Guide to Recommended Hebrew Reference Works

Name

Type

Extra Features

Strong Points

Limitations

Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon*

Lexicon

Back index allows you to look up any Hebrew word if you have Strong’s number. Always in arm’s reach.

Better word organization than Strong’s or Gesenius (e.g., cognates are located near each other; homonyms are better distinguished). This is not equivalent to owning a Gesenius Lexicon.

Definitions are sometimes weak (this is a translation of a lexicon); the definitions themselves are often poorly organized. Word pronunciation not given; not even a pronunciation guide.

Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament

Lexicon

English index (find the English word in back, and you will be given the page number it occurs on). Always in arm’s reach for me.

Generally better definitions than BDB; the individual word definitions are better organized. The words themselves are placed in order essentially by Strong’s numbers. This is not equivalent to BDB above.

Word pronunciation not given; not even a guide to pronunciation. Cognates are often separated. Grammatical and analytical index in back should have been included with the individual words.

The New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament

Concordance

Hebrew to English and English to Hebrew index in back. That is, look up the English word, and all the Hebrew words used to translate it are given, along with their location in this concordance. This is a unique resource when doing a word study.

Keyed to and organized by Strong’s numbering system. Pronunciation for each word given. Location of individual verbs organized morphologically (e.g., all the Qal participles of same verb are grouped together). A portion of each verse is given with each location of every word. The translated word is italicized.

It seems as though my first version (a blue cover) had the BDB numbers as well. It also contained an appendix in back which contained the Hebrew and Chaldean names in back. The new version does not have either.

Owens Analytical Key to the Old Testament

Interlinear Old Testament

It is what it is; it is the best I have found in that regard. It is organized by the Massoretic text. This is open in front of me daily for the kind of work that I do in the Old Testament.

Excellent morphology of words given (for instance, a verb may be given to be the Qal imperfect 3^rd person masculine plural; a noun is denoted by number, gender and person). Words are keyed to BDB numbers. Text is covered practically one word at a time. Abbreviations are much easier to understand (you don’t need a card to understand what’s up).

Not keyed to Strong’s numbers. There are several mistakes. Differing Greek translation could be better explained. Certain key prepositions not differentiated (except in the Hebrew). There are several mistakes throughout. By the fourth book, you could tell he ran out of steam, and we do not have the vocabulary form of the verbs listed in each and every case (in the Hebrew, this is helpful).

Similar to this is http://qbible.com/hebrew-old-testament/genesis/1.html where we have a nice breakdown of the actual Hebrew, the transliterated Hebrew, and the English, so that you can run your mouse over the word, and the Strong’s information will appear. This includes some limited morphological information (not as thorough as Owen above).

Another interlinear resource: http://www.biblestudytools.com/interlinear-bible/passage.aspx?q=Gen. and the words can be clicked on for more information on each one. Still not as good as Owen’s book.

Some of the chapters of these books (Genesis; Samuel; Chronicles; Psalms) which I have exegeted have a complete morphology of each word.

Strong’s Concordance*

English Concordance

Very basic Hebrew and Greek lexicons in back ; each word’s pronunciation is given along with the English transliteration. There is also a basic pronunciation guide included. There is a comparative English concordance in back, giving English words that are similar.

Strong’s number accompanies English word so you can tell if an English word is used to translate one, two or ten different Hebrew or Greek words. Even small words, like and, and their locations are listed.

Lexicons in back are too brief and primarily give the English equivalents as found in the KJV.

Similar to this is http://qbible.com/hebrew-old-testament/genesis/1.html where we have a nice breakdown of the actual Hebrew, the transliterated Hebrew, and the English, so that you can run your mouse over the word, and the Strong’s information will appear. This includes some limited morphological information (not as thorough as Owen above). Strong’s concordance is also available online here: http://lexiconcordance.com/ where any English word can be searched, and when the Greek or Hebrew equivalent is clicked on, there is a myriad of information on that particular word.

Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies

A study of the Old Testament  words from the English

The English word is given and followed by the Hebrew words used to translate that word; the Old Testament locations are then given.

You get a clue as to how many different Hebrew words are hidden behind the same English word.

The other works cited made this work superfluous for me.

