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Featured Biblical Languages Resources

Featured in Aramaic

Biblical Aramaic for Biblical Interpreters

Scott N. Callaham

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Aramaic resources

21 resources to explore

Grammars & Courses

Teaching Grammars

Biblical Aramaic for Biblical Interpreters

Scott N. Callaham

Scott Callaham’s course textbook builds a bridge from Biblical Hebrew to reading Aramaic.

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The teaching videos of Daily Dose of Aramaic are keyed to this textbook, which wields a reader’s preexisting Hebrew knowledge as an ideal tool to construct a “language bridge” to Aramaic. Since it comprehensively reviews Hebrew grammar as it teaches Aramaic, this book benefits everyone in biblical language study programs and facilitates biblical interpretation through all Old Testament texts. Aramaic need no longer be an outlier field of study for specialists only!

Available in English and in Chinese

Welcome to the grammar learning sessions of Daily Dose of Aramaic. I’m Scott Callahan and I’ve written a textbook: Biblical Aramaic for Biblical Interpreters that I have specifically designed to meet the learning needs of students. I recommend using this textbook to follow along with our Aramaic grammar lessons. Biblical Aramaic for Biblical Interpreters maximizes the learning value of the Hebrew you already know (see dailydoseofhebrew.com). Hebrew and Aramaic are related languages and placing their similarities and differences side by side dramatically assists in learning Aramaic this textbook gets right to the point and it teaches how Biblical Aramaic conveys meaning through its grammar there are also exercises that challenge students to apply what they are learning at each stage of their study. Furthermore the textbook provides resources for students present and follow-on learning making it a valuable resource to keep within arm’s reach on the shelf.

Teaching Grammars

An Introduction to Aramaic, 2nd edition

Frederick E. Greenspahn

A textbook and workbook introducing biblical and selected non-biblical Aramaic, with an answer key.

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As the title implies, this textbook introduces Aramaic as a language, though focus indeed remains mostly upon the Aramaic texts in the Bible. In line with its broader linguistic orientation, the book modifies some biblical texts to simplify teaching grammatical concepts and introduces students to non-vocalized Aramaic literature such as the Targums and Dead Sea Scrolls. This is both a textbook and a workbook, and an answer key to exercises appears conveniently at the end of the book.

Also in English and in Korean

Teaching Grammars

An Introduction to Biblical Aramaic

Andreas Schuele

A textbook and workbook making standard Aramaic grammar accessible, with extrabiblical reading appendices.

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Schuele’s intent in this textbook is to make the scholarship and insights of Rosenthal’s standard grammar more accessible to students. There are appendices that introduce extrabiblical Aramaic texts. Like Greenspahn’s work, this is both a textbook and a workbook, and it maintains its usefulness as a reference work after one’s first reading of the book.

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Teaching Grammars

Basics of Biblical Aramaic

Miles V. Van Pelt

A follow-on to Basics of Biblical Hebrew, with the biblical Aramaic texts, reading notes, and a glossary.

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Written as a follow-on to Basics of Biblical Hebrew by Pratico and Van Pelt, this textbook mirrors the former work’s method of biblical language study. Therefore, Van Pelt treats the verbal system sequentially by stem, running through the perfect, the imperfect, the imperative, and so forth, of each stem for both strong and weak verbal roots before moving on to other stems. The book reproduces all Aramaic biblical texts, along with reading notes and a glossary. A set of video lectures is available for purchase to accompany the book.

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Intermediate Grammars

A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic

Alger F. Johns

A concise grammar balancing technical detail with student accessibility, with an accompanying answer-key option.

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Now that the above elementary grammars are available for introducing Biblical Aramaic, classic works such as Johns may more appropriately shift to the “intermediate” category. Johns strikes a pleasing balance between comprehensiveness, technicality, and student-friendliness, and this book maintains its value as a reference work. An advantage to using this textbook is the availability of An Annotated Answer Key to Alger Johns’s A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic by James N. Jumper.

Available in English and in Korean

Intermediate Grammars

A Biblical Aramaic Reader, 2nd revised edition

Takamitsu Muraoka

A handbook for intensive Aramaic study by readers already well trained in Biblical Hebrew.

More details about A Biblical Aramaic Reader, 2nd revised edition

Developed for use in Muraoka’s itinerant teaching ministry and drawing upon philological sensitivity developed over a lengthy career of abundant contributions to Semitic studies, this handbook is especially useful when teaching an intensive course with students who are already well-trained in Biblical Hebrew. This orientation prepares students to read Biblical Aramaic texts, for which this book provides helps.

Intermediate Grammars

A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 7th expanded edition

Franz Rosenthal

Rosenthal’s detailed intermediate reference grammar of Biblical Aramaic.

More details about A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 7th expanded edition

Rosenthal is the essential, standard intermediate Biblical Aramaic grammar. Its depth of technical detail makes it a valuable resource for becoming familiar with the language beyond the introductory level. However, its treatment of grammatical issues in dense paragraphs can, in practical terms, render it rather difficult to use below the level of doctoral studies.

Also available in French and Persian.

Intermediate Grammars

Biblical Aramaic and Related Dialects: An Introduction

Edward Cook

Study biblical Aramaic alongside Qumran and Egyptian texts in their Ancient Near Eastern setting.

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This textbook excels at drawing students into the study of Biblical Aramaic as a language of the Ancient Near East. For an illustration of grammatical points and for inductive learning through reading, Qumran and Egyptian Aramaic texts appear alongside biblical texts throughout the book. Although the back cover advertises the book for introductory-level use, its depth of detail commends it as perhaps the best intermediate-level Biblical Aramaic textbook now available.

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Bibles & Readers

Bibles