Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor Peterson" <abuian AT access4less.net>]

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: "Cathey, Joe" <JCathey AT swbts.edu>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [b-hebrew] Re: Reference Tools
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 10:05:24 -0600

> I am currently analyzing the reference tools for our
> seminary library. I would like to pose a multi-pronged
> question to my friends on b-hebrew list. First, what
> mandatory reference tools {for a research library} would
> your require for Hebrew and Greek studies? Second, what
> mandatory tools would you require for ancillary languages?
> {What languages would you consider essential to the study
> of the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament?} If you don't
> mind - give me a ranking of the tools you include.

Since this is a Hebrew list, and since it's more my area of
expertise, I'll stick to Hebrew and Semitic languages. The
first thing I would say is that your holdings should fit
your academic programs. I might think some Akkadian
resources fabulously useful for the study of Hebrew, but if
your seminary doesn't teach Akkadian, it's probably a
stretch to justify buying CAD. Even apart from the cost, the
shelf space it would consume is probably not worth it. If
your students are not required to learn German, even the
more compact AHw would probably be excessive. So as far as
secondary languages go, there's only so much that can be
said without some familiarity with your particular programs.
I'd say Aramaic and NWS inscriptional materials are probably
the most justifiable additions. I wouldn't put too much into
Ugaritic, for the simple reason that we don't really know
much about it, so it's not of much help in understanding
Hebrew. On the other hand, it can be useful to expand one's
study of Hebrew by looking at other Canaanite materials, and
it can conceivably done without too much trouble, even if
there's not a formal class to be had. DNSI is essential
here.

As for Aramaic, there's a mammoth amount of material and far
too many dialects to be comprehensive in a seminary library.
On the other hand, Biblical Aramaic is too small a corpus to
be of much use on its own. The problem is striking a decent
balance. Here again the question is more one of programming.
If you're going to cover some type of Aramaic outside of
Biblical, what direction are you going to go? Syriac is one
angle. In a Christian seminary, it's justifiable on its own
for the access it provides to historic Christianity. Plus,
you can get through the introductory grammar pretty quickly,
so it provides a fast track into Aramaic. I'd recommend the
Payne Smith dictionary (the abridged one), which is about
the only standard available in English. Noldeke's grammar is
essential, and you'd probably want some texts--the Leiden
Peshitta would be the most likely candidate. The problem
with Syriac is it's a bit too far removed from BA. The
Targums of Onqelos and Jonathan are available in vocalized
texts, and they fall into essentially the same dialect as
BA, although toward the end of its use. Sperber's edition is
probably the most accessible. Jastrow's dictionary works
here, although it's dated. I would recommend Sokoloff's DJPA
and DJBA as immensely useful. The period is later, but
they're still good for comparative purposes. Official
Aramaic would be another dialect in close proximity, but
it's somewhat harder to work with.

As for Hebrew itself, of course you'll want to have BHS, and
you should probably get the new volume of BHQ that's come
out. BHL isn't quite as useful for scholarly purposes, but
it's still a good resource to have available, and it's
reasonably priced if you get it from Hendrickson. There's
also the facsimile edition of the Leningrad Codex, which
isn't terribly expensive considering--it might be nice to
have. In terms of dictionaries, HALOT is essential. (The
Aramaic section, BTW, is the best resource available for
BA.) If you have the money, get HALAT (the German original)
as well--there are too many mistakes in the translation.
Plus, the German version has a German-to-Hebrew section
that's useful. You probably already have BDB, which is dated
but still quite useful. If you have gobs of money lying
around, you might get the Sheffield Dictionary. It's not as
useful as the others, especially for the price, but it's
still a current, major work, and it wouldn't hurt to provide
access to it. Actually, the Spanish dictionary by Schoekel
(sp?) would be a better third option. Grammars--I would make
sure you have Jouon (both English and French, if you can get
them, since about the only way to distinguish Muraoka's
contributions to the English is to compare the two). GKC is
still useful, and inexpensive copies are easy to find.
Waltke & O'Connor, despite the criticisms (of which there
have been many on this list), is still important to have.
van der Merwe et al. is perhaps the most up-to-date,
although only an intermediate grammar, and not badly priced
as I recall. There are a lot of introductory grammars to
choose from, but I'd let whoever teaches introductory Hebrew
choose on this sort of thing.

Well, that's a start. I haven't given full citations, since
most of this stuff is standard, and I don't have them handy
at the moment. I'd be happy to elaborate if you have
questions. I'm sure I've missed some stuff, but I figured it
might be useful to see what comes to mind right away. That's
going to tend to be what one uses most.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics