Courses & Programs
We offer a variety of courses and programs to choose from. Scroll down or click to the specific program you are interested in.
Semester Long Courses
This academic program focuses on Hebrew as the source language of the Old Testament of the Bible. Students are also introduced to the context of the Bible, the land in which it was written. This unique combination equips consultants to help translators provide a more accurate and natural translation into their own mother tongue or another target language. Accreditation: Since 1995 the program has been offered as fully accredited courses by the Rothberg International School for Overseas Students of the Hebrew University or Jerusalem. Leading Scholars: Our visiting professors are leaders in their fields relating to Bible translation:
- Dr. Reinier de Blois of United Bible Societies, creator of the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and Director of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship, teaches Semantics of Biblical Hebrew
- Dr. Lénart de Regt of United Bible Societies, author of Linguistic Coherence in Biblical Hebrew Texts and other books and articles, teaches Discourse Analysis of Biblical Hebrew
- Murray Salibury of SIL, long-time teacher of courses and workshops on Hebrew Poetry, teaches Biblical Hebrew Poetry
Before arriving in Israel, all students are required to complete an online Biblical Hebrew Level 1 course, which runs from October 2025 to January 2026.
The Language and the land: 5 semester courses
Advanced Study Program
for Translation Consultants
and Consultants-in-Training
JCBT Spring Semester 2026 at the Hebrew University Jerusalem
March 1 – June 26, 2026
- Historical Geography and Cultural Backgrounds of the Land of the Bible led by JCBT Executive Director Bob Carter and other academic guides and visiting lecturers. A comprehensive course on the Land of the Bible as the context of the Biblical text The study tours and series of lectures cover the historical, geographical, archeological, agricultural and nature of the Bible(7 cr.) March 22 (classroom lectures + 18 days of field trips)
- Textual Criticism (2 credits) March 27 – May 8 (one morning per week)
- Semantics of Biblical Hebrew by Dr. Reinier de Blois(3 cr.) – April 26 – May 8
- Discourse Analysis of Biblical Hebrew by Dr. Lenart de Regt (3 cr.) May 10 – 22
- Biblical Hebrew Poetry by Hebrew Poetry specialist Murray Salisbury (4 cr.) 25 May – 24 June
Graduation at Hebrew University of Jerusalem June 25
Departure June 26 – 27
Summary: accredited Hebrew University credits: 12 credits in Biblical Hebrew and 7 credits in Historical Geography of the land of the Bible = 19 credits.
Note: the above program is subject to change
TWO-WEEK COURSES
Land of the Bible: “Text in Context”
4-17 January 2026
Come experience the Bible where most of the events happened!
Course Overview:
This immersive, two-week course will explore the rich historical, cultural, and geographical context of the Bible by focusing on Israel as the central land in biblical events. Participants will engage with the land itself, visiting key locations mentioned in the Bible, which will help gain insights into translation issues and find solutions that respect the cultural and linguistic nuances of the ancient texts.
Through both field trips and lectures, this course aims to deepen participants' understanding of biblical language and context, empowering them to help translators translate with greater accuracy and faithfulness to the original texts.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- See the Bible in context: Deepen their understanding of the geographical, historical, and cultural contexts of the Bible, and how these influence translation decisions.
- Translate with Sensitivity: Make more informed choices in guiding translation projects by considering the original cultural setting.
- Engage with Ancient Texts: Gain insight into how ancient manuscripts, archaeological discoveries, and historical sites inform the process of Bible Translation.
Course Structure:
The course consists of 12 days of field trips, together with on-site lectures, so that participants can engage directly with the land and the text of the Bible. Through exploration of the land, the participants will be better equipped for their consultant work and develop a deeper connection with the biblical text.
Designed for:
This course is designed for Bible Translators, Bible Translation Consultants and Consultants in Training directly involved in the field of Bible translation.
Course Requirements:
- Prerequisites: Knowledge of the biblical texts, translation principles, and linguistics
- Language: Fluency in English
- Physical Ability: The ability to walk and explore outdoor sites, sometimes on uneven ground
Dates:
Arrival: Sunday 4 January 2026
Departure: Saturday 17 January 2026
Course Fee:
$ 2475 per person
An additional $350 applies for students requiring a visa to Israel.
Course Fee Includes:
- Administration fee
- Accommodation in double occupancy rooms at our JCBT facilities
- Meals
- Tuition
- Transportation
- Teaching and field-guiding
- Lectures
- Textbook
- Entrance fees to museums/national parks
- Certificate of completion
Fourteen Days of Eye Opening Insights into the Hebrew Scripture and its Context
We offer several insightful courses on the historical, archaeological and geographical context of Scripture and how this understanding can impact translations. With Bible in hand, trips to Biblical sites throughout the Land are experienced with an eye toward Bible translation issues.
Since translation consultants check and approve the Biblical accuracy of the mother tongue translations, they must be knowledgeable in not only the text of the Bible but also of the context in which the words were written.
Translation consultants should have a minimum of one study experience in the Land of the Bible to learn about its geography, archaeology, flora, fauna, etc., forming an experiential dictionary of Biblical terms and resulting in improved expertise in advising toward a more accurate and natural translation.
Short-term courses by JCBT:
- Are tailor made for consultants and translation groups.
- Focus on how the context impacts the understanding of the original Text.
- Are inexpensive and flexible for each group.
Sample Schedule of Study Trips
The Book of Psalms
Dates: September 23 – December 16, 2026
Instructors: Murray Salisbury (murray_salisbury@sil.org) Niek Arentsen (n.arentsen@gmail.com)
The goal of this weekly, online course is to equip you with tools of exegesis and poetry analysis that will help you make informed decisions about the most likely meaning of difficult verses in the Psalms. Translating any poetic text is not easy. And translating the Psalms has many challenges, such as the meaning of idioms and other figurative language, fewer grammatical connectors, and the tense-aspect-mood of the verbs.
