division into syllables is not regarded, except in two or three cases.

2. He has given (on p. 29), with a new table of vowels, the pronunciation of their names, and thus has avoided the necessity of perplexing the student at all with the old division at the top of the 28th page.

3. He has made very many corrections of references and quotations throughout the work. This, certainly, is of great importance to the thorough student who examines for himself, and wishes to know whether the author is sustained in his position by the passages referred to. Besides the unwearied pains, bestowed upon the references, before the translation was sent to the press, three revisions of the proof-sheets, we have been informed, were made with regard to this object only. In the Hebrew forms and phrases introduced into the Gramınar, also, several errors have been corrected. We do not deem it necessary to exhibit examples. Let any one open the original Grammar and the translation; and then, with the help of an accurate edition of the Hebrew Bible and a Hebrew Concordance, let him examine the matter to his own satisfaction. It is not strange, that a work like this, in passing through eleven editions, has accumulated errors of the press.

4. He has inserted many additional references to the Grammar, to the Manual Lexicon, and to the Hebrew Bible.

5. In the references to the Grammar, he has supplied the subdivisions, when, as in numerous instances is the fact, they are omitted in the original.

6. The references to the Manual Lexicon he has changed, throughout, to the article (instead of the page), and to the subdivisions of the article; so that the Grammar may be conveniently used with Professor Robinson's translation, or with any edition of the Lexicon, however the pages may vary.

7. Sometimes, by a judicious use, it is manifest, of the Lehrgebäude and of the later editions of the Lexicon, and by a careful and discriminating view of the subject, he has made the exhibition of a principle more clear, or more complete and definite in the translation than it is in the original. It would be tedious to specify every instance illustrating this remark. We content ourselves with

requesting our critical readers to compare $138 and $139 as they stand in the translation, with the same sections as they stand in the original.

8. Occasionally, for the purpose of guarding against any misapprehension, he has added a few words, and included them in brackets; or he has inserted a note at the bottom of the page.

9. In the very few cases where the author may be supposed to have been unconsciously influenced, by his theological views, in the explanation of a phrase or a passage, the translator, after letting him speak freely, has added a remark adapted to place the subject fairly before the inquisitive and candid mind; as on page 210 and page 275.

10. In several instances he has transferred to the appropriate part of the sentence a reference which, in the original, had, by some accident, fallen out of its place, and thus had failed to answer the purpose for which it must have been introduced. We will mention but one of these instances. If any of our readers will compare the position of Exodus 16: 4, in the translation (page 291, line 11 from the bottom), with its position in the original (page 259, line 17 from the bottom, where, by another mistake, it is printed Exodus 36: 4), and will examine the passage in the Hebrew Bible, they will have a specimen of the gratifying evidence which might be adduced of the exceeding carefulness and scholarlike circumspection with which the translator has proceeded in his noble effort to do justice, not merely to the author, but, also, to the subject itself, and to the student.

The accurate and beautiful manner in which this Grammar is printed, is worthy of high commendation. Indeed, it would reflect honor upon any university press in Europe. The eye of the student will rest upon such a book as this with safety and with delight.

The course of Exercises and the Chrestomathy, prepared by the translator, and appended to the Grammar, must be regarded as a most valuable appendage. They cannot fail of contributing greatly to the favorable reception of the whole work. They are brief; and they should be brief; especially in view of the fact, which we are happy to know, that Professor Conant is intending soon to publish a Hebrew Phrase Book and Exercises in writing Hebrew. Success to the worthy enterprise! We

hail with joy and gratitude every indication of an increasing interest in whatever pertains, whether directly or indirectly, to the fundamental study of the Holy Scrip

tures.

Here, without intending to prescribe any one method for all times and circumstances, we may be permitted to advert to an essay, written by the distinguished Professor Winer, which first attracted our attention, at a German university, fourteen or fifteen years ago. It was entitled, Outlines of a Method of Elementary Instruction in the Hebrew Language;* and it may suggest to instructers some valuable hints. It was, in substance, as follows:

Mark the boundary between the instruction that is elementary, and that which is appropriate to the university as a theological institution.

