semantic dictionaries

Al Dobko

I own the HALOT and BDAG dictionaries; will the other semantic domain dictionaries for Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek give me anything significant that is not already in the aforementioned dictionaries? Thanks!

James Taylor

Yes, especially in their organization of the content, for instance, if they are organized by semantic domains it will be helpful for seeing related words, and if it is a theological dictionary, it will be include discussion relevant to theology verses just semantics.

see here for the source of the following discussion from Mark Barnes

Greek:

• BDAG - the most comprehensive and authoritative
• LSJ - handles words outside the NT, so I want it second to pick up words BDAG misses
• Louw-Nida - The structure is different to most lexicons, so can give a different perspective.
• TLNT - the best in-depth theological lexicon IMO
• Lexham Theological Workbook - I think this is really useful, as it's both brief and theological
• TDNT - To pick up words not in TLNT or LTW

The logic is that there are three types of lexicons here. In positions (1) and (2) are standard academic lexicons. In (3) is a lexicon organised by sematic field, and in (4) to (6) are theological lexicons. That means I can get to any type of lexicon from the context menu in a couple of clicks.

Hebrew:

• HALOT - the most comprehensive, although can sometimes be confusing
• DBL Hebrew - much simpler than HALOT, so I use this if I'm in a hurry
• NIDOTTE - the best theological lexicon (until TDOT comes out)
• Lexham Theological Workbook - quicker than NIDOTTE