The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised
Published: Mar 2025
£250.00
The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (2025) is a single volume desk dictionary abridgement of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) (2018–2028). The Shorter Dictionary is over 825,000 words in length, placing into a single volume 1/6th of the material of the complete DCHR (over 5 million words), and is designed to be a replacement for BDB (the standard 1906 English lexicon of Hebrew).
The Shorter Dictionary contains more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions, making it the most thorough Hebrew dictionary ever produced.
Every Hebrew word in The Shorter Dictionary is followed immediately by an English translation (except for the variant forms of a word and the byforms), so that The Shorter Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew.
Further features of the dictionary include:
–Scope—The Shorter Dictionary includes not only Biblical Hebrew but also all Classical Hebrew (pre-200 ce), i .e . Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, inscriptions.
–Syntagmatic analysis—shows examples of subjects and objects of verbs, those of which a noun is subject or object, etc.
–Occurrence statistics—for each word in the four corpora of Classical Hebrew: Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, Inscriptions—and for each voice (binyan) of a verb.
–Parallels and oppositions. Shows all words used in parallel or opposition in texts.
–A notation of: 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) -with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica); 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun); and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
–An abbreviated version of DCHR’s extensive bibliographies is provided in The Shorter Dictionary.
Not only is The Shorter Dictionary three times longer than The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (2009)—also The Concise Dictionary is an abbreviation of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2016), whereas The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised contains the improved and expanded approach of DCHR (2018–2028).
The Shorter Dictionary (2025) has always planned to be released during the longer period of publication for the 9 volumes of DCHR. From 2019 to 2022 David J.A. Clines, prior to his final illnesses and death:
–completed every necessary editorial task for the future volumes;
–oversaw the preparation of and collation of most materials;
–and provided the means by which the project Research Associate, David Stec, could collate The Shorter Dictionary as well as bring the remaining DCHR volumes to publication.
List price: £250 / $400 / €300
Scholars' price: £125 / $200 / €150 (use code 'scholar' at checkout)
DCHR 1–9 Subscribers' price: £100 / $160 / €120 (email: phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk for further information)
The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised
£250.00
The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (2025) is a single volume desk dictionary abridgement of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) (2018–2028). The Shorter Dictionary is over 825,000 words in length, placing into a single volume 1/6th of the material of the complete DCHR (over 5 million words), and is designed to be a replacement for BDB (the standard 1906 English lexicon of Hebrew).
The Shorter Dictionary contains more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions, making it the most thorough Hebrew dictionary ever produced.
Every Hebrew word in The Shorter Dictionary is followed immediately by an English translation (except for the variant forms of a word and the byforms), so that The Shorter Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew.
Further features of the dictionary include:
–Scope—The Shorter Dictionary includes not only Biblical Hebrew but also all Classical Hebrew (pre-200 ce), i .e . Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, inscriptions.
–Syntagmatic analysis—shows examples of subjects and objects of verbs, those of which a noun is subject or object, etc.
–Occurrence statistics—for each word in the four corpora of Classical Hebrew: Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, Inscriptions—and for each voice (binyan) of a verb.
–Parallels and oppositions. Shows all words used in parallel or opposition in texts.
–A notation of: 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) -with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica); 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun); and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
–An abbreviated version of DCHR’s extensive bibliographies is provided in The Shorter Dictionary.
Not only is The Shorter Dictionary three times longer than The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (2009)—also The Concise Dictionary is an abbreviation of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2016), whereas The Shorter Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised contains the improved and expanded approach of DCHR (2018–2028).
The Shorter Dictionary (2025) has always planned to be released during the longer period of publication for the 9 volumes of DCHR. From 2019 to 2022 David J.A. Clines, prior to his final illnesses and death:
–completed every necessary editorial task for the future volumes;
–oversaw the preparation of and collation of most materials;
–and provided the means by which the project Research Associate, David Stec, could collate The Shorter Dictionary as well as bring the remaining DCHR volumes to publication.
