Topics
- Biblical Hebrew Text Online
- Audio Bibles
- Hebrew Grammars
- Hebrew Lexicons
The Biblical Hebrew Text Online
The Hebrew text or Masoretic text is the basis for our study of the bible. In addition to a printed edition, you can read the bible online.
Sefaria
Sefaria is home to 3,000 years of Jewish texts. We are a nonprofit organization offering free access to texts, translations, and commentaries so that everyone can participate in the ongoing process of studying, interpreting, and creating Torah.
Unicode/XML Leningrad Codex – Tanach
This Hebrew bible (the Tanach) has been derived from the WLC 4.20 (25 January 2016) provided by the Groves Center and updated by suggestions from viewers through a formal and automated process. The text is maintained in Unicode character coding with XML markup and is available in many standard formats. The Hebrew text is version controlled to provide a fixed reference for derived work. The current release is UXLC 2.0 (27.1) of 19 Oct 2023 00:00.
All biblical Hebrew text, in any format, may be viewed or copied without restriction (License).
Text can be rapidly accessed by providing a citation, i.e. Deut 26:5-9, in a text field or by clicking on a succession of links. Text can be displayed in a variety of formats and font sizes. Hebrew text may be highlighted, copied, and pasted into Unicode compatible applications. Books of the Torah have an option to display source markings of the Documentary Hypothesis (DH).
German Bible Society
The website provides free access to the text of the BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia). The site is easy to navigate and allows different display options. KJV, ESV, and NIV translations can be shown next to the Hebrew text.
Audio Bibles – Listen to the Word of G’d in Hebrew
Hebrew audio bibles are an immensely important resource for students of biblical Hebrew. Through advanced technology you are able to listen to the biblical text and follow along on the screen. The pronunciation style varies from reader to reader. Focus your attention on the proper pronunciation of consonants, vowels, as well as on the accented syllable of each word. The musical interpretation is not important for most students of biblical Hebrew.
The Bible Society in Israel – Haktuvim
I recommend this website because of the audio option (upper right hand). You can listen to the Hebrew Bible (chapter-by-chapter only) in a slow-paced narration. The reader pronounces the text according to Modern Hebrew pronunciation, which is usually taught in BH courses. He makes sure to put the stress on the syllable that has the cantillation mark.
Chabad – Audio Bible with Trop
Choose the text you want read (from the five books of Moses). The word that is read is highlighted for convenience. You can choose where to start by clicking on the word of your choosing. Some readers may have strong American accents.
Mechon Mamre
Chapter-by-chapter mp3 recordings of the Hebrew Bible. The speed is very fast and the text is not chanted with a melody but pronounced in Sephardic-style Hebrew. The use of the website is free of charge.
Biblical Hebrew Grammars
Hebrew grammar books can be divided in two groups:
- Student Grammars or Introductory Grammars present the basics of Biblical Hebrew in a manner the course creator sees fit. They are intended for the use in the classroom with a teacher.
- Reference Grammars are intended for the study of Hebrew outside of the classroom. They are more systematic in nature and provide more complete explanations and examples.
The Hebrew grammar books on this page are the leading works in the field among the available reference grammars.
Unfortunately, they have the tendency to be elusive and highly technical in terms of linguistic terminology. Their study presupposes a good knowledge of grammar terms in general and of linguistic concepts in biblical Hebrew in particular. (This is unfortunate, but true! Don’t worry, though, just scroll down to the end of this page for the indispensable book that answers your questions on language and linguistic terminology, like “What is a … nominal sentence/ predicate/ attribute?” – first in English, then you get examples in Hebrew).
How to understand the technical terms used in a grammar book?
Reference grammars are especially valuable to students who have acquired a fundamental understanding of biblical Hebrew through a beginner’s or intermediate course/ seminar/ tutorial that covered the nominal system, verbal system (strong and weak verbs), sentence types and semantics of Hebrew. If you are not quite there yet and even if you are…understanding the technical terms of a grammar book tends to be difficult.
Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar (GK)
- very comprehensive
- covers all aspects of the language
- authoritative reference grammar
- includes an index of Hebrew words, index of subjects, index of biblical passages, and a large number of paradigms
It is in the public domain (1910 edition).
- The advantages of the Wikisource are the site’s many hyperlinks, which makes the navigation fairly easy (as long as you know what you are looking for exactly).
- This website (archive.com) offers a scanned version of the grammar book. You can choose to Read online or download in a number of different file formats
GK is a resource for more advanced students and translators and one of the best reference grammars for Biblical Hebrew.
Joüon/ Muraoka: “A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew“ (JM)
Slightly more expensive and not in the public domain is Joüon/ Muraoka’s grammar book:
- most complete Hebrew grammar book available in English
- takes scholarship from recent years into consideration.
