WIXLIB

Old Testament Hebrew VocabularyJonathan T. PenningtonOld Testament Hebrew Vocabulary has been developed to help studentslearn and review biblical Hebrew vocabulary. While there are other toolsavailable, this project is unique because it combines the printed wordwith the spoken word. This enables the student to engage the material ina more effective way, through multisensory learning.Many students who come to biblical Hebrew will have also learned someKoine Greek. In both instances, the hard work of vocabulary learning isessential for efficient reading and use of the biblical texts. In the case ofGreek, many words have recognizable cognates in English. With Hebrew,however, this is less often the case. Therefore, a ready knowledge of Hebrewvocabulary is all the more important to effectively read and study theHebrew Bible.In the introduction to my New Testament Greek Vocabulary (Zondervan,2001), I offered a few tips for maximizing the time spent in vocabularystudy: Use all the senses. Our retention of information grows exponentiallywhen we use all of our senses. Using this program to hear andpronounce the words is another way to greatly increase learning.The student will do well to also write out the words he or she istrying to learn. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. When learning a musicalinstrument, it is far superior to play one’s scales for fifteen minutes3

a day than to play for three hours on Saturday. So it is with vocabulary.Using this booklet and the audio program regularly – even fiveminutes per day – will eventually make these words second nature. Be consistent. In learning a new word, be careful to always pronouncethe sounds correctly and to emphasize the correct syllable.Consistency here will save you much time and effort.Using This ProgramOld Testament Hebrew Vocabulary consists of all the words that occur in theMasoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible twenty times or more. Also includedare proper names that occur one hundred times or more. All the wordsare broken into groups by frequency, or how often they appear in the text.Within each group the words are alphabetized in Hebrew order.This arrangement is designed to facilitate the “word frequency count”method of learning. This is a logical and efficient way to learn vocabulary,as more common words are learned before less common ones. This audioprogram serves the needs of both first- and second-year students, as wellas anyone desiring to review and maintain their vocabulary.It is important to note that the glosses (definitions) given for each Hebrewword are not the only possible translations. Words are delightfully flexible,especially across time and genre. The glosses given here are meant as the"first-try" in translating and will generally give the student a good workingdefinition. For more options and more detailed study, one should alwaysconsult a standard lexicon. The glosses used here are based in the firstinstance on the lexical work of Miles Van Pelt and Gary Pratico in theirVocabulary Guide for Biblical Hebrew (Zondervan, 2003), though they willvary at times and will often be condensed.4

AcknowledgmentsThis project came into being at the initiative of my editor, Verlyn Verbrugge.It has been a great pleasure to work with Verlyn on several projects overthe last couple of years. I am thankful for his expertise, efficiency, andkindness.Also, great thanks go to recording engineer, Jeff Bowden. Jeff’s talents inthe recording booth and his enthusiasm for the projects are greatlyappreciated.I would be remiss not to acknowledge that the bulk of the preparatorywork for this project was done through the skill and diligence of MilesVan Pelt. I gladly acknowledge his greater knowledge of Hebrew thanmine and appreciate his labors through many editorial revisions and hoursof recording! Any errors remain mine.About the AuthorJonathan T. Pennington is a Ph.D. student in New Testament Studies atthe University of St. Andrews, Scotland. For five years he served as AssociatePastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris, Illinois. He attendedTrinity Evangelical Divinity School and was for two years a NT TeachingFellow. He is the author of New Testament Greek Vocabulary (Zondervan,2001), Readings in the Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2003), and co-authorof The Elements of NT Greek with CD’s and Syntax Lists with J. W. Wenhamand Norman H. Young (Cambridge University Press, 2001).5