List price: £250 / $400 / €300
Scholars' price: £125 / $200 / €150 (use code 'scholar' at checkout)
DCHR 1–9 Subscribers' price: £100 / $160 / €120 (email: phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk for further information)
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Revised
Published: Nov 2023
£150.00 – £250.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) is a complete revision, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993 —2016).
It contains 6,300 Hebrew words not in the standard lexicon of BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features include: a notation of 3,700 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 700 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 330 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of the name, bibliographies have been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted.
All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Revised
£150.00 – £250.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) is a complete revision, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993 —2016).
It contains 6,300 Hebrew words not in the standard lexicon of BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features include: a notation of 3,700 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 700 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 330 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of the name, bibliographies have been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted.
All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. III. Zayin–Teth.
Published: Nov 2023
£150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) (2018–2028) is a complete revision in nine volumes, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH) (1993–2016). When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
The third Volume of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, Zayin–Teth, arrives 27 years after the publication of the corresponding volume in the first edition (DCH) in 1996. Readers will find in the present volume some 32% more words (lemmas) than in the original 3rd volume, amounting to 40% more material, which consists of many thousands of additions and corrections, references to the multitude of Dead Sea Scrolls texts and inscriptions published since 1996, and a much expanded Bibliography.
The nine volumes of DCHR were originally expected to be published at intervals of approximately one year, after the first volume in August 2018. There was, after the second volume, in 2019, a pause until now. From 2019 to 2022 David J.A. Clines, prior to his final illnesses and death:
-completed every necessary editorial task for the future volumes;
-oversaw the preparation of and collation of most materials;
-and provided the means by which the project Research Associate, David Stec, could bring the remaining volumes to completion between 2023 and 2028.
David Clines wrote the Preface for this volume and David Stec completed all outstanding work including the final collation of the sets of synonyms.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, when completed, will contain more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and will refer to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features in DCHR include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of each name, the Bibliography has been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted.
Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted. All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the revised Dictionary (except for the variant forms of a word, the byforms and the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew.
Among the resources that have been reviewed for the present volume are:
-philological studies on Hebrew words, such as Aitken on blessing and cursing, Koller on tools, and Peters on cooking;
-handbooks on loanwords from other languages, such as Noonan on non-Semitic words, Mankowski on Akkadian and Muchiki on Egyptian loanwords;
-treatments of realia such as Borowski on agriculture and animals, Musselman on plants and Wiggins on weather;
-collections of inscriptions such as the second volume of Davies on Hebrew inscriptions, Lifschits and Vanderhooft on Yehud stamp impressions and Deutsch on Hebrew bullae and biblical period epigraphy.
The Bibliography itself, with over 4,000 entries, an average of 30 items— merely on words beginning Zayin to Teth—for each of the last 120 years, testifies to the vitality of scholarship on the Classical Hebrew language.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. III. Zayin–Teth.
£150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) (2018–2028) is a complete revision in nine volumes, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH) (1993–2016). When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
The third Volume of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, Zayin–Teth, arrives 27 years after the publication of the corresponding volume in the first edition (DCH) in 1996. Readers will find in the present volume some 32% more words (lemmas) than in the original 3rd volume, amounting to 40% more material, which consists of many thousands of additions and corrections, references to the multitude of Dead Sea Scrolls texts and inscriptions published since 1996, and a much expanded Bibliography.
The nine volumes of DCHR were originally expected to be published at intervals of approximately one year, after the first volume in August 2018. There was, after the second volume, in 2019, a pause until now. From 2019 to 2022 David J.A. Clines, prior to his final illnesses and death:
-completed every necessary editorial task for the future volumes;
-oversaw the preparation of and collation of most materials;
-and provided the means by which the project Research Associate, David Stec, could bring the remaining volumes to completion between 2023 and 2028.
David Clines wrote the Preface for this volume and David Stec completed all outstanding work including the final collation of the sets of synonyms.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, when completed, will contain more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and will refer to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features in DCHR include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of each name, the Bibliography has been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted.
Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted. All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the revised Dictionary (except for the variant forms of a word, the byforms and the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew.
Among the resources that have been reviewed for the present volume are:
-philological studies on Hebrew words, such as Aitken on blessing and cursing, Koller on tools, and Peters on cooking;
-handbooks on loanwords from other languages, such as Noonan on non-Semitic words, Mankowski on Akkadian and Muchiki on Egyptian loanwords;
-treatments of realia such as Borowski on agriculture and animals, Musselman on plants and Wiggins on weather;
-collections of inscriptions such as the second volume of Davies on Hebrew inscriptions, Lifschits and Vanderhooft on Yehud stamp impressions and Deutsch on Hebrew bullae and biblical period epigraphy.
The Bibliography itself, with over 4,000 entries, an average of 30 items— merely on words beginning Zayin to Teth—for each of the last 120 years, testifies to the vitality of scholarship on the Classical Hebrew language.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
Joban Papers
Published: Apr 2023
£75.00
In this volume, David J.A. Clines—known for his magisterial three-volume commentary on Job in the Word Biblical Commentary series (1989–2011)—brings together a sequence of 27 of his papers on his favourite biblical book from a variety of publications.
In two sections, the wide-ranging Syntheses and the more focused Probes on particular chapters, this collection is a necessary adjunct to his commentary.
Among the titles in the Syntheses are:
- On the Poetic Achievement of the Book of Job
- Why Is There a Book of Job, and What Does It Do to You If You Read It?
- Job’s Fifth Friend: An Ethical Critique of the Book of Job
- Deconstructing the Book of Job
Among the Probes the reader will find:
- False Naivety in the Prologue to Job
- In Search of the Indian Job
- Quarter Days Gone: Job 24 and the Absence of God
- Those Golden Days: Job and the Perils of Nostalgia
- Putting Elihu in his Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32–37
- One or Two Things You May Not Know about the Universe
- The Worth of Animals in the Book of Job
- Job’s Crafty Conclusion, and Seven Interesting Things about the Epilogue to Job
Joban Papers
£75.00
In this volume, David J.A. Clines—known for his magisterial three-volume commentary on Job in the Word Biblical Commentary series (1989–2011)—brings together a sequence of 27 of his papers on his favourite biblical book from a variety of publications.
In two sections, the wide-ranging Syntheses and the more focused Probes on particular chapters, this collection is a necessary adjunct to his commentary.
Among the titles in the Syntheses are:
- On the Poetic Achievement of the Book of Job
- Why Is There a Book of Job, and What Does It Do to You If You Read It?
- Job’s Fifth Friend: An Ethical Critique of the Book of Job
- Deconstructing the Book of Job
Among the Probes the reader will find:
- False Naivety in the Prologue to Job
- In Search of the Indian Job
- Quarter Days Gone: Job 24 and the Absence of God
- Those Golden Days: Job and the Perils of Nostalgia
- Putting Elihu in his Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32–37
- One or Two Things You May Not Know about the Universe
- The Worth of Animals in the Book of Job
- Job’s Crafty Conclusion, and Seven Interesting Things about the Epilogue to Job
Play the Man! Biblical Imperatives to Masculinity
Published: Apr 2023
£75.00
David J.A. Clines argues in Play the Man! that masculinity is a script, written for men by their societies, a script that men in their various cultures act out their whole lives long: 'no one is born a man'. He has been quick to deploy the insights of sociologists, historians, educationists, health professionals, psychologists and other scholars investigating masculinity in the contemporary and ancient worlds.
The book's title is a recognition of masculinity as performance, and the Bible's depictions of males in action as far more than information or entertainment; they function as demands on the men who read them or have them read to them. Hence the subtitle, Biblical Imperatives to Masculinity, presumes that every biblical reference to the masculine is some kind of authoritative command.
Clines—in this collection of writings prepared across three decades—has seen biblical texts as an excellent test bed for research into masculinity in one ancient culture as well as being an indubitable influence upon views and practices of masculinity in our own time.
