Book of Qohelet/ Ecclesiastes – Messages in Moments of Hope and Despair

The Book of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) is one of the wisdom books in the Hebrew Bible. Over the last few months, Jenny, Lyn, and I have studied the 12 chapters of the book containing prismatic messages and ideas. Rich in genres, Qohelet is the closest any Biblical text comes to philosophy.

In James Crenshaw’s words, the book is a “kaleidoscopic image whereby apparently incongruent features of the text come together in many different meaningful configurations.

Course Materials

This is a pre-recorded course. The materials that come with the course include the recordings of 26 lessons. There is at least one hour of video material to every lesson, usually more. Every lesson is accompanied by extensive notes on vocabulary, grammar, and text-related issues. We have discussed various aspects of the Hebrew language:  structure, form, historical setting, influences, messages and ideas, philosophy, genres.

Course Level

You should have finished and introductory course to Biblical Hebrew, preferably one that introduced the weak verbs. Reference material is available on my website hebrewthroughthebible.com (BH Resources: Hebrew Grammars, Hebrew Lexicons; Paradigms)

Some of the Topics Under Discussion during the Course:

• Qere Perpetuum
• Prepositions ב,ל,כ before word that begins withי
• Cantillation marks and their syntactic functions
• Strong and Weak Dagesh in begadkefat
• Hebrew Grammar books and lexicons
• (Aramaic, Persian) loanwords in Qohelet
• Ketiv and Qere
• Metathesis
• Web Services for studying Biblical Hebrew
• Hapax Legomena
• Pausal Forms
• Onomatopoeia and alliteration
• Metathesis
• Parallelism
• …and so much more…

In the Classroom:

Jennifer – Hebrew Learning Bio Hi! My name is Jennifer and I have been learning biblical Hebrew with Michal for approximately 7 years. I have flourished under her caring teaching style and through the application of her scaffolded mode of instruction. I am now able to read most of the biblical Hebrew text, with growing application of grammar and with increased understanding. Michal has high standards and will challenge you to reach your potential. I enjoy the classes so much! They are a highlight of the week and the additional understanding of the message in the original language is inspiring. I look forward to many more years of study as there is so much to discover and an exciting journey to last a lifetime. Lyn – My Hebrew Story My interest started when I visited Israel in 2014 and I got the idea that I’d like to learn Hebrew. It took me another year or so but I finally enrolled at eTeacher to do Course A in Biblical Hebrew. As soon as I started things went crazy in my life and it was obvious I couldn’t commit to regular classes at that time. eTeacher suggested I switch to private lessons so I could have flexibility. It sounded better for me and I was assigned to Michal for private lessons. I eventually completed Course A and went on to complete Courses B C D & E. As I was nearing the end of Course E Michal invited me to study with her. Readings in Qohelet sounded interesting so for a few weeks I completed Course E and started Qohelet at well. We are now at the final chapter of Qohelet.

Michal Shmuel, Instructor

Michal immigrated to Israel after completing her M.A. in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. She has taught Biblical Hebrew for more than 13 years to students from all over the world. The word of the Hebrew Bible is her passion in life.

Visit my website Hebrew Through the Bible for resources, private tutorials, etc.