This month, I present the revised version of the Digital Toolbox; it is available to everyone who subscribes to this blog as a free download (to register and gain access, see the form on the right). All the links have been checked and many have been added: about 500, to be more precise, raising the total number of links to approximately 800. This has a lot to do with the fact that many reference works are accessible – at least in part – at Google Books. There is now something on every book of the Bible included.
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Although it is not new (it was already included in previous editions), I continue to be excited about the STEP Bible and its reverse interlinear functionality. This is a powerful tool. I wrote about it in the previous issue. In what follows, I build on what I wrote there. It presents an overview of resources that enable a better understanding of the words used in Scripture.
One more link-tip: If you are on a limited book budget (who isn’t), I suggest installing the free Logos app or program. Then start collecting their free book of the month. Verbum.com (the Catholic version of Logos) and Faithlife.com also offer one, all of which go into your Logos-library.
To the Lexica!
Once we know the original Greek or Hebrew word that we are interested in, where do we go for more information? We now need a dictionary to give us the meaning of the word. For the classical languages, they are usually called lexicon rather than dictionary – different word, same idea. Some of the older ones are no longer under copyright and therefore available in digital form free of charge. They include:
1. Strong’s Lexicon, the one that was originally part of Strong’s Concordance. It is basic but not a bad place to start.
2. Liddell Scott Jones Lexicon (also included in the Perseus Digital Library and in the STEP Bible), often referred to as LSJ. In its unabbreviated edition, LSJ is very extensive and not limited to New Testament (or ‘Koine’) Greek; it covers the whole period of classical Greek and may therefore give you much more than you need.
3. Thayer’s Lexicon is also extensive but limited to the New Testament. Use the link to Strong’s Lexicon; upon choosing the appropriate Strong’s number, information from Thayer’s Lexicon will appear as well.
4. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words is easy to use because it is based on the English words (with Strong’s number added).
5. For Hebrew, there is Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB). You can also use the link to Strong’s Lexicon; upon choosing the appropriate Strong’s number, information from BDB will appear as well. BDB is also available in pdf format.
All these works suffer from the fact that they are old and therefore not up to date. If you have money to spend and you are going to use resources like these more often, you may want to invest in something more current. Here are the ones I prefer to use (the links below lead to Amazon):
1. For Greek: Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), often referred to as Bauer or BAGD. There is a newer edition.
2. I also like Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida (1996), Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd ed. (New York: United Bible Societies) because it has such a different setup. Words are not arranged alphabetically, but based on their meaning, so that related words are grouped closely together.
3. For Hebrew: Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm (1994-2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Vol. 1-5, electronic ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill), often abbreviated to HAL.
Click Options
Ideally, at least some of the above are integrated into the Bible software or website we are using. Normally, a reverse interlinear comes with Strong’s Concordance numbers and the option to click to the word definition of Strong’s Lexicon. It may also include direct links to one or more other lexica.
For instance, my Logos software enables me to ‘jump’ to Strong’s Lexicon and to other lexica in my library (ill. 1 and 2).
The STEP Bible opens a short entry when hovering over a word. By clicking on a word, a far more extensive entry, including LSJ, shows up (as shown in ill. 3).
Both Too Much and Too Little
Lexica come with a disadvantage. The text is extremely condensed and uses technical jargon and abbreviations, such as grammatical terms and sources used (see ill. 4 with an entry in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon for an example). This makes it hard to read. Plus, it gives most of us both too much (information we don’t need or care about) and too little – too little because a lexicon, like a dictionary, limits itself to word meaning.
It does not proceed to give what we probably want most: a more extensive discussion of how the term is used theologically. We don’t just want a definition of a word; we want to understand the concept, the idea, and its place in the conceptual world or web of Scripture. For this, we need something else: a theological dictionary.
A Theological Dictionary of the Old or New Testament
Such a dictionary gives a more extensive discussion of a word and its use. For the NT, it will normally discuss usage in the Greek world, in Jewish literature (which includes the Septuagint but also other relevant texts), and the way the word is used by various NT authors. Most are not cheap and only worth it if you are going to use them a lot (although the abbreviated Kittel is accessible free of charge). But if you are interested, you can perhaps access them in a library.
1. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds, David E. Green, transl. (1974-2003), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Vol. 1-10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans). Massive…
2. Willem VanGemeren, ed. (1997-2012), New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, Vol. 1-5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
3. The most affordable OT option: R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds (2003), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers).
4. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, eds (1964-1977), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 1-10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans). Probably too much… (and not up to date).
5. Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey W. Bromiley eds, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans). A bit too little and too old. However, it is accessible through the link for free!
6. Moisés Silva, ed. (2014), New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, Vol. 1-5, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan). This is the one I have, and I like it a lot. If you’d like to know more, the publisher offers a sample that makes for an interesting read.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. If you purchase anything through such a link, you help me cover the cost of Create a Learning Site.