Product Description

This study edition in two volumes contains the complete vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible, including those parts of books which are written in Aramaic. The alphabetical ordering of entries rather than the traditional arrangement of words according to their roots is especially helpful to new students.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #445947 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Hardcover
• 2094 pages

Review
`...a mine of extremely fruitful and reliable information... excellent... we recommend it to all serious exegetes.' -- John M. Bauchet, Scripture Bulletin.

`...the most up-to-date, and in several ways the best, modern lexicon of the Old Testament in Hebrew.' -- J.A. Emerton, Vetus Testamentum.

`...will remain an indispensable standard work of reference for decades to come.' -- Walter W. Müller, Mundus.

Language Notes
Text: English, Hebrew (translation)
Original Language: German, Hebrew

Customer Reviews

The best resource
The best English lexicon of biblical Hebrew & Aramaic, KBL is also easier to use than the classic BDB. Words are listed alphabetically, rather than grouped by root, with cross-references to other words from the same root (no more trying to figure out a noun's putative "verbal root"). Akkadian tends to dominate the etymological information, rather than Arabic), along with Ugaritic. Glosses tend to be traditional, although references within the articles and the extensive supplementary bibliography (84 pages; alphabetically by author) allow you to find narrative lexical discussions. The Aramaic section is outstanding, with citations ranging far beyond biblical Aramaic. Although some might be tempted to begin with an "intermediate" lexicon such as Holladay, KBL's layout, clarity, and wealth of information makes this appropriate for both beginning students, pastors, teachers, and other scholars.

The gold standard, but don't ask me to carry it to class for you
This review is for 4 Hebrew lexicons in common use: Brown-Driver-Briggs, Koehler-Baumgartner, Holladay, and Langenscheidt.

The sizeable Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon is a development of Gesenius' historic work, and a long-time standard in English speaking countries. However, it has become dated, and now is used mostly because Hendrickson put out a cheaply constructed version keyed to Strong's concordance. Oxford's Clarendon Press edition is superior if you are required to get BDB. In addition, organizing entries by verbal root rather than alphabetically makes it difficult to use "BDB" for those without intimate knowledge of Hebrew. Fortunately, there is an alternative.

The Koehler-Baumgartner lexicon is superb and thorough, and based on the latest Hebrew and Aramaic scholarship. The authors also took into account cognates from Ugaritic and Akkadian, so users of this massive work have a goldmine of information to draw from. By massive, I mean it is over 2000 pages in 2 large volumes. This plus its $190 asking price means it might be better to let the university or seminary library bear the brunt of purchasing and housing it unless you are an Old Testament specialist.

Most readers will be best served by the work of William Holladay, a reasonably sized 426 pp lexicon based on the latest scholarship. Holladay abridged K-B by removing bibliographic references and other information most needed by specialists. It is well organized (alphabetically), and the font is clear. Entries also have references (not exhaustive) to use within the Old Testament, meaning it can be used as a poor man's OT concordance. While Holladay is manageably sized enough (9.75" x 6.875" x 1.25") to be pleasant to read and easily portable in a bookbag, it is not the smallest resource available.

Some may be tempted to go a step further for the ultimate in compactness with the Langenscheidt pocket dictionary. This item is 6" x 4" x 1" and quite lightweight - in its 1959 iteration anyway. Its definitions are limited in scope and scholarly foundation, but still, what else fits in your coat pocket?

My overall recommendation: Holladay for everyone, supplemented by Koehler-Baumgartner for those who need and can afford it.

BDB: 3 stars
K-B: 5 stars
Holladay: 5 stars
Langenscheidt: 4 stars

The New Koehler-Baumgartner
The printed 5 volume set provides a fine supplementary lexicon for all students of the Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The volumes are finely bound, printed on acid-free paper (though not ANSI certified). Each volume is smyth sewn.

Much more asthetic than using a computer screen, the printed version allows you to view all 5 volumes at the same time, even without electricity! Though it cannot compare with the search power of the CD version. The main text is in a two column format and all of the fonts are easy to read.

These volumes will become the standard Hebrew Bible lexicon. Unfortunately! However they should be supplemented with other works because:

(1) They do not show all of the needed etymologies, many entries display no etymological data. (Ernest Klein's work is recommended here). The data from North/West Semitics could be expanded, it is lacking in many entries. Hittite data seems deficient as well as some Sumerian data -- let's face it, they are early influences on the Semitic languages. The Koehler-Baum. work only skims the surface when it comes to etymologies.

(2) Many important works by evangelical scholars (such as S. P. Tregelles, Gleason, Archer, Kyle Yates, E. Young, Robert Dick Wilson, et al) were not even utilized. Too much emphasis was given to the popular works done by secular scholars.

(3) Ugaritic, Phoenician, Arabic and other fonts (scripts) are simply transliterated. They should have been printed out in their original script. Transliteration tables could have also been included for the scholars who are not familiar with these languages, but accuracy can be jeopardized when the original scripts are just transliterated, and it takes time and effort to "recompose" them. Perhaps they were transliterated so that the digital search engines could be simplified. Poor trade off!

(4) Some important definitions are missing for some entries! Thus other lexicons are needed. For example: sh-r-Ha (shin, resh, he) in volume 4, pages 1652f does not show the meaning as "to shine" (from a possible Arabic root) nor as "chains" or "bracelets" as in Isaiah 3:19.

(5) Textual variations are often not listed, and the Qumran literature and data could have been better utilized.

(6) Foreign word indexes could have been supplied, and an index of Biblical passages could have been added. Several hands worked on the 5 volumes, and a variety of abbreviations are used for the Biblical books, making Biblical book cross references difficult even on the CD version.

All in all, a very useful addition. The price is quite high and the folks at Brill often ask too much for their publications. The work NEEDS to be supplemented, and some entries are woefully deficient -- giving only a partial definition. Coupled with the poor etymological data -- this is not acceptable. Gary S. Dykes