Biblical Hebrew in Scenes
Read Genesis in Hebrew, one scene at a time
I made these lessons for people who want to read the Bible in the language it was written in. You see each word happen in a scene, hear it in my voice and bring it back from memory. Every unit ends in a real verse of Genesis, and when you reach it you know every word in it.
Lessons 1 to 4 are free, no card. Lesson 1 needs no account; 2 to 4 need a free one.
From lesson 1
Tap a word to hear it
bread
How a lesson works
About seven new words a lesson, in about ten minutes. The English stays out of the way, so every answer comes from your own memory.
Step 1
See it, hear it
Each new word comes in a short scene, with the Hebrew in full vowels and the voice reading it. The English appears a moment later, and only here.
Step 2
Bring it back from memory
Then the questions: four pictures, letter tiles, saying the word yourself. A miss shows you the answer and the word comes back a few questions later. The next day it comes back again in a short review.
Step 3
Read the verse
The words go into sentences, and at the end of each unit you read a real verse of Genesis on your own. It stays on your shelf of verses read.
4 units, 4 verses
Level 1 is 16 lessons. Each verse was chosen first and its unit built backward from it, so the words you learn are the words of the verse, prefixes and verb forms included.
Unit 1 · Lessons 1–4
Bread and lentil stew
Bread and water · Two brothers · Red stew · The birthright
Genesis 25:34
וְיַעֲקֹב נָתַן לְעֵשָׂו לֶחֶם וּנְזִיד עֲדָשִׁים וַיֹּאכַל וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלַךְ וַיִּבֶז עֵשָׂו אֶת־הַבְּכֹרָה׃
And Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went. And Esau despised the birthright.
Unit 2 · Lessons 5–8
In the beginning
Day and night · Sky and sea · He saw that it was good · In the beginning
Genesis 1:1
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Unit 3 · Lessons 9–12
A stone for a pillow
Jacob sets out · At the well · The sun went down · A stone for a pillow
Genesis 28:11
וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָׁם כִּי־בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם וַיָּשֶׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו וַיִּשְׁכַּב בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא׃
And he came to the place and stayed the night there, because the sun had gone down. He took some of the stones of the place and put one at his head, and lay down in that place.
Unit 4 · Lessons 13–16
The pillar at Bethel
Early in the morning · Oil and wine · The stone that he put · Bethel
Genesis 28:18
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם יַעֲקֹב בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח אֶת־הָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר־שָׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָהּ מַצֵּבָה וַיִּצֹק שֶׁמֶן עַל־רֹאשָׁהּ׃
And Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put at his head, and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top.
Who it is for
- You read the Bible and want to see the Hebrew under the English, word by word.
- You are at seminary or Bible college, or about to start, and want the words of real verses to hang the grammar on.
- You learned some Hebrew once and it faded. The review brings each word back the day after you meet it.
- You have never read a Hebrew letter. Start anyway: the letters come in a few at a time, the ones each lesson uses.
It is a reading course for the Bible. If you want to speak Modern Hebrew for a trip or for life in Israel, my private lessons are the place for that.
Who made it
I am Yaacov Schlezinger. I was born in Jerusalem and grew up there, reading these texts in Hebrew and Aramaic, in the original. Hebrew is native to me.
I teach Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, Yiddish and Aramaic online, one-to-one. This course is for reading on your own, a few minutes a day, between lessons or without them. The scenes are directed by me.
What it costs
Lessons 1 to 4 are free, no card. From lesson 5 you choose a plan inside the course.
Learner
$8 a month or $60 a year
- Every lesson of the course, and the new ones as they come
- The next-day review of every word you learn
- The site's other Biblical Hebrew tools
Membership
$30 a month or $300 a year
- Everything in Learner
- One live class a week with me on the week's verse, 60 minutes, recorded, from the week of 11 January 2027
- Your questions between classes, answered by me
The class is at a fixed hour, in a group, with shared attention: it is not a private lesson. Members get the day and hour by email before it starts.
These are founding prices: you keep yours for as long as you stay subscribed. Cancel any time from your account. Write to me within 30 days of your first payment and you get the whole amount back. Already on the Learner, Immersion or VIP plan, or taking private lessons with me? The whole course is included.
Would you rather learn one-to-one? I teach Biblical Hebrew in private lessons online, on the texts you want to read. They start with a 25-minute trial lesson. Book a trial lesson
Questions
How long does it take a day?
A lesson takes about ten minutes, and the next day a few minutes of review bring its words back. At one lesson a day, a unit and its verse take four days.
Do I need to know the Hebrew letters?
No. Every word is spoken, "Show sounds" writes it in English letters when you need it, and the letter tiles bring in the letters a few at a time, the ones each lesson uses.
What about pronunciation?
The words are read in the Israeli pronunciation used in most Hebrew classes today. After a word you can say it from memory and hear your take beside mine. You mark whether you remembered it, never your accent. Your recording stays on your phone.
Phone or computer?
Both. It is made for the phone first; on a laptop the scene and the question sit side by side. With a free account your place is kept, so you can move between them.
Can I cancel?
Any time, from your account. And if the course is not for you, write to me within 30 days of your first payment and you get the whole amount back.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים
Lesson 1 takes about ten minutes
Seven words, two sentences and a challenge, on your phone or here.
Start lesson 1, free