Devote more hours to this study than are given it in most of the high schools. Use one grammar through all the courses. Awaken a love for the study. Avoid overloading with rules; but proceed gradually from the most essential points to the rest; and sustain the memory with well-selected repetitions. Direct the understanding to a lucid arrangement, and let it contemplate the clearness of single rules. Point, when occasion presents itself, to the organic and physical elucidation of the language. Connect immediately with rules their application; and by bringing the student to translate out of the Hebrew and into it, teach him the utility of what he has learnt.

Have at least two courses: the first, for a complete knowledge of grammatical paradigms; the second, for exercise in this knowledge, and for the necessary rules of syntax.

(I.) Name the letters,-the consonants; and the vowels. Then, with respect to their relations to one another according to their expression and form, let the students repeat them in short Hebrew words of one syllable and of two, and write them, finally, on paper.

To the letters and vowels add now the most necessary diacritical points and the accents. Explain their use exactly. Show especially the difference of Daghesh forte and Daghesh lene, and Mappiq. But dwell not on the

* Grundlinien einer Methodik des Elementar-unterrichts in der hebräischen Sprache.

special rules for employing Daghesh lene and Methegh. Of the accents, the greater Distinctives are sufficient. Put in practice the knowledge of all these signs, as, also, that of the letters, by reading for the purpose; and close this exercise by having a few paragraphs of Hebrew transcribed.

Proceed to the pronouns. Among these, the suffixes require special attention. Point out their origin; and let them be connected orally and by the pen with verbs of a simple form, and with nouns masculine of the first paradigm, till it can be done with readiness.

Let

Next is the regular verb. Let the several tenses of each conjugation be written, and the characteristics marked. Advance to the inflections of the tenses; and explain them first in the paradigm of Kal, and then in the rest. each student regard it as an indispensable duty to commit the regular verb perfectly to memory. Repeat and write in every order again and again. Write and pronounce the words, and then add the points. That mode of instruction, which does not require the pupil to exert himself, is the grave of true science. Tantum scimus, quantum memoriâ tenemus.

Before coming to the verbs with gutturals, explain the peculiarities of these letters. In all irregularities, require the student to show definitely the departures from the paradigm of the regular verb, and the reason of them. Explain the peculiarity of the quiescing letters. Let the irregular verbs be repeated and written, as were the regular.

While engaged in these exercises, begin to translate. Select easy sentences in which regular and then irregular verbs occur, with only the state absolute of the noun; and let such examples be translated from the Hebrew and back again.

Now exhibit the declension of the noun, passing slightly over its derivation, for the present. Teach the endings of the genders and of the numbers; and explain the use and the origin of the construct state. Continue the reading aloud, the repeating, and the writing, till all is well imprinted on the memory.

After this theoretical and practical instruction in the Grammar, select some portion of an easy historical book, and let the forms of the words be analyzed thoroughly,

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55

and with constant reference to the Grammar. At first, in the mean time, give the definitions of the words yourself, and add briefly some analysis of anomalous forms; but pay not much attention to these till the others have become quite familiar to the student. In the progress of these exercises, have the words looked out in a Lexicon, under your inspection and with your assistance. Let none rely on a clavis nor a translation. With the analytic reading let easy lessons, from time to time, be given to be translated into Hebrew; and, in their correction, let the student be brought always to the Grammar.

(II.) The object of the second course is the perfecting of the beginners in the forms of speech and the rules already acquired, and the elucidation of the most important peculiarities of the syntax, and the anomalies of the inflection of verbs and nouns.

Take an easy historical book, as Genesis, and let the students, carefully prepared beforehand by means of the Grammar and the Lexicon, give a translation, and then analyze exactly and with constant reference to the Grammar, all the forms of words and expressions that have not become familiar. They may then be entrusted with the thorough reading of the syntax themselves. Let them be required, also, to mention the characteristic meanings of the most frequently occurring forms of nouns, and the roots of such as are derived.

Require the translating into Hebrew; and, for this purpose, furnish materials from the New Testament or from the historical books of the Old. At length, let a beginning be made in reading and pointing unpointed sentences.

After such a preparation, the young theologian will be likely to prosecute the study, and to profit by attending critical and exegetical lectures.