Old Testament Hebrew Vocabulary Wordsּ הַב הוּא הָיָה הָלְַך הִנֵּה ְ ו זֶה יָד יהוה יוֹם יָצָא Words that occur morethan 1,000 times(Disk 1, Track 3) אָב אִישׁ – אֶל אֱֹלהִים אִם אָמַר ֶֶרץ . א אֲשֶׁר אֵת ְבּ בּוֹא יִת .ַ בּ בֵּן ָדּבַר ָדּבָר ָדּוִד father, ancestorman, husbandto, toward, intoGod, godsifto sayland, earth, groundwho, that, which(object marker) nottranslatedin, againstto go in, enterhouse, householdsonto speakword, matter, thingDavid יִשְָׂראֵל יָשַׁב ְ כּ כִּי כֹּל ְ ל ֹלא לְֶך .ֶ מ 6the(3ms) he, it; (ms) thatto be, becometo go, walkbehold, lookand, but, also(ms) thishandYahweh, LORDdayto go (come) out, go(come) forthIsraelto sit, dwellas, like, according tothat, becauseall, each, everyto, toward, forno, notking, ruler

מִן נָתַן עַד עִיר עַל עַם עִם עָשָׂה פָּנִים ָראָה שׁוּב שָׁמַע אָכַל אַל אֵלֶּה אֲנִי אִשָּׁה אֵת אַתָּה בַּת גָּדוֹל גּוֹי גַּם ֶֶרְך . דּ ֲ ה from, out ofto giveuntil, as far as, duringcity, townon, upon, on account of,according topeoplewith, together withto do, makeface, front; לִפְנֵי before, infront ofto see; (Ni) appearto turn, returnto hear, listen, obeyWords that occur 1000–500 times הֵם הַר זֹאת חָמֵשׁ טוֹב יַָדע יְהוָּדה (Disk 1, Track 4) אָדוֹן אָָדם אָח אַחֲֵרי אֶחָד ַיִן . א lord, master; אֲֹדנָי Lordman, mankindbrotherafter, behindoneis not, are not7to eat, consumeno, not(cp) these(1cs) Iwoman, wifewith, beside(2ms) youdaughtergreat, big, largenation, peoplealso, evenway, road(interrog particle) prefixedto the first word of aquestion(3mp) they; (mp) thatmountain, hill(fs) thisfive; (mp) חֲמִשִּׁים fiftygood, pleasantto knowJudah

כֹּה כֹּהֵן כֵּן לֵב לַָקח מֵאָה מָה מוּת ַיִם . מ יִם . מִצְַר מֹשֶׁה נָכָה נֶ פֶשׁ נָשָׂא בֶד .ֶ ע עָבַר יִן .ַ ע עָלָה עָמַד קוֹל קוּם ָקָרא ֹראשׁ שִׂים שֵׁם שָׁם שָׁלַח שָׁלשׁ שָׁנָה שְׁנַ יִם חַת .ַ תּ thus, herepriestso, thusheart, mind, willto take, grasp, seizehundredwhat?to diewaterEgyptMosesto strike, beatsoul, lifeto lift, carry, raiseslave, servantto pass over, pass through,pass byeye, springto go up, ascendto stand, take one’s standvoice, soundto rise, ariseto call, summonhead, top, chiefto set (up), put, placename, reputationthere, then, at that timeto send, stretch outthree; שְׁלשִׁים thirtyyeartwounder, below, instead ofWords that occur 499–350 times(Disk 1, Track 5) לֶף .ֶ א אָנֹכִי אְַרבַּע אֵשׁ בֵּין בָּנָה ָדּם הִיא זָהָב ֶרב .ֶ ח 8thousand(1cs) I, myselffour; (mp) אְַרבָּעִים fortyfirebetweento buildblood(3fs) she, it; (fs) thatgoldsword

