Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The MSt in Classical Hebrew Studies may be taken by those with no future study plans beyond a master's degree, however it has been designed for those with a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew (perhaps learned as part of a Theology or Biblical Studies degree) who wish to extend and deepen their linguistic and textual competence as a preparation for research. You will take two compulsory papers, one on biblical texts and the other on history and literature. You will also choose two others on such subjects as Hebrew language, textual criticism, epigraphy, Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Dead Sea Scrolls. Teaching for certain options may not be available every year. Within these constraints, the course offers considerable flexibility to suit your individual interests and needs. For instance, the texts selected for study can be varied from year to year, while the optional papers may, with permission, be on any relevant subject (eg, early rabbinic texts, Septuagint). A substantial part of the course may therefore be directed towards a possible future research topic. The teaching takes two main forms. Firstly, there are classes on the specified texts and on advanced Hebrew language throughout the year, which you are strongly recommended to attend as a matter of priority. There may also be classes on your optional subjects, depending on what they are (Aramaic and Septuagint, for instance, are both taught in this way). It is important to prepare for each class hour in advance, to enable you to make good progress over the year. Secondly, you will receive individual supervision, usually for an hour each week, for which you are expected to prepare written work - usually an essay - on the basis of recommended reading. Teaching for such subjects as history and literature is wholly conducted in this way, while you will also be given practice in the proper way in which to answer questions on specified texts. Taken together, you should expect around six to eight contact hours per week during the first two terms, and slightly fewer in the third term to allow for revision time. Classes are sometimes shared with those on other similar courses, and specialist teaching is provided by a number of different lecturers. There are also seminars that you should attend on a regular basis, in particular the weekly Hebrew Bible/Old Testament seminars. These are invaluable for learning about various methodologies employed in the field, but they also provide a venue for social and academic interaction with students and lecturers in adjacent fields. During the course there are two vacations of six weeks each, during which you will be expected to keep working full time, with modest breaks for Christmas and Easter. You will be given guidance about specific projects to be tackled, but will be advised to go back over the texts and other topics studied in the previous term in order to consolidate with wider reading, filling in gaps, and so on. It is also helpful, if you are in a position to do so, to undertake preparatory work during the summer before you begin. If you have the opportunity to discuss with your potential teachers at least some of the texts that you hope to study, you will find that you derive far more benefit from the classes if you have been able to prepare them as far as you are able in advance. Numbers of students on the course are very small (1–2 per year) and so teaching is tailored according to the needs and interests of individual students.