The bulk of the book consists of studies of individual characters and texts of the Bible, analysing and profiling the masculinity that is there attested, assumed and encouraged. In conclusion, Clines reflects on the continuing impact of the biblical imperatives to masculinity, their effect on men, women and religion, in our own time.
Play the Man! Biblical Imperatives to Masculinity
£75.00
David J.A. Clines argues in Play the Man! that masculinity is a script, written for men by their societies, a script that men in their various cultures act out their whole lives long: 'no one is born a man'. He has been quick to deploy the insights of sociologists, historians, educationists, health professionals, psychologists and other scholars investigating masculinity in the contemporary and ancient worlds.
The book's title is a recognition of masculinity as performance, and the Bible's depictions of males in action as far more than information or entertainment; they function as demands on the men who read them or have them read to them. Hence the subtitle, Biblical Imperatives to Masculinity, presumes that every biblical reference to the masculine is some kind of authoritative command.
Clines—in this collection of writings prepared across three decades—has seen biblical texts as an excellent test bed for research into masculinity in one ancient culture as well as being an indubitable influence upon views and practices of masculinity in our own time.
The bulk of the book consists of studies of individual characters and texts of the Bible, analysing and profiling the masculinity that is there attested, assumed and encouraged. In conclusion, Clines reflects on the continuing impact of the biblical imperatives to masculinity, their effect on men, women and religion, in our own time.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Volumes 1-9 Hardback
Published: Jun 2016
£50.00 – £150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a completely new and innovative dictionary.
Unlike previous dictionaries, which have been dictionaries of biblical Hebrew, this is the first dictionary of the classical Hebrew language to include the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and all the other known Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts.
This Dictionary covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE. It lists and analyses every occurrences of each Hebrew word that occurs in texts of that period, with an English translation of every Hebrew word and phrase cited.
Among its special features are: a list of the non-biblical texts cited (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls), a word frequency index for each letter of the alphabet, a substantial bibliography (from Volume 2 onward) and an English-Hebrew index in each volume.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Volumes 1-9 Hardback
£50.00 – £150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a completely new and innovative dictionary.
Unlike previous dictionaries, which have been dictionaries of biblical Hebrew, this is the first dictionary of the classical Hebrew language to include the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and all the other known Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts.
This Dictionary covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE. It lists and analyses every occurrences of each Hebrew word that occurs in texts of that period, with an English translation of every Hebrew word and phrase cited.
Among its special features are: a list of the non-biblical texts cited (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls), a word frequency index for each letter of the alphabet, a substantial bibliography (from Volume 2 onward) and an English-Hebrew index in each volume.
The Bible and the Modern World
Published: July 2005
£13.50
In the world of scholarship, the Bible is usually viewed as a ancient book, a product of the past, an inheritance, a heritage; it is essentially a book with origins. These lectures adopt an opposite starting point: that the Bible is in the modern world, a physical object strewn about the world of today, an in-print book that real people are reading at this very minute.
So the focus here is not on the origins of the Bible but on its reception, not of what its authors may have intended it to mean, but on what its readers today take it to mean. In conversational style, David Clines enquires after the Bible and the Academy, the Bible and Culture, the Bible and the Public, the Bible and the Church —and offers his own reflections and admonitions.
This is a corrected reprint of the 1997 edition.
The Bible and the Modern World
£13.50
In the world of scholarship, the Bible is usually viewed as a ancient book, a product of the past, an inheritance, a heritage; it is essentially a book with origins. These lectures adopt an opposite starting point: that the Bible is in the modern world, a physical object strewn about the world of today, an in-print book that real people are reading at this very minute.
So the focus here is not on the origins of the Bible but on its reception, not of what its authors may have intended it to mean, but on what its readers today take it to mean. In conversational style, David Clines enquires after the Bible and the Academy, the Bible and Culture, the Bible and the Public, the Bible and the Church —and offers his own reflections and admonitions.
This is a corrected reprint of the 1997 edition.