An Introduction to Aramaic

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An Introduction to Aramaic. By Frederick E. Greenspahn. SBL Resources for Biblical Study 38. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999, xi + 230 pp., $54.95 paper.

I awaited the arrival of An Introduction to Aramaic with great anticipation. Franz Rosenthal's A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic (1963) and Alger F. John's A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic (1972) are outdated and certainly not user-friendly. Greenspahn's pedagogical philosophy is sound and consistent. The volume is based on the assumption that the student has a working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew (pp. ix, 2-4). Following "A Brief History of Aramaic" (pp. 5-7), the author commences the workbook format characteristic of his Introduction (p. x). Space is provided for the student's answers to exercises at the end of each chapter. The various forms of exercise include translation (Aramaic to English and English to Aramaic), transcription, description, identification, and completion (including the filling of charts). The workbook format, however, suffers from the absence of a convenient way to remove and submit the exercises for grading. Perhaps a loose-leaf format with holes for a three-ring binder would be a practical improvement for future editions.

Greenspahn's employment of Jer 10:11 to demonstrate similarities between Aramaic and Hebrew (pp. 8-10) was a pleasant surprise, since I include just such an exercise in the first day's lesson plan for Biblical Aramaic. With the exception of Daniel 7, the author uses abridged texts of the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel to reinforce each chapter's lesson in the language. His intent in such abridgement is to limit "the quantity of new vocabulary to ... manageable portions" (p. x). As the last Biblical text to be translated, the unabridged text of Daniel 7 is covered in a masterful running exercise (chap. 27). With the Biblical texts covered, the author then guides the student through some brief but variable studies of the following extra-Biblical materials: inscriptions from Zinjirli, Jerusalem, and Fein Gedi, a letter from Elephantine and a letter by Bar Kochba, a portion of the Genesis Apocryphon from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a passage from Genesis Rabbah in the Midrash, and Genesis 22 from Targum Jonathan. These are welcome additions providing students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge of Aramaic to extra-Biblical materials frequently cited in specialized OT studies.

The "Afterward" provides a brief survey of available reference works useful for continuing Aramaic studies. Greenspahn lists lexicons, commentaries, grammars, collections of inscriptions, publications of Aramaic materials among the Dead Sea Scrolls, reference works for the targumim, Syriac reference works, and surveys of the Aramaic language. W. B. Stevenson's Grammar of Palestinian Jewish Aramaic, 2nd ed., ed. J. A. Emerton (1962; reprinted 2000) should be added to his recommendations for the study of the targumim. The book concludes with the requisite paradigms and glossary.

The overall quality of the volume is diminished by: (1) the price (exorbitant considering its workbook-style layout); (2) the numerous English-to-Aramaic translation exercises (a methodological distraction since the goal is to translate from existing Aramaic texts rather than to create new ones); (3) the abridged Biblical texts (negating the otherwise self-contained nature of the volume); (4) the employment of an asterisk to indicate footnotes (rather than marking hypothetical forms-the asterisk's normal use in Semitic studies); and (5) inconsistencies within the text (detrimental to its userfriendly status and overall quality). Examples of the last include inconsistent representations of grammatical terms by their abbreviations in the vocabulary listings. Imperfects are referred to by imperfect, imperf., imf, and impf; participles are referred to by participle, part., ptcl, ptc, and ptcpl; and perfects are referred to by perfect, perf., pfct, and pf.

Vocabulary entries could be improved in a number of instances. For example, ... (p. 16) should be listed as ... It also would prove helpful to students if there were some indication that ... occurs in Biblical Aramaic only in the compound ... (p. 21). Unmarked hypothetical forms in charts and vocabulary listings (p. ix) also might confuse students. Such a case occurs with the chart giving the forms for queen (p. 26). The chart and the accompanying footnote do not give the student an accurate view of the word's usage: ... does not occur with either the ... or the ... ending in Biblical Aramaic (the word only occurs in Dan 5:10, in the plural).

William D. Barrick

The Master's Seminary, Sun Valley, CA

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Sep 2001
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