In this volume, John Cook provides a foundational analysis of the Aramaic text of Ezra and Daniel. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. Cook’s analysis is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Aramaic text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Aramaic Ezra and Daniel also reflects the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on grammar and linguistics. This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text.

Aramaic Ezra and Daniel: A Handbook on the Aramaic Text (Baylor Handbook on the Hebrew Bible)

Reference

Cook, John A.

Words, Language & Grammar

Baylor University Press

Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew (Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic)

In this book John Cook interacts with the range of approaches to the perennial questions on the Biblical Hebrew verb in a fair-minded approach. Some of his answers may appear deceptively traditional, such as his perfective-imperfective identification of the qatal–yiqtol opposition. However, his approach is distinguished from the traditional approaches by its modern linguistic foundation. One distinguishing sign is his employment of the phrase “aspect prominent” to describe the Biblical Hebrew verbal system. As with almost any of the world’s verbal systems, this aspect-prominent system can express a wide range of aspectual, tensed, and modal meanings. In chap. 3, he argues that each of the forms can be semantically identified with a general meaning and that the expressions of specific aspectual, tensed, and modal meanings by each form are explicable with reference to its general meaning. After a decade of research and creative thinking, the author has come to frame his discussion not with the central question of “Tense or Aspect?” but with the question “What is the range of meaning for a given form, and what sort of contextual factors (syntagm, discourse, etc.) help us to understand this range in relation to a general meaning for the form?” In chap. 4 Cook addresses long-standing issues involving interaction between the semantics of verbal forms and their discourse pragmatic functions. He also proposes a theory of discourse modes for Biblical Hebrew. These discourse modes account for various temporal relationships that are found among successive clauses in Biblical Hebrew. Cook’s work addresses old questions with a fresh approach that is sure to provoke dialogue and new research.

History

Ancient Civilizations

Eisenbrauns

In this volume, Robert D. Holmstedt, John A. Cook, and Phillip S. Marshall provide a foundational analysis of the Hebrew text of Qoheleth. Distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the Hebrew text, Qoheleth is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Hebrew text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Qoheleth also reflects the most recent advances in scholarship on Hebrew grammar and linguistics. By filling the gap between popular and technical commentaries, the handbook becomes an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text.

Qoheleth: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text (Baylor Handbook on the Hebrew Bible)

Holmstedt, Robert D.

Marshall, Phillip S.

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Books by Cook, John A.