- worth every penny and very comprehensive
JM is another highly technical resource for the more advanced student of Biblical Hebrew. Unlike GK, it takes more recent scholarly findings into account.
van der Merwe/ Naude/ Kroeze: “A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar“
This new and fully revised edition of the A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar serves as a user-friendly and up-to-date source of information on the morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics of Biblical Hebrew verbs, nouns and other word classes (prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, modal words, negatives, focus particles, discourse markers, interrogatives and interjections). It also contains one of the most elaborate treatments of Biblical Hebrew word order yet published in a grammar.
In their own words: “The aim of this grammar is to serve as a reference work at an intermediate level for exegetes and translators of the Hebrew Bible who have a basic of BH, but would like to use and broaden the knowledge they have acquired in an introductory course.”
Long: “Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew“
“… provides a readable, linguistically savvy guide to navigating basic grammatical concepts. Designed to complement any standard Hebrew grammar, the book revisits English grammar in order to teach concepts that are especially relevant to Hebrew. Each chapter focuses on an individual concept, first explaining how it works in English, then illustrating it in biblical Hebrew. Abundant English and Hebrew examples illustrate each concept, most of them visually analyzed. The book’s clear design and attractive layout will appeal to visual learners.”
In one word: INDISPENSABLE
Hebrew Lexicons
A good Hebrew-English lexicon (or dictionary) is an indispensable tool for every student of biblical Hebrew. The list contains suggestions of the best lexicons on the market. Wherever possible, free online links and applications are provided.
Brown/ Driver/ Briggs: Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB)
A trio of eminent Old Testament scholars—Francis Brown, R. Driver, and Charles Briggs—spent over twenty years researching, writing, and preparing The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Since it first appeared in the early part of the twentieth century, BDB has been considered the finest and most comprehensive Hebrew lexicon available to the English-speaking student. Based upon the classic work of Wilhelm Gesenius, the “father of modern Hebrew lexicography,” BDB gives not only dictionary definitions for each word, but relates each word to its Old Testament usage and categorizes its nuances of meaning. BDB’s exhaustive coverage of Old Testament Hebrew words, as well as its unparalleled usage of cognate languages and the wealth of background sources consulted and quoted, render BDB and invaluable resource for all students of the Bible.
Free Uses of the BDB Online:
2. Enhanced BDB. Click on the first letter of the root in the list at the bottom of the page. It takes you to a complete list of all the roots starting with that consonant
3. Mobile Phone Application: Look for “Parallel Plus” in your Phone’s App Store and modify the settings according to your preferences.
3. Biblebento – Provides parsing help for every word of the Hebrew Bible, provides linguistic annotations and and has an interlinear option for translators of the biblical text.
Watch this Video for Instructions on how to use the web service
Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament
- The lexicon is outdated, but available as a downloadable free online resource. The site provides easy access to the content with alphabetical hyperlinks
- 2letterlookup.com
Holladay: A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
This book is an up-to-date lexicon (dictionary) of modest price and scope for the student of biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. Until now, the English-speaking student of Hebrew has had to choose between expensive and complex large-scale lexicons or pocket-size glossaries that make no pretense of keeping abreast of current scholarship. This edition is ideal for the beginning to intermediate student of Biblical Hebrew, offering Hebrew words definitions needed to translate Old Testament passages. Hebrew words are arranged in Hebrew alphabetical order by root form. This lexicon does not use Strong’s numbers. This edition is based on the first, second and third editions of Koehler-Baumgartner Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros. Edited by William A. Holladay. Familiarity with Biblical Hebrew necessary.
Koehler/ Baumgartner: The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT)
Brill is pleased to present this Study Edition of the “The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament” in two handy volumes. It has proven to be a valuable resource for scholars and students. In this Study Edition the complete vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible, including those parts of books which are written in Aramaic, is available. The dictionary combines scholarly thoroughness with easy accessibility, and so meets the needs of a wide range of users. The enormous advances that have taken place in the field of Semitic linguistics since the days of the older dictionaries of Classical Hebrew are well documented and assessed, as well as the often detailed discussions in modern Bible commentaries of words where the meaning is particularly difficult. But the alphabetical ordering of entries rather than the traditional arrangement of words according to their roots is particularly helpful to the new student, and also saves the advanced user much time. This 2 volumes edition is an unabridged version of the five volume edition of The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.
A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English by Ernest Klein
A clear and concise work on the origins of the Hebrew words and their sense development. Each of the c. 32,000 entries is first given in its Hebrew form, then translated into English and analysed etymologically, using Latin transcription for all non-Latin scripts. An indispensable source of biblical, Jewish, modern Hebrew and Near Eastern studies.
Opensource at archive.org: Download or read online
