections or additions of greater or less consequence. And the Syntax particularly, which was not fully elaborated before, has been greatly enlarged, and for the most part entirely rewritten. The plan of the Grammar, the method of treatment, and in general the order of the sections are unchanged. And little occasion has been found to alter the more general and comprehensive statements, which are distinguished by being printed in large type. The changes are chiefly in the addition of fuller details enlarging and multiplying the paragraphs in small type.The principle of eschewing all supposititious forms and adducing none but such as really occur in the Old Testament, has been steadfastly adhered to as heretofore, with the view of rigorously conforming all rules and examples to the actual phenomena of the language. The text of Baer is preferred so far as published, the disputed ortho-phonic Daghesh-forte excepted, though it is recognized and its rules are stated. In the discussion of the poetic accents free use has been made of the elaborate treatises of Baer and "Wickes; and the names which they employ are given as well as those which previously were more familiar. The intricate rules for the employment of Methegh are also drawn from Baer. The position of the accent is indicated as in previous editions by a small vertical stroke above all Hebrew words except monosyllables.The convenience of students has been consulted in removing the paradigms of pronouns, verbs, and nouns from the body of the volume and placing them together at the end. A new paradigm has been introduced, affording a succinct view of the formation of nouns of different classes, with their respective significations. The declensions of nouns have been simplified by an arrangement which corresponds at once with their etymological structure and with the vowel changes to which they are severally liable. While every part of the Syntax is much more fully developed than before, special attention has been paid to the use of the tenses, which is so thoroughly discussed in the admirable treatise of Dr. Driver. The old names preterite and future are, for reasons given on pp. 299-302, preferred to perfect and imperfect, which are now so generally adopted; but the latter are used in conjunction with the former for the convenience of those who like them better. The various kinds of compound sentences, involving relative, conditional, circumstantial, and co-oi'dinate clauses, receive the attention which is due to their peculiar character and separate importance. The different rules and statements of the Grammar, and particularly of the Syntax, are illustrated and confirmed by a copious citation of passages in which they are exemplified. Full indexes, as before, accompany the Grammar to facilitate its use.