Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:3 (Sep 2025)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 68:3 (September 2025) p. 557

Book Reviews

Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary. By Robert R. Duke. Zondervan Academic, 2024, xxii + 662 pp., $59.99.

Robert R. Duke (PhD University of California, Los Angeles) serves as a professor in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University, where he was formerly dean of the School of Theology. He also directs the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible and has published The Social Location of the Visions of Amram (4Q543–547), StBibLit 135 (Peter Lang, 2010). He received a fellowship from the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem for his dissertation research on those five Aramaic texts from Qumran. As a teacher of Biblical Hebrew, Duke understands how students progress in their knowledge of the language. He is also familiar with the tools available for their use as they struggle with translating the Hebrew Bible. With this dictionary he attempts “to bridge the gap for intermediate students who know basic Hebrew grammar and vocabulary but find standard lexicons … too dense for easy access” (p. xi).

This dictionary lists all Hebrew words that occur at least ten times and all Aramaic words that occur at least five times in the Hebrew Bible. Each entry includes an example from the biblical text and, if available, occasional examples from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Paleo-Hebrew texts (seals and inscriptions). Hebrew and Aramaic words are listed together in alphabetical order, and gray font identifies those that are Aramaic. Duke arranges the entries in keeping with the identification of a word’s part of speech. Verbs appear in their perfect third masculine singular form (p. xvii) with a number in parentheses representing occurrences, its root, gloss(es), and primary grammatical information. See, for example, an entry from page 53:

he was ashamed, was put to shame (v. qal) בוש (94) בֹּשׁ\ בֹּוֹשׁ

An example from Jeremiah 2:36 follows in English (on the left margin) and Hebrew (on the right). Then the verb’s attested forms are listed in five groups: infinitives, perfects, imperfects, participles, and imperatives in that order (xx). Noun entries give attested forms in three groups: plural/dual, construct singular, and construct plural, each with suffixed forms included (p. xx). Entries for adjectives include two groups: nonsuffixed forms of all genders and numbers, and suffixed forms (p. xxi). Entries for prepositions include all attested suffixed forms (p. xxii).

Users will find the dictionary most helpful as a companion volume while they are reading the biblical text and encounter any unknown vocabulary. Duke...