Christian Cyclopedia

A. Old Testament. Earliest known Heb. lexicon is Agron (or Egron; from Heb. agar, “to collect”), now lost, of Saadia* ben Joseph. Mahbereth, compiled by Menahem ben Saruk (ca. 910ca. 970; Sp. Jew) is a complete lexicon. Rabbi Jonah's* Sepher ha-dikduk (“Book of Grammar”) includes enterprising use of Arab. and Talmudic materials and an alphabetic list of Heb. roots. 17th c. Christian scholars include Valentin Schindler (d. 1604 [1610?]; b. Meissen, Ger.; prof. Wittenberg and Helmstedt), J. Hottinger,* and Edmund Castell (1606–85; b. Cambridgeshire, Eng.; educ. Cambridge; prof. Cambridge 1667). H. F. W. Gesenius'* Hebräsch-Deutsches Handwörterbuch über die Schriften des Alten Testaments appeared 1810–12; its “ed. altera,” Thesaurus philologicus criticus linguae Hebraeae et Chaldaeae veteris testamenti, became a standard reference work. Neues hebräischdeutsches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament mit Einschluss des biblischen Chaldäismus: Ein Auszug aus dem grösseren Werke [of 1810–12] appeared 1815; its 17th ed., prepared by F. P. W. Buhl,* appeared 1921 under the title Wilhelm Gesenius' hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament. The 1st Eng. tr. of Gesenius' Handwörterbuch: C. Leo, A Hebrew Lexicon to the Books of the Old Testament (1825–28). S. P. Tregelles,* Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, Translated with Additions and Corrections from the Author's Thesaurus and Other Works, designed to combat rationalistic and neologistic tendencies, appeared London 1847. E. Robinson,* A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, including the Biblical Chaldee, tr. of Gesenius' 1833 Lexicon manuale Hebraeicum et Chaldaeicum in Veteris Testamenti libros, became basis of A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Part I 1891; complete ed. 1907), ed. F. Brown,* S. R. Driver,* and C. A. Briggs.* L. H. Köhler* and Walter Baumgartner (b. 1887), Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti libros, appeared 1948–53, suppl. 1958; 3d ed., W. Baumgartner et al., Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament (197– ). See also Pagninus, Santes.

B. New Testament. Vol. 1 of the Complutensian Polyglot (see Polyglot Bibles) includes a rudimentary Gk.-Lat. glossary of words of the NT, Ecclus, and Wisconsin M. Flacius* Illyricus issued Clavis scripturae s. seu de sermone sacrarum literarum 1567. G. Pasor's* Lexicon appeared 1619. Modern NT lexicography begins with C. A. Wahl,* Clavis Novi Testamenti philologica (1822), superseded 1840–41 by C. G. Wilke,* Clavis Novi Testamenti philologica, which K. L. W. Grimm* ed. and reissued beginning 1862 and called Lexicon graeco-latinum in libros Novi Testamenti beginning 1868. J. H. Thayer's* 1886 Eng. tr. of Wilke-Grimm's 2d ed. (1879) added material reflecting new emphasis on etymology. Thayer's 1889 corrected ed. became a standard tool. Papyri discoveries stimulated fresh lexicographical studies. E. F. W. F. Preuschen,* Vollständiges Griechisch-Deutsches Handwörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur (1910), was thoroughly revised by W. Bauer* (5th ed. 1963). Bauer's 4th ed. (1952) was tr. with modifications by W. F. Arndt* and Felix Wilbur Gingrich (b. 1901 Annville, Pennsylvania; educ. Lafayette Coll., Easton, Pennsylvania, and U. of Chicago; prof. Albright Coll., Reading, Pennsylvania; mem. The Ev. United Brethren Ch.) and appeared 1957 as A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. J. H. Moulton* and G. Milligan,* The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources (1914–29; 1-vol. ed. 1930) offers a fascinating picture of life in NT times. A. H. Cremer,* Biblisch-theologisches Wörterbuch der neutestamentlichen Gräcität (1868; tr. W. Urwick from the latest Ger. ed., Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek, 4th Eng. ed., with supplement, 1895), rev. J. Kögel* (11th ed. 1923), is basis of Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament; the latter work, first ed. by G. Kittel,* then Gerhard Friedrich (b. 1908 Jodszen, E Prussia; prof. Kiel 1953, Erlangen 1954), is useful for its discussion of selected words with theol. significance and for its extensive reference to Heb., LXX, and classical usage; some articles have appeared in Bible Key Words (1949– ; various editors and translators); an unabridged Eng. version, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. and tr. G. W. Bromiley, is in progress since 1964.

Beginners in NT Gk. will benefit from Bruce Manning Metzger (Presb. cleric and educator; b. 1914 Middletown, Pennsylvania; educ. Lebanon Valley Coll., Annville, Pennsylvania, and Princeton [New Jersey] Theol. Sem.; prof. Princeton Theol. Sem.), Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek (1946; new ed. 1969).

See also Encyclopedias and Dictionaries; Grammars.

F. W. Danker, Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study, 3d ed. (St. Louis, Missouri, 1970), pp. 97–132. FWD