A55 : by Tony Garland
There are numerous texts available for original language Bible study. I'll touch on just a few of them that I have personal experience with:
- For a complete Bible in nothing but Hebrew and Greek in a relatively compact single volume, including the full critical apparatus (comparing variations in different manuscripts), you'll be hard pressed to beat Biblia Sacra Hebraica et Graeca (ISBN 3-438-05250-4)a.
- For the same text, but in much larger type (very helpful in Hebrew) and in separate hardback volumes, consider the following: Novum Testamentum Graece (ISBN 3-438-05103-6)b and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (ISBN 3-438-05218-0)c.
- For a similar text, but smaller, without critical apparatus, and the NT based on the Greek of the Textus Receptus (the text behind the KJV, but not the NASB, NIV and others) and for much cheaper, consider: The Holy Scriptures in the Original Languagesd.
- For soft leatherbound Hebrew OT and Greek NT using a text similar to critical text (used by NASB, NIV), but without critical apparatus and with less frequently found terms defined in English as footnotes on each page, consider A Reader's Hebrew Old Testament (ISBN 978-0-310-26974-8)e and A Reader's Greek New Testament (ISBN 0-310-24888-4)f.
- For a Greek NT with complete critical apparatus including a fairly complete Greek dictionary, consider The Greek New Testament with Dictionary (ISBN 0-000-19049-7)g.
- For a hardback interlinear Hebrew/Greek/English text covering the entire OT and NT including Strong's numbers for every word, consider The Interlinear Bible (ISBN 0-913573-25-6)h by Jay P. Green.
- Analytic lexicons can be helpful because they parse all forms of the original language words in the OT and NT. Three I've used are: The Analytic Hebrew and Chaldee Lexiconi by Benjamin Davidson, The Analytical Greek Lexicon (Revised)j by Harold K. Moulton, and The New Analytical Greek Lexiconk by Wesley J. Perschbacher.
- There is also a version of the Greek New Testament which includes analytical parsing codes with each word of the text: the Analytical Greek New Testamentl by Timothy and Barbara Friberg. (I was able to locate a used copy as it was out of print.)
- Two very handy original language “Bible Inserts” which provide summary information and helpful charts are Hebrew Bible Insert: A Student’s Guide to the Syntax of Biblical Hebrewm by Frederic Clarke Putnam and Greek New Testament Insertn by Benjamin Chapman and Gary Steven Shogren.
If you are interested in computer-based Bible study in the original languages, there are other programs you can consider with a wide variety of capabilities and costs. There are some things you can do with computer-based texts which are real time-savers and allow types of searches that would be impossible in a standard text. We summarize some of these tools on our websiteo.
- The program I use the most for original language work is Logos (also called Libronix) which is available at www.logos.com.
- Another program which I use extensively is called Sword Searcherp. It has excellent support for Strong's number-based study of Hebrew and Greek, but it is lacking in the area of full original language study.
- For portable access to the original languages, it is hard to beat having the full Hebrew and Greek texts — along with parsing information and dictionaries, not to mention English translations — all in the palm of your hand from www.olivetree.com.
If you are just getting your feet wet with Hebrew and Greek, you'll want an introductory grammar for each language. Two texts which are excellent and readily available include:
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