Biblical Hebrew Dictionaries

Subsection

Exegetical & Theological Dictionaries on the Bible

Order of Contents

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More Dictionaries
English to Hebrew
Special
Synonyms

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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.

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).

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.

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

Roy, W.L. – A Complete Hebrew & English Critical and Pronouncing Dictionary… containing all the words in the Holy Bible… together with their derivation and Etymological Meaning… & Illustrated by Numerous Citations from the Targums, Talmud & Cognate Dialects 1846

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

1900’s

Harkavy, Alexander – Students’ Hebrew & Chaldee Dictionary to the Old Testament (Hebrew Publishing Co., 1914)

Koehler, Ludwig & Walter Baumgartner – Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros (1953; Brill, 1958)

In this scholarly work, first German definitions are given of the Hebrew word, then English. The more recent four volume, and then two volume, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament was a translation and updating of this work.

Klein, Ernest – A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English (University of Haifa, 1987)

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

Special

How Hebrew Words are Translated in the KJV

Strong, James – The Hebrew Bible; with their Renderings in the Authorized English Version 1890

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.

“The Greek mind was abstract, the Hebrew concrete.”