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“The Hebrew language is peculiarly rich in religious-moral terms, though scanty enough in others. The reason is evident–it chronicled a revelation.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Subsection
Exegetical & Theological Dictionaries on the Bible
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Order of Contents
Start Here
More Dictionaries
English to Hebrew
Special
Synonyms
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Start Here
Beginner
Holladay, William – A Concise Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Based upon the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler & Walter Baumgartner Buy (Eerdmans & Brill, 1988) 445 pp.
Most Hebrew dictionaries list words according to their root, which can sometimes be difficult for the beginner to use. This dictionary includes the form of the word as it is found in Scripture, is not bulky, is easy to read and is based on modern scholarship.
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Parsing Guides
Davidson, Benjamin – The Analytical Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon, Consisting of… Every Word & Inflection Contained in the Old Testament… with a Grammatical Analysis of Each Word Buy (1855)
Most Hebrew dictionaries lay out the Hebrew words according to their roots. But how does one know what is the root of the word in question? This work fully parses out each Hebrew word. Each Hebrew word, as it is found in Scripture, is listed in alphabetical order.
Beall, Todd, Colin Smith, William Banks – Old Testament Parsing Guide, vol. 1 (Gen-Esth), 2 (Job-Mal) Buy (Moody, 1986)
All the verbs, and only the verbs, of the Old Testament are fully parsed, laid out in the order of the books of the Bible (which ordering is very convenient for finding the word in question).
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Advanced
Brown, Francis, S.R. Driver & Charles Briggs – A Hebrew & English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906 / 1939) Buy based on Gesenius, tr. Edward Robinson Known as Brown-Driver-Briggs or BDB
This was the best and most standard Hebrew dictionary of the older scholarship. A wealth of information. Words are listed by their roots, which can sometimes make finding words tricky; use the parsing guides above. The three editors were liberals (though this does not affect the dictionary’s usefulness much, if one ignores the J.E.P.D. references).
Koehler, Ludwig & Walter Baumgartner – The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 2 vols. Buy (Brill, 2002)
The best dictionary for the latest scholarship as it has advanced since Brown-Driver-Briggs, though it is terribly expensive.
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More Dictionaries
1800’s
Parkhurst, John – A Hebrew & English Lexicon 1823 8th edition
Frey, Joseph – A Hebrew and English Dictionary 1842
Lee, Samuel – A Lexicon, Hebrew, Chaldee and English, compiled from… Buxtorf, Taylor, Parkhurst and Gesenius 1844
Gesenius, William – A Hebrew & English Lexicon of the Old Testament 1854 tr. Edward Robsinson
Tregelles, Samuel – Gesenius’s Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, with Additions & Corrections… 1857
Fuerst, Julius – A Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament 1867 tr. Samuel Davidson
Davies, Benjamin – Student’s Hebrew Lexicon: A Compendious & Complete Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, Chiefly Founded on the Works of Gesenius & Furst 1872
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1900’s
Harkavy, Alexander – Students’ Hebrew & Chaldee Dictionary to the Old Testament 1914 Hebrew Publishing Co.
Klein, Ernest – A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English 1987 Univ. of Haifa
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English to Hebrew
Newman, Selig – An English & Hebrew Lexicon, composed after Johnson’s Dictionary, containing 15,000 English Words Rendered into Biblical or Rabbinical Hebrew 1832
Robinson, Edward – An English-Hebrew Lexicon: Being a Complete Verbal Index to Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon 1877
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Special
How Hebrew Words are Translated in the KJV
Strong, James – The Hebrew Bible; with their Renderings in the Authorized English Version 1890
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Synonyms
Kennedy, James – Studies in Hebrew Synonyms 1898 150 pp.
Girdlestone’s Synonyms of the Old Testament
Click on the alphabetical letters on the right side of the page. Synonyms are organized in English, alphabetically.
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“The Greek mind was abstract, the Hebrew concrete.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Related Pages
Old Testament Background, Survey, Authenticity & Introduction