Dictionary of Classical Hebrew | DCH (9 vols.)
Digital Verbum Edition
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a completely new and innovative dictionary. Unlike previous dictionaries, which have been dictionaries of biblical Hebrew, it is the first dictionary of the classical Hebrew language to cover not only the biblical texts but also Ben Sira, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Hebrew inscriptions. This dictionary covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE. It lists and analyses every occurrence of each Hebrew word that occurs in texts of that period, with an English translation of every Hebrew word and phrase cited.
In volumes I-VIII of the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, written between 1993 and 2011, each resource has its own English–Hebrew Index. However, this collection also includes the English–Hebrew Index and Word Frequency Table volume (Vol. IX) completed in 2016, providing a much improved gathering together of all individual volume indexes. The Index contains every word used as a translation (gloss) in the Dictionary, that is, all the words printed in bold. In addition—a feature not seen before in Hebrew dictionaries—beneath each listed word are noted all the Hebrew words it translates, together with the volume and page reference of the relevant article.
The nine volumes included in this collection will download as two resources in your Logos library.
- Completely new and innovative dictionary
- Covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE
- Covers the biblical texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Hebrew inscriptions
- Brings together a comprehensive index to volumes 1-8 of the Cline's Dictionary of Classical Hebrew
- Provides word frequency tables for Ancient Hebrew vocabulary
- Includes Hebrew words outside the biblical Hebrew corpus
Among its special features:
- A list of the nonbiblical texts cited (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls)
- A word frequency index for each letter of the alphabet
- A substantial bibliography (from vol. 2 onward)
- An English–Hebrew index in each volume
The praise of BDB in 1892 may be repeated for this new dictionary. It is indeed ‘a landmark and a glory for the generation which produced [it].’
—C. S. Rodd, editor, Expository Times
Sheffield is to be congratulated on a remarkable achievement. Volume one proves beyond doubt that The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is going to combine the strengths of the Gesenius-BDB tradition—thoroughness, comprehensiveness, meticulous ‘old-fashioned’ textual scholarship—with impeccable twentieth-century linguistic theory.
—J. F. A. Sawyer, Society for Old Testament Study Book List
If there is anything sensational about the contemporary study of ancient Hebrew, then one must say: It is in book form, and the book is called the Sheffield Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Absolutely indispensable!
—Bernhard Lang, editor, Internationale Zeitschrift für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete
David J. A. Clines is professor emeritus, Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield.
Reviews
5 ratings
Marco Ceccarelli
1/28/2022
Superb. Yet ... it would be nice if Logos would supply us, DCH already owners, with the new Revised editionMike Harris
10/21/2021
Gregorio Billikopf
2/4/2021
I cannot pass up a Hebrew Lexicon or Dictionary and I use these so much that I have created a workplace with over a dozen such references. I have many favorites, but I wish to speak most particularly of the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, and particularly of Volume IX, the index. This saves me much time. If I am looking for a word in Hebrew but wish to find it quickly from a list of English words, the DCH is my best tool. For instance, if I am looking for the word wound, it offers me nouns, verbs and a series of other possibilities. In this example I needed the noun, and it immediately offers me a choice of eight choices, where I can quickly pick the one I was looking for. When I click on it, all my other dictionaries immediately turn to that word. If, on the other hand, I type the word in Hebrew, that is much more time consuming, as it may offer me ten choices and it is not clear which one is the one I am searching for. So, not only is the DCH a wonderful Lexicon, it also gives me access to all the rest in the fastest possible way. I am extremely pleased with this purchase.Paul M. Tucker
9/25/2020
Logosed
7/4/2020
Clines approaches his definitions in a way quite different from HALOT in that there is no comparative philology. Clines believes that the meaning of words are determined by their use in a given context (in the tradition of James Barr). Some see this as a disadvantage. (Notably, Richardson, in a critical review in JSS.) The great advantage though of DCH over HALOT, is that it is careful in every instance to set words in their syntactical relations, making it easy to locate a word, and to understand how it functions in a sentence. Students who want to know more than just a word's meaning will greatly benefit from this. In this respect, DCH is a hundred miles ahead of its competitors. Also, the glosses given under each entry make it a treasure trove for students, who wish to learn basic definitions. There are no such glosses in HALOT, where the ordering of words also, is not in terms of frequency of use, but in terms of concreteness. In addition one finds statistical analysis of words in DCH, which is not the case consistently in HALOT. Another advantage of Clines over HALOT is that every word and phrase in DCH is translated into English. Finally, one should say that the definitions offered in DCH, have a natural English flow, always makes sense, and stand in the great tradition of English Bibles and that of BDB (the definitions in BDB and Clines often correspond). If one wants definitions that stand wholly outside this tradition, one ought to turn rather to HALOT. In an ideal world, one would like to own both HALOT and DCH. But if one cannot afford both, the choice, as far as this reviewer is concerned, is clear.
