A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, by Christo H. J. Van der Merwe, Jackie A. Naud6, and Jan H. Kroeze. Biblical Languages: Hebrew 3. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Pp. 404. N.P. A book should be judged by its stated purpose. This book intends to be a reference tool for those who are embarked on translation and exegesis after having completed a standard introduction to Hebrew. Why the existing grammars and reference works would not suffice for such individuals is, frankly, not clear to me; they are every bit as accessible to such individuals as this one and, in some ways, more so. That having been said, this is, nonetheless, a useful volume. It provides an extensive overview of Hebrew that incorporates the most recent views of Hebrew grammar, such as the current understanding of the waw consecutive, along with several valuable tools. Of particular value are those sections which classify the phenomena with which they are concerned while giving examples from the Bible for each category. Among the topics treated this way are the various nuances conveyed by each Hebrew aspect, the semantic values of the construct, and the meanings of individual prepositions. These sections will provide future researchers with a convenient resource as they seek to explore these phenomena more deeply. At the same time, a variety of features make using this volume confusing. Most noticeable is its propensity for unusual terms, such as "waw copulative" (p. 171), "focus particle" (p. 311), and "postconstructus" (p. 193), all of which are used in favor of more common categories (waw conjunctive, adverb, and genitive or nomen rectum). Other, familiar terms are used in unfamiliar ways. With reference to verbal forms, for example, vowel patterns are called "infixes," the collectivity of forms which make up an individual tense or aspect are termed a "conjugation," and the entirety of tenses or aspects are referred to as a "stem formation" (e.g., p. 67). There is, to be sure, a glossary, that includes these as well as other terms from both general and Hebrew linguistics, but they are still likely to confuse new students and instructors who are familiar with the more traditional terminology. More surprising are several oversights and omissions. Although the section on comparison notes that divine terms can be used to express the superlative (p. 236), there is no reference to the tetragrammaton (cf. P. Jouon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew [Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1993] 142n). Nor is the problematic nature of the relationship between physical and grammatical gender, which has been recognized and discussed since the time of the ancient Greek grammarians, noted in the extensive discussion of gender and the various problems associated with its Hebrew manifestations (p. …