INFORMATION SOURCES

Evangel University Library Research Guide

OLD TESTAMENT WORD STUDY

EXEGESIS/HERMENEUTICS
2009

Helpful Web Sites:

Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon. This is keyed to the "Theological Word Book of the Old
Testament." http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/
Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html
Unbound Bible http://unbound.biola.edu/index.cfm?method=multilex.showSearchForm

Dictionaries and Lexicons:

1. Strong, James. Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Ref BS 425 .S8 This has all the words
of the King James Authorized Version of the Bible arranged alphabetically and sub-
arranged by all occurrences of the words. Strong assigned a number to each Hebrew
word and placed a dictionary for them in the back of the volume.
2. Brown-Driver-Briggs. New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-Aramaic Lexicon Ref PJ
4833 .B76 (This is prepared for those who do not read Hebrew.) This is similar to the
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S. R. Driver and C.
A. Briggs (Ref PJ 4833 .B67) except Strong's numbers have been added in the margins.
There is an index to Strong's numbers for those which are not in the usual sequence.
3. Botterweck and Ringgren. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament Ref BS 440 .B5713
This multivolume set is in progress and is similar to Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament, when it is completed. The entry is by Hebrew word. A Hebrew alphabet
is supplied and major entries can be located by scanning the tables of contents.
4. Wilson, William. New Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies Ref BS 1125 .W52 This is
arranged by English words based on the King James Authorized text. Under each
English word Wilson supplies all the Hebrew words which are translated by the word plus
a list of all the texts where they are found. Strong's numbers have been added beside
the Hebrew words and the paragraph numbers in the Theological Wordbook of the
Old Testament.
5. Harris, R. Laird, et al. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament Ref BS 440 .T49 The
entries are arranged by Hebrew words. The index provides Strong's numbers matched
with its paragraph numbers.
6. Richards, Lawrence O. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words Ref BS 440 .R525 It is
arranged by English words taken from NIV and NASB, There are Hebrew, Greek,
subject and scripture reference indexes.
7. Owens, John Joseph. Analytical Key to the Old Testament Ref PJ 4731 .B53 O94 This is
arranged in Biblical book and verse order. It supplies a brief definition and grammatical
use of the word in context.
8. Brown, Colin. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology Ref BS 2397 .N48
This is a dictionary of New Testament words. However, most of the words have a section
marked, OT (Old Testament use), which may be helpful.
9. Holladay, William L. Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament Ref PJ
4833 .H6 It is arranged by the Hebrew word.
10. Armstrong, Terry A., et al. Reader's Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament Ref PJ
4833 .A69 This is arranged in Biblical order. After each entry there are numbers in
parentheses giving a) frequency of the stem in that book, b) number of occurrences of
the stem in the Old Testament, and c) frequency of all the stems of a word in the Old
Testament. A number after the parentheses is the page number in Hebrew and English
Lexicon, by Brown, Driver and Briggs.
11. Septuagint with Aprocrypha Ref BS 742 B74 This is useful if the researcher wants to use
the Greek text of the Old Testament (LXX = Septuagint)
12. Liddell and Scott. Greek-English Lexicon Ref PA 445 .E5 L8 This includes definitions of
Greek words found in the Septuagint (LXX)
13. Hatch and Redpath. Concordance to the Septuagint Ref BS 1122 .H3 This is a
concordance of the Greek text used in the Septuagint (LXX)
14. VanGemeren, Willem A. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology &
Exegesis Ref BS 440 .N438 This is arranged by Hebrew words and has a Scripture text
and subject word index in volume 5. It is similar to the set by Colin Brown above.
15. Complete Word Study Old Testament : Bringing the Original Text to Life Ref BS 885 1994
16. Mounce, William D. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament
Words Ref BS 440 .M63
17. Jenni & Westermann. Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament Ref BS 440 .T4813 It has
several indexes: Hebrew and Aramaic Words Arranged by Main Entry; Hebrew and
Aramaic Words Arranged Alphabetically; English Glosses; Modern Authors; Scripture
References.
18. New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible Ref BS 440 .N443
19. Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings Ref BS 440 .D53

Interlinear Bibles:
Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-English Ref BS 715 This is useful for matching Hebrew text and
English translations.
NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament Ref BS 715

Commentaries which may be useful:

1. Anchor Bible Ref BS 192.2 .A1
2. International Critical Commentary (ICC) Ref BS 491 .I6
3. Keil and Delitzsch. Commentaries on the Old Testament Ref BS 1154.5 .K45
4. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Ref BS 1151.2 .T9
5. New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) Ref BS 1151.2 .N48
6. Word Biblical Commentary Ref BS 491.2 .W67
7. Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative & Poetry Ref BS 1151.2 .B47x
8. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Ref 491.2 .A52x It collects comments from the
writings of the church fathers. “The patristic period, the time of the fathers of the church,
spans the era from Clement of Rome (fl.c. 95) to John of Damascus (c. 645-c.749). The
commentary thus covers seven centuries of biblical interpretation, from the end of the
New Testament to the mid-eighth century, including the Venerable Bede.”

Background Information that Might Affect Word Meanings:

Vos, Howard F. New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs: How the People of the Bible Really
Lived Ref BS 620 .V67
Gower, Ralph. New Manners and Customs of Bible Times Ref BS 620 .G69
Freeman, James M. Manners and Customs of the Bible Ref BS 620 .F75x
Matthews, Victor H. Manners and Customs in the Bible: An Illustrated Guide to Daily Life in Bible
Times Ref BS 620 .M33x
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Penteteuch Ref BS 1225.52 .D53
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books Ref BS 1205.55 .D53
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings Ref BS 440 .D53

Extrabiblical Sources:
Jastrow, Marcus.Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the
Midrashic Literature Ref PJ 5205 .J3 It is alphabetized by Hebrew word. There is an
index of Talmudic and Midrashic interpretations of Scriptural verses, quoted in the
Dictionary.