Basics of Biblical Aramaic


Course Description

There are 269 verses in the Old Testament written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew, most found in the books of Daniel and Ezra. Basics of Biblical Aramaic follows the same easy-to-understand style in the widely-used Basics of Biblical Hebrew textbook and course, and includes everything needed to learn biblical Aramaic.


This course is designed for students who already have a working knowledge of biblical Hebrew. Alongside lessons and reviews, Basics of Biblical Aramaic includes a complete lexicon of biblical Aramaic and a complete annotated text of all 269 Bible verses written in Aramaic.

By completing this course, you'll gain:

  • an introduction to the Aramaic alphabet and the basic building blocks of biblical Aramaic
  • foundational knowledge of Aramaic nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech
  • facility with Aramaic verb forms
  • confidence in your growing knowledge through unit assessments and cutting-edge review tools

Course Instructor

Miles Van Pelt

Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary


Miles Van Pelt is the Alan Belcher Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages, Director of Summer Institute for Biblical Languages, and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi.

Course Outline

1.   Alphabet, Vowels, and Syllabification

2.  Nouns: Absolute State, Determined State, and Construct
     State

3.  Conjunctions and Prepositions

4.  Pronominal Suffixes

5.  Pronouns

6.  Adjectives and Numbers

7.   Adverbs and Particles

8.  Introduction to Aramaic Verbs, Peal Perfect

9.  MIDTERM EXAM


10.  Peal Imperfect

11.  Peal Imperative and Peal Infinitive Construct

12.  Peal Participle

13.  The Peil, Hithpeel, and Ithpeel Stems

14.  The Pael Stem

15.  The Hithpaal and Ithpall Stems

16.  The Haphel Stem

17.   The Aphel, Shaphel, and Hophal Stems

18.  FINAL EXAM

Course Textbook

This Course is based on the book Basics of Biblical Aramaic: Complete Grammar, Lexicon, and Annotated Text by Miles Van Pelt. While taking this course, you will have online access to most of this book's contents. However, if you want off line access or want this book in your personal library as a long-term reference, you may purchase it by clicking on the button to the right which will link you to amazon.ca.

Course Details

Basic of Biblical Aramaic

by Miles V. Van Pelt


16 Units, Self-paced

7 Hours of Video

12 Months of Access to All Online Course Content

3 Credits toward a Certificate, Diploma or Degree

Support by a Clearwater College Professor


Cost: $510 CAN