Reflections on Biblical Hebrew training in Nigeria
Inspiring Interview with Our Teachers and Students
Jerusalem Seminary’s Hebrew for the Nations (H4N) teachers, Tali and Yuval, are back in the Holy Land after teaching Biblical Hebrew as a Living Language to 19 students in Nigeria.
As usual God showed up in ways we hadn’t anticipated! Tali and Yuval were able to get their Nigerian visas in record time, even printing them on the way to the airport. Despite 250,000+ Israelis being stranded overseas due to canceled flights — Tali and Yuval returned home with no problems as Ethiopian Airlines powered on.
Now that our teachers are home in Israel, we’ve had the privilege of hearing their stories and praise reports, as well as accounts from a number of students. Read on for testimonies, praises, and reflections from our Israeli teachers and Nigerian students on the recent intensive course for Bible Translators in Jos, Nigeria.
Insights from Tali and Yuval:
Describe a unique challenge you faced and how the Lord answered your prayer.
Yuval: On the twelfth day of the course, a busy time of getting ready for the final exam, I fell ill. During the night I woke up with a very high fever (almost reaching 40 degrees Celsius/104 Fahrenheit) and harsh stomach aches. I took some medicine and prayed. Though I managed to sleep for a couple of hours and felt significantly better in the morning, I was still unable to even sit up for long, yet alone teach in the class. Tali, with whom I co-taught, took over and taught on her own for a whole day, not an easy task. My spiritual supporters, H4N and JS staff, the local ITDAL leaders, and of course the students, all prayed for my recovery. After a difficult day and even considering going to a hospital, I managed to finally fall asleep. To my amazement, I woke up without a fever and feeling ever so much better. It took me another day to fully recover, but on the following day I was able to step into the classroom and teach for an entire day. Such a transformation—from bedridden to (almost) back to normal in just one day—in my point of view was a visible answer to prayer.
How was the group dynamic with the students?
Tali: The group dynamic with students was wonderful, although most of them were shy at the beginning. We needed to encourage them to answer and not hesitate to answer out loud. It turns out that in Nigeria it is not acceptable for the students to speak louder than the teacher, so it was not natural for the students to burst out with answers like we expected.
Yuval: The students were of diverse backgrounds, some pastors, some laymen, from all over Nigeria, speaking many different languages. In the first few days, I could see that they tended to stay near the same people, probably students who knew each other or came from the same place. Yet very quickly, the whole group began to act as one. Students would help one another and also worked together on their homework.
The students would have a morning devotion, during which they decided to incorporate verses in Hebrew and also songs we sang in class. Not only that, but for the graduation ceremony, the students prepared a medley of the songs we learned in Hebrew.
The students would have a morning devotion, during which they decided to incorporate verses in Hebrew and also songs we sang in class. Not only that, but for the graduation ceremony, the students prepared a medley of the songs we learned in Hebrew.
What did you learn about Bible translation in Nigeria?
Tali: Once I happened to pass by a few students that were speaking between themselves enthusiastically. When they saw that I noticed them, they smiled and explained to me passionately, “When we read about the Israelites in the Bible, it dawned upon us that their culture is the same as ours, literally one-to-one!” I understood that the calling of Bible translation is much closer to their hearts than I assumed.
Yuval: I knew that some language groups don’t have the Hebrew Bible in their language, but it is one thing hearing about this, and another meeting someone who doesn’t have the Old Testament in his mother tongue. This book has been so influential and edifying in my personal life. The Torah, the history in the land of Israel from Joshua to the Exile and return, the prayers in Psalms, the wisdom in Proverbs and Job, all have been a constant companion throughout my spiritual life. Just the thought that my brothers and sisters in Nigeria don’t have that, don’t have the full Word of God, is deeply heart breaking.
How were you received as Israelis?
Tali: They welcomed us as if we were nobility, and throughout our stay we were treated with great kindness, respect, and love.
Yuval: We were welcomed very warmly by everyone we met. While people were aware of the ongoing war, they seemed to not have strong political opinions about the State of Israel. Most of the students, ITDAL, and other Christians were rather excited to meet a Jewish person, a first time for many. One man we met in the first week was very interested to talk with us. Up to that point, he was under the impression that Jews are all believers in Christ. He did not realize that Israel is an ethnic group and not a religious group. At no point did I face any negative opinion of Jews or anything other than concern for the situation in Israel.
What were some successes? For what do you praise the Lord?
Tali: During the course debrief the students said that our teaching method, together with the patience and caring that we as teachers had for them, greatly dispelled from their hearts the fear of learning the Hebrew language. Only after this I realized that some of them doubted their ability to learn the language and in their pronunciation of words because they were not sure they were reading correctly. They were so happy and told us that their families are also interested in Hebrew, and that in their opinion we should even teach all Christian children Biblical Hebrew, just like Muslim children learn Arabic.
