Who are we? I have been a seminary professor for many years. Every year I open a Facebook club, whose members can learn a new ancient language (we have done Aramaic, Latin) or to read Scripture in the original (the whole Septuagint; the Hebrew Torah; the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers in Greek). For this coming year we unveil the 2024 Hebrew Scripture Group: the Psalms. Go to the address www.facebook.com/groups/2024hebrewreadingthepsalms/.
Our Goal: Download the schedule for reading the Psalms (optionally Proverbs in Hebrew). The file is located on the Facebook page and also here: Psalms and (opt Proverbs) in one year 2024
Why? It’s not enough to read a verse here or a verse there. To really get a feel for the Bible in the original, one should read extended texts, including full books!
Group dynamic. This is not a class. The group is not run by experts. We assume that you will monitor your own progress, and use the FB platform to give and receive encouragement and to raise the occasional linguistic question. It is not a theological platform.
Recommended Text. We are blessed today by the existence of various “reader’s editions” of the Hebrew Scriptues. In Zondervan’s A Reader’s Hebrew Bible helps the reader with lesser-known vocabulary: “Footnoted definitions of all Hebrew words occurring 100 times or less (twenty-five or less for Aramaic words.”). It is a major bargain, too: imitation leather-bound, and it is on sale at Amazon for only $43.56. Crossway and Hendrickson offer similar tools. (Note: Zondervan also offers a one-volume Hebrew and Greek Reader’s Bible, the second edition is for about $60 dollars on Amazon). Of course, one could use Logos or other software. Recommendation: don’t depend on an interlinear.
How much Hebrew do I need in order to participate? I would say one full year or more.
Difficulty Level. Here is one person’s list of the OT books, beginning with the easiest and ending with the hardest. The Psalms fall right in the middle; the Proverbs are much harder.
How much work is it? Perhaps 20-30 minutes per day? We will read 150 psalms over 360 days; Proverbs will be an additional extra for those who are interested. We will also suggest additional excursions in the Great Psalms Scroll from Qumrán and other parallel sources and maybe some Targumim for Aramaic readers. There are 2,461 verses in the Psalms, thus an average of 6-7 verses a day. If you add the “Proverbs” option, it contains 915 verses, hence about 2.5 extra verses per day
To Join, go to Facebook: our page is under the name 2024 Hebrew Scripture Group: Prophets and Poets or the address www.facebook.com/groups/2024hebrewreadingthepsalms/ Go to the page and click LIKE in order to join and answer the two required questions.
Other resources: I recommend the members use these resources.
PSALMS APPOINTED. The Anglican church has a rich tradition of chanting Psalms. They are sung every day around the world. The entire collection of chanted psalms can be found on Spotify in a public playlist called the “Complete Coverdale Psalter.” Also, you will want to have the 16th century Coverdale version of the psalms, since they are the text that is chanted. Psalms 1-50. Psalms 51-100. Psalms 101-150. You can also access them through Logos, “Book of Common Prayer, 1928: Psalter.”
AUGUSTINE’S EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS in print is a 6-volume edition, available on Logos. A $232.95 value. You can read it for free on the New Advent website!
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURE has a 2-volume collection of patristic comments on the Psalms. Available in print, Kindle, on Logos.
QUMRAN. To access the Qumran Psalm texts. The Dead Sea Scrolls – The Digital Library. Or The Dead Sea Scrolls – Explore the Archive. To read an English translation of the Psalms texts from Qumran download the file from the Facebook page.
TARGUM. To read the Targum of the Psalms, bilingual Aramaic-English. Aramaic Targum to Psalms | Sefaria.
SEPTUAGINT. To read the Septuagint Psalms in English translation. Read the Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha Free Online (biblestudytools.com).
Logos has the Hebrew text, interlinear text, interlinear Septuagint.
RASHI’S COMMENTARY. You can read this online in this well-designed platform. Rashi was the 11th century rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki. https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm. His comments sometimes take a literal sense of the text, some are more spiritualized. Here is an example from Psalm 2: Why have nations gathered and why do the people imagine vain things?: ‘Our Sages (Ber. 7b) expounded the passage as referring to the King Messiah, but according to its apparent meaning, it is proper to interpret it as referring to David himself, as the matter is stated (II Sam. 5:17): “And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, and all the Philistines went up to seek, etc.,” and they fell into his hands. Concerning them, he says, “Why have nations gathered,” and they all gathered.’
MIDRASH. The Mishnah and Talmud are thematic explorations of law, ethics, culture; they cite Bible passages and earlier traditions as prooftexts. A midrash, on the other hand, is a running homiletical commentary that is driven verse-by-verse by biblical books. I will be reading along with William Braude’s 2-volume translation of the The Midrash on Psalms; (traditionally called Midrash Tehillim); it costs between $95 (used copies on Ebay etc.) -$176 (new). Volume 2 is available free oneline. Since the midrashim are collations of traditions stretching over a millennium, it is hard to date. It may have begun its compilation as early as the 3rd century AD, but it collects bits and pieces of other midrashim, going as far back as Hillel and Shammai in the 1st century BC. It also includes parts of the 11th century Rashi’s commentary, see above. Here is an example from Ps 110 –
Schedule: We will begin January 1, 2024 and run through the end of December, 2024.
“Join us as we read the Psalms in Hebrew in 2024,” by Gary S. Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica
SELF TEST: Take a look at Psalms 3, which forms part of the first week’s reading, to gauge whether you can keep up:
1 מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנוֹ׃
2 יְהוָה מָה־רַבּוּ צָרָי רַבִּים קָמִים עָלָי׃
3 רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לּוֹ בֵאלֹהִים סֶלָה׃
4 וְאַתָּה יְהוָה מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי׃
5 קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֶקְרָא וַיַּעֲנֵנִי מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ סֶלָה׃
6 אֲנִי שָׁכַבְתִּי וָאִישָׁנָה הֱקִיצוֹתִי כִּי יְהוָה יִסְמְכֵנִי׃
7 לֹא־אִירָא מֵרִבְבוֹת עָם אֲשֶׁר סָבִיב שָׁתוּ עָלָי׃
8 קוּמָה יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי אֱלֹהַי כִּי־הִכִּיתָ אֶת־כָּל־אֹיְבַי לֶחִי שִׁנֵּי רְשָׁעִים שִׁבַּרְתָּ׃
9 לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה עַל־עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּלָה׃
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 
What do you think?