You will learn a simple methodology for studying the Psalms that you can pass on to others. And you will be able to apply much of what you learn to other poetic parts of the Hebrew Bible.
You will receive two electronic textbooks for recommended reading as well as the Power-Points and video recordings from each class.
Psalm 119:130: "The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the untrained."
About the instructors:
- Murray Salisbury is a translation consultant with SIL's Global Consultant Pool. For 35 years he’s been training over 2000 consultants and translators—about Hebrew poetry and other Old Testament topics—at 155 courses around the world, including 5 universities.
- Niek Arentsen has a doctorate in Hebrew language from the Hebrew University and has trained Bible translators in Jerusalem for the past ten years, first with JCBT and later with Whole Word Institute. He teaches especially on Biblical Hebrew, the cultural background of the Bible, poetry, and prophecy.
Times
Our 12 classes will be held on Wednesdays: 15:00-17:10 Israel time, with 10-min break (13:00-15:10 UTC)
No class on September 30 due to Sukkot.
Prerequisites
Ideally, an intermediate-to-advanced level of Biblical Hebrew.
Each week you will prepare to read a psalm in class with understanding and to answer the set questions verbally.
Applications close on September 19th. The cost is US$350 to cover the administrative and technical costs. A limited number of scholarships for national consultants and translators are available on application. Class size is limited, so apply early.
Applications opening soon.
For more information, contact: office@bibletranslators.org
BHCT: Biblical Hebrew for Consultant Training
Our BHCT Program started back in 2016 and was originally called the “NT2OT” (New Testament to Old Testament) program. It was designed for NT-experienced consultants who wanted to gain competency in Hebrew and OT translation. Since then we have expanded to include consultants-in-training (CiT) and others. The program is part-time, mainly online, and specifically focused on enabling those who are working full-time. The aim of the program is to equip participants with requisite skills in Biblical Hebrew and set them on a trajectory of continued learning as they serve in Bible translation.
The 10th cohort has already begun, and we are already compiling a list of participants for Cohort 11 starting in September 2026. For further information, please email me, Bob Carter. BHCT consists of three parts: (1) ten months of online immersive Hebrew acquisition, (2) a one-month intensive Hebrew course in Israel, and (3) a follow-up year of online training in Hebrew syntax, discourse, and translation issues.
Part 1 (Year 1) – Part 1 consists of ten months (during September-July) of online immersive Biblical Hebrew learning. They meet once a week for two hours with native-speaker Israeli teachers of Biblical Hebrew from Jerusalem Seminary / Hebrew for the Nations using second language acquisition methodologies, that is, “living” Biblical Hebrew.[1] The goal is to go beyond knowing about Hebrew to actually knowing Hebrew. This language acquisition lays the foundation for later grammatical studies. A minimum of four hours per week preparation is expected. With their supervisor's approval and cooperation, the consultants or CiTs are able to continue their regular work while limiting their study time to 6-8 hours per week. Commitment to and funding for the August course are required in order to be admitted to the Year 1 course.
Part 2 (August) - The second part consists of a one-month, in-person Biblical Hebrew course held in Israel. This is usually done in the month of August in partnership with JCBT (Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators) and Jerusalem Seminary. The first year of online Hebrew acquisition prepares the participants for coming to Israel for the August intensive course. The course consists of 120 class hours of living Biblical Hebrew with Israeli teachers[2] along with 9 days of historical geography fieldtrips focusing on Old Testament sites. The goal is to internalize as much Biblical Hebrew as possible and gain functional oral/aural fluency, while also becoming familiar with the important features of the Land of Israel.
Part 3 (Year 2) - In the second year, the students begin to address many of the questions that linguist-translators have developed during their first two parts of the program. We offer modules taught by people who have specialized in topics such as Verbal Syntax, Textual Criticism, Masoretic Accents, Discourse Analysis, and Poetry. The approach is more “traditional” than in Year 1 and August, which are focused on communicative Hebrew. These online sessions include vocabulary review along with reading and analyzing texts together. These modules meet online October-June for 1.5 hours per week and require a minimum of 3 hours per week preparation.
Course fees for Cohort 11 Sept 2026-Jun 2028 (approximate, factors out of our control may raise the costs):
Year 1 (Sept 2026 – Jul 2027): $1500
August 2027: The estimated cost is $5600-5800 (all expenses in Israel: Israeli teaching staff, food & lodging, entrance fees, transport, but not including international airfare and personal purchases) This may increase in 2027.
Year 2 (Sept 2027 – Jun 2028): about $200, probably less (for resources – they have tried to make use of TW Logos resources; teachers are all SC and SIL, so no cost)
Because of continuing inflation in Israel, there will likely be an increase in the cost of August 2028. We need to have a minimum of 8, but better to have more, up to 14.
[1] https://jerusalemseminary.org/soh-en/ Year 1 is an official Jerusalem Seminary course which they call “Biblical Hebrew for Consultant Training”.
[2] Along with Hebrew for the Nations teachers, we are privileged to have Eyal Nahum from Polis Institute to teach about 80 of these hours in our August course: https://www.polisjerusalem.org/language/biblical-hebrew/
Applications opening soon.
For more information, contact: office@bibletranslators.org
Independent Studies
Private Tutorials in Hebrew
Private tutorials in either Biblical or Modern Hebrew, tailor made to individual needs, can be arranged through JCBT for visiting students or scholars.
Residence Studies for Scholars
JCBT also provides inexpensive residence for scholars and translators on study sabbaticals. Available only when space permits between each of the official study programs.