Zodhiates’s The Complete Word Study Old Testament

KJV Old Testament with Hebrew helps

Great, yet brief, explanation of the Hebrew grammar (e.g., just what is a Qal infinitive absolute?). Good pronunciation guide. A good, albeit incomplete, Hebrew Lexicon in back. Strong’s Lexicon is also found in back.

Above each English word is the corresponding Strong’s number and the morphology. Footnotes on OT are sparse (less than one per page), but good.

The morphology is coded and incomplete (the number, gender and person of verbs are not given). Hebrew lexicon in back does not have the actual Hebrew or a pronunciation of the word; only the English transliteration and Strong’s number are given.

Hebrew Grammatical Works

Organization/Level

Extra Features

Strong Points

Weak Points

Davidson’s Introductory Hebrew Grammar~Syntax

Good

This is the first or second grammar book that I reach for.

Second year Hebrew grammar reference book

Kelley’s Biblical Hebrew

Good

This is usually the last book that I reach for. However, I like it for simple questions.

Extremely basic beginner’s textbook

Mansoor’s Biblical Hebrew

Fair

When I need a basic explanation, I go to this grammar book first.

Very basic beginner’s textbook

Seow’s A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew

Good

First or second grammar that I reach for when I have a difficult grammar problem in the Hebrew.

Beginner’s textbook with interestingexcursions

Additional Hebrew Reference Works

Interlinear Hebrew-English Bibles

Owens’ Analytical Key to the Old Testament (it is outstanding as a language aide); the reference numbers refer to the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon (which itself is a must for anyone who delves into the Hebrew of any Old Testament passage). English translation with it is only fair to good. Zodhiates’ The Complete Word Study Old Testament is also a good interlinear for the Old Testament, with more helps in the back of the Bible (however, the parsing consists of considerably less information than Owen’s work and the reference numbers are Strong’s).

Hebrew Concordances

You must own The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament if you have any interest in the exegesis of the Old Testament and understanding of the use of the Hebrew words.

Hebrew Lexicons

Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon is given as the standard. However, Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament is invaluable; you should have them both, as Gesenius is better organized and, in my opinion, offers better English equivalents. For instance, ţîyrâh (הָרי.ט) [pronounced tee-RAW], is said to mean wall, fence, enclosure in Gesenius; in BDB, its meanings are given as encampment, battlement. Strong’s #2918 BDB #377. The former set of meanings is much more accurate. If you rely on Owens Analytical Key to the Old Testament, then you will need BDB, as it is keyed to BDB. Now, Strong’s Concordance has Greek and Hebrew Lexicons in back, which are adequate for new believers, and Zodhiates’ Complete Word Study Old Testament has an incomplete, but fairly good lexicon in the back (and it also has Strong’s Concordance in back as well). Of these, only Strong’s offers the pronunciation of the words (The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance also offers pronunciations).

Additional Greek Reference Works

Interlinear Greek-English Bibles

Zodhiates’ The Complete Word Study New Testament and The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament are both very good works. Zodhiates has the KJV and above the words are Strong’s numbers along with a limited morphology (the gender, number and person are not given); the Greek text is off to the side. The latter work has the NKJV off to the side, with the Greek text in the middle of their Bible. Below the Greek text is a literal and then a slightly less literal rendering. There is nothing by way of Strong’s numbers or morphology. Quite frankly, I have not found anything for the New Testament as good as Owen’s Analytical Key to the Old Testament (which is, by the way, keyed only to BDB numbers and not to Strong’s numbers).

Greek Bible Reference work

The Analytical Greek New Testament. This does not have an English text, but it has a complete morphology of each Greek word. No Strong’s numbers, unfortunately. You might call this a grammatical interlinear.

Greek Concordances

For work in the Greek, you must own The Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament. For the beginner, Zodhiates’s Complete Word Study New Testament is an interlinear with a reasonable Greek concordance.

Greek Lexicons

Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (3 volumes); Arndt and Gingrich’s Greek-English Lexicon; Zodhiates’s Word Study Dictionary New Testament; Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon*;

Here is an interlinear version of the LXX and NT online:

http://en.katabiblon.com/us/index.php?text=LXX&interlin=on