יָלַד יָם יַָרד סֶף .ֶ כּ לֵוִי ַ מִזְבֵּח מִי מָלְַך מָצָא מָקוֹם מִשְׁפָּט נָא נְאֻם נָגַד נָפַל עוֹד עוֹלָם שֶׂר .ֶ ע עַתָּה פֶּה צָבָא צָוָה ֶדשׁ . ֹק to bear (children), givebirth, begetseato go down, come downsilver, moneyLevi, Levitealtarwho?to reign, be king or queento findplace, locationjudgment, law, customplease, now, surelyutterance, announcementto tell, report, declareto fallagain, still, as long asforever, everlastingten; (mp) עֶשְִׂרים twentynowmouth, openinghost, army ַרב רוּ ַח ָרעָה שַׂר שָׁאוּל בַע .ֶ שׁ יִם .ַ שָׁמ שָׁמַר עַר .ַ שׁ to command, orderholiness, something that isholygreat, manyspirit, wind, breathevil, wickednesschief official, ruler, princeSaulseven; (mp) שִׁבְעִים seventyheaven, skyto watch, guard, keepgateWords that occur 349–250 times(Disk 1, Track 6) בֶן . ֶא הֶל .ֹ א אַהֲֹרן אוֹ אֹיֵב אַף 9stonetentAaronorenemynostril, nose;(metaphorically) anger

אַתֶּם בָּבֶל בְִּרית בַָּרְך בָּשָׂר בְּתוְֹך גְּבוּל ֶדשׁ .ֹ ח חָזַק חַטָּאת חַי חָיָה יַעֲֹקב יֵָרא כְּלִי כַָּרת חֶם .ֶ ל לְמַעַן מְאֹד מְִדבָּר (2mp) youBabyloncovenantto blessfleshin the midst (middle) ofborder, boundary,territorymonth, new moonto be strong; (Hi) seize,graspsin, sin offeringliving, aliveto live, be aliveJacobto fear, be afraidvessel, implementto cut off, make a covenant(with )בְִּרית bread, foodon account of, for the sake ofvery, exceedinglywilderness, desert, pasture מַטֶּה מָלֵא מִלְחָמָה מִשְׁפָּחָה נָבִיא סָבִיב 10 סוּר עָבַד עֹלָה עָנָה עֵץ עָשָׂר עֵת פְּלִשְׁתִּי פַָּקד צֹאן ָקַרב גֶל . ֶר ַרע ָרשָׁע (ms) staff, rod, tribeto be full, fillwar, battlefamily, clanprophetaround, about; (n)surroundingsto turn aside, leaveto work, servewhole burnt offeringto answer, testifytree, woodtentime, point of timePhilistineto attend, pay attention to,number, appointflock, sheep and goatsto approach, draw nearfootbad, evilwicked, guilty

שֶָׂדה שְֹׁלמֹה שֵׁשׁ ַ יְהוֹשֻׁע יוֹסֵף יָסַף יַָרשׁ field, pastureSolomonsix; (mp) שִׁשִּׁים sixtyWords that occur 249–200 times(Disk 1, Track 7) אֲָדמָה אָהַב אֵל אֵם אַמָּה אָסַף אֲרוֹן ֶ גֶד . בּ ֶֹקר . בּ בַָּקשׁ זָכַר זֶ ַרע חָטָא ַיִל . ח סֶד .ֶ ח יָשַׁע כָּבוֹד כּוּן ground, land, earthto loveGod, godmothercubit, forearmto gather, assembleark, chestclothes, garmentmorningto seekto rememberseed, offspring,descendantsto miss a goal or mark, sinstrength, wealth, armyloyalty, faithfulness,steadfast love כָּלָה כָּתַב יְלָה .ַ ל מוֹעֵד מַחֲנֶה מַלְאְָך מִנְחָה מַעֲשֶׂה נַחֲלָה נָטָה 11JoshuaJosephto add, continueto inherit, take possessionof, dispossessto be delivered, be rescuedglory, splendor, honorto be established, standfirmto complete, be finished,come to an endto writenightappointed time, meetingplacecamp, armymessenger, angelgift, offeringwork, deed, actinheritance, property,possessionto spread out, stretch out,extend