Yuval: One student was very weak at the beginning of the course. He barely passed the quizzes and his work was below standard. I later learned that his father passed away a short time before the course started. He found it very difficult to focus, yet something changed in him and he went from being one of the weakest students to being one of the strongest ones. He participated in class more, and even started helping other students. I praise the Lord for comforting this student, and for giving him the peace of mind in order to use the opportunity he has for the service of his language group.
Feedback from Tali and Yuval’s Students:
What project/s are you working with?
Yohana: I am working with two Bible Translation Projects: the u̱t-Hun Bible Translation Project and u̱t-Saare Bible Translation Project. The population of the u̱t-Hun people group are estimated to be around 870,000. The population of the u̱t-Saare people group are estimated to be around 650,000.
Namani: My organization is working in three different languages on Bible Translation.
Michael: For now, just one language. We are five translators, with a population of about 261,000 people in that language.
What did you think of your Israeli teachers?
Emily: My Israeli teachers were wonderful! They worked very hard and were patient with us. They were also very funny and we could feel their love and care in the way they taught and interacted with us. We learned a lot from them!
Namani: They were excellent teachers. Very innovative, hard working, practical and pragmatic, friendly and approachable. They laid a good foundation to help their students understand Hebrew. Teaching Hebrew in Hebrew made their class interesting and easy to understand the language in a short time. Effectively, they taught us the basics of Hebrew in two weeks — the alphabet, vocabularies, and grammar. By the third week the students were able to read, write, and speak in simple sentences in Hebrew.
How do you see this impacting your work in Bible translation?
Theophilus: What I learned from them will impact so much in my language. I will make use of the knowledge to faithfully translate the Word of God into my language.
Tarsom: Presently it is helping me in translating the Old Testament more accurately. It also helps our translation work to be translated based on the context of the Bible because of the impact of the Hebrew Course that we had.
What do you praise God for in light of this course?
Namani: That at 62 years old, and without any former knowledge of Hebrew, I am able to learn and understand the basics of a new language in a formal setting within 3 weeks.
The generosity of our teachers — in committing their time to help students understand the language, in preparing adequate teaching and illustration materials, in giving study aid materials, in giving other gifts (including a copy of the Hebrew Bible to each student) — is worth praising God.
The generosity of our teachers — in committing their time to help students understand the language, in preparing adequate teaching and illustration materials, in giving study aid materials, in giving other gifts (including a copy of the Hebrew Bible to each student) — is worth praising God.
Ashibuogwu: I have been able to understand to a large extent some historical, cultural, and geographical settings of the original language of the OT.
Michael: I praise God for this course, it helps me to understand things I didn’t know before.
Yohana: I praise God because doing this course is a blessing to me; in my checks now, I will not totally rely on the English versions and other regional versions, instead relying heavily on the Hebrew Bible which gives the correct meaning of Hebrew words.
Did you learn something new about understanding the Bible?
Namani: Yes. One is the understanding of what wilderness means. It used to be confusing whether it should be translated as forest or desert. I understand that it could mean both.
I also learnt that some of the Jewish cultures are similar to some African cultures. For example…words are categorized as masculine or feminine [this also has cultural implications].
Do you think it is important that Israelis teach Biblical Hebrew?
Emily: I think that it is very important for Israelis to teach Hebrew! The quality of the teaching is just exceptional and they are able to give so many cultural insights and pronunciations that other teachers often miss. In addition, for many of us, learning Hebrew through the traditional methods of parsing and analyzing using a book, instead of reading, listening and speaking, makes the Hebrew easily forgettable. Sometimes I still have Tali or Yuval’s voices in my head pronouncing words or phrases! It is great!
Namani: Yes. Going by the experience of having Yuval and Tali teaching us for three weeks, Israelis are more effective teachers of Hebrew. In our class for example, most students had studied Hebrew for two or more years in a Seminary or University before, but in interacting with some of them, they testify that it is within these three weeks that they understood Hebrew practically and better.
Join us!
Pray with us for the significant impact of H4N Biblical Hebrew training on the massive Bible translation effort currently underway in Nigeria. Plans are unfolding for a repeat of Hebrew for the Nations Level 1 and implementation of Level 2 intensive courses next summer in the same location. Pray with us for God to call the right Israeli teachers, new and experienced, to continue this work in the summer of 2025. If you would like to support the work of Israeli teachers abroad you can designate: “Hebrew for the Nations” on the Jerusalem Seminary Give page.
For more background on the project and an interview with Yuval and Tali on their spiritual and physical preparations, read the first article in this series.