Pocket Dictionary for the Study of Biblical Hebrew

by Todd J. Murphy

Of Greek and Hebrew, Hebrew strikes the most fear in the heart of the Bible student. The alphabet does not look anything like English. The vocabulary offers almost no points of contact with English. The verb system is utterly alien. And the lexicons, grammars and textbooks are wrapped up in a metalanguage--spiked with Latin--that is daunting in itself. For those who feel that studying the English Old Testament is a challenge, the thought of reading...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B007CYG72W
• ISBN13: 9780830814589
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.4" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Great reference for serious students

I own the IVP Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies, but when I started studying Hebrew, I kept running into lots of technical terms (grammatical, literary, masoretic, etc.) that aren't in that resource. But here they are!

Very nice for starters

This book is a nice addition to the body of tools for BH and biblical/textual criticism. It is a dictionary of TERMS, not a dictionary of Hebrew words as another reviewer pointed out. It defines over 2,000 terms dealing with the grammar, syntax, linguistics, textual criticism and OT criticism -- as they relate to Biblical Hebrew, very handy. To my knowledge, there isn't anything like this on the market and it definitely fills the void. Given the price, you can't go wrong with this book. I would recommend this to the beginners and advanced students alike. There are things that would like to see changed in future editions of the book -- I do hope that they are forthcoming. Here are some specific examples of suggestions that I believe would further enhance the value of the book: 1. There are terms that could use examples. For example, the term "oath formula" has a brief discussion of the term and a reference to Jouon's book, but no example. The same goes for prophetic perfect and other terms, which would deserve an example. There are other terms that list examples, but it would be nice to have them all covered even briefly. Another simple example is "kaph veritatis", which does not provide any example of what this means, it just says "The kaph preposition when it is employed pleonastically." Obviously, I'm not referring to an exhaustive list of examples, just a one or two per term would do for an illustration. It's a matter of consistency of the use of examples. 2. Inconsistency of inclusion/exclusion of terms. For example "tD stem" and "G stem" are defined terms, but not "N", "H", etc. stems using the same nomenclature. Instead, it's a mix and match. It would be helpful to list them and discuss different nomenclatures under either "stem" and "verbal stem", which are defined terms but with little detail. Similarly, "Midrash" and "Pesher" are defined separately, but biblical interpretation as a discipline encompassing them and other methods is not. Another example is the inclusion of Qoheleth, but the omission of Threni or Canticum.... 3. I'd like to see indexes at the end of the book. Since the book claims to cover the fields/topics of "grammar, syntax, linguistics, textual criticism and OT criticism", it would be nice to have lists of terms with page references for each topic, i.e. all the technical terms pertaining to textual criticism, etc. at the back of the book.

Helpful reference

Compact and concise ... I take it with me as I study away from home.

a must-have gem for OT study

This book is a gem, and one I would recommend for all levels of readers of biblical Hebrew. Virtually every term utilized in teaching and learning Biblical Hebrew goes by various names, most of which don't make sense until explained to us in a concise way. This little pocket dictionary does just that; it clarifies many of the synonyms employed in teaching and learning the terminology of Biblical Hebrew. The definitions are erudite, up-to-date, and easily navigable. The dictionary also contains terms employed by text-level critics of the Hebrew OT. I recommend it to all students of the Hebrew OT.