The Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages

This page is updated for the academic year 2023-2024.
Information for the academic year 2024-2025 will be updated in the coming days.

Master's Degree 

Tracks 

Two tracks are available: 
Track A – includes research and thesis submission. 
Track B – not research-based. 

A direct (condensed) track exists for outstanding master’s degree students (details in the introductory chapter). 

Areas of specialization – only in Track A 

  1. Biblical Hebrew 

  1. Mishnaic Hebrew 

  1. Medieval languages 

  1. Modern Hebrew and its background 

  1. Semitic languages 
      

Admission requirements 

Undergraduate degree in Hebrew as an extended major, major or double major with a minimum GPA of 76. 

 

Completion of missing courses   

  1. Applicants who minored in Hebrew at the undergraduate level will be considered for ‘conditional admission’. In the first year of study the following courses must be completed for a total of 6 AC (12 SC): 

  • Lexical semantics – 1 AC (2 SC) 

  • Legal semantics – 1 AC (2 SC) 

  • Elective courses may be undergraduate courses if not already taken as part of the bachelor’s degree., for a total of 4 AC (8 SC) 

These courses must be completed with a minimum average grade of 80. 

  1. Applicants who majored in another subject or studied at a different institution and are admitted, must make up courses as determined by the department and approved by the School of Graduate Studies. These courses must be completed with a minimum average grade of 80. 

Track A – research-based track 

Credit and seminar requirements 

  • 14 AC (28 SC) – program-wide courses and courses in the area of specialization, from which two seminar papers must be written for two different instructors on two different topics. Program-wide courses required by all students include 4 AC (8 SC) in Semitic languages [or 2 AC (4 SC) for students specializing in modern Hebrew] and 1 AC (2 SC) in academic writing. 

  • Participation in the departmental colloquium and in the forum for department research students throughout the degree. 

  • Students who do not submit their thesis by the end of the second year are required to audit one course in the department each year until submission. 

Language proficiency 

  1. English at the master’s degree level (details on placement tests, course levels and exemption eligibility criteria – see introductory chapter).    

Students with a minimum grade of 85 in undergraduate advanced English from Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, University of Haifa, Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University, Ariel University, Open University and the Technion are exempt from the proficiency exam. 

  1.  Reading proficiency in in another foreign language from among the following: German, Spainish, Russian or any other language proposed by the advisor. 
      

Jewish studies 
As per general requirements for the master's degree (see introductory chapter). 


Thesis guidelines
 See School of Graduate Studies Rules and Regulations in the introductory chapter. 


Final exam for the master’s degree 
The final exam is based on the thesis and its underlying bibliography. 
  

Research proposals should be submitted by the end of the first year of study,
and no later than the end of the fall semester of the second year. 

  

Track B – non-research track     

No breakdown by areas of specialization. 

Credit and seminar requirements 

1. Standard program 

18 AC (36 SC) as specified below: 

2–4 AC (4–8 SC) Akkadian or another Semitic language 

1 AC (2 SC) – Scientific writing 

13-15 AC (26-30 SC) elective courses, among which are: a linguistics course based on texts from the Sages period, a similar course from the medieval period, and an advanced course in modern Hebrew or general linguistics. Students must write 3 seminar papers for at least two different instructors. 

One elective course may be an undergraduate course if it was not already taken as part of the bachelor’s degree. 
 
Participation in the departmental colloquium is required throughout the degree.  

This program has a mandatory final exam. 
  

2. Condensed one-year program, without research work, for certificate studies in language editing at Bar-Ilan University 

16 AC (32 SC) from department graduate-level courses, from which two seminar papers must be written with two different instructors. 

One elective course may be an undergraduate course if it was not already taken as part of the bachelor’s degree. 

Graduates of the language editing certificate program without an undergraduate major in Hebrew must make up 4 AC (8 SC) courses as determined by the department head or the master’s degree advisor. These courses must be completed with a minimum average grade of 80. 

 This program has a mandatory final exam. 
 

Final exam for the master’s degree 

Final exam based on bibliographic material as determined by the department. 


Language proficiency 

English at the master’s degree level (details on placement tests, course levels and exemption eligibility criteria – see introductory chapter). 

Students with a minimum grade of 85 in undergraduate advanced English from Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, University of Haifa, Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University, Ariel University, Open University and the Technion are exempt from the proficiency exam. 

 
Jewish studies 

As per general requirements for the master's degree (see introductory chapter). 

Graduates of the language editing certificate program at Bar-Ilan who had completed their Jewish studies requirements then, are exempt from Jewish studies. 

  

PhD 

Areas of specialization:  

  • Hebrew language periods 

  1. Biblical Hebrew                                                                                 

  1. Mishnaic Hebrew 

  1. Medieval languages                                                      

  1. Modern Hebrew 
     

  • Research topics 

  1. Phonology and morphology 

  1. Syntax 

  1. Semantics 

  1. Pragmatics 

  1. Lexicography 

  1. Discourse analysis                                                           

  1. Aramaic dialects                                                

  1. Assyriology 

  1. Comparative Semitic linguistics 

  1. Jewish languages 

  1. Language contact 

  

Curriculum to be determined by the department head or their appointee. 
Each year students must take one course and participate in the departmental colloquium. 

  

For further details 

contact the department by phone at 03-5318226/8253 
or by email to the department administrator or by email,
or visit the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages website. 

Last Updated Date : 03/04/2024