To learn Biblical Hebrew, you definitely need a Hebrew Lexicon and Hebrew Dictionary that you could refer to.
What Hebrew Lexicon should you buy?
- The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon by by Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs
- The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 2 volume set by Ludwig Koehler (Author), Walter Baumgartner (Author), and M. E. J. Richardson (Translator).
The third edition of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner’s Hebrew dictionary is the most up-to-date dictionary for the Old Testament and related literature in classical Hebrew and Aramaic. The long-awaited English version of this classic reference tool for Bible scholars is the standard modern English dictionary for Biblical Hebrew. The complete and unabridged translation is prepared by an international team of Hebrew and Old Testament scholars. Combining scholarly thoroughness with easy accessibility, the dictionary meets the needs of a wide range of users. The dictionary contains the complete vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible, extended with variants from the Oriental and Samaritan textual traditions, the Ben Sira fragments, the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc. It takes full advantage of the enormous advances that have been made in Semitic linguistics since the publication of older dictionaries like Gesenius and Brown-Driver-Briggs. Another important advantage is that it offers a strictly alphabetical order of entries rather than an arrangement by verbal roots. This user-friendly feature makes the dictionary especially suited to the beginning student of classical Hebrew, but will also save the more advanced user much time. Specialist users will find here a wealth of bibliographical information on Old Testament exegesis. The dictionary is published in four volumes.
What Hebrew Dictionary should you buy?
- The Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary by The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
For anyone interested in learning or translating modern Hebrew, The Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary is an invaluable resource as it uses principles developed in English lexicography but never before applied to Hebrew. It is an essential reference for serious English and Hebrew users alike, whether students, scholars, translators, or in professional contexts. The dictionary reflects the development of Hebrew in the twentieth century. With over 50,000 entries offers extensive coverage of current idioms and phrases, slang and colloquialisms, technical and scientific terminology, academic discourse, legal and medical terminology, American and Australian terms, and a labeling system allowing easy identification of senses, contexts, and registers.
- The Meridian Hebrew/English English/Hebrew Dictionary by Dov Ben-Abba
With 35,000 entries, this bilingual dictionary provides a complete and up-to-date listing of Hebrew words and their English equivalents, as well as basic Hebrew and English grammar, pronunciation keys, complete transliterations, slang, technical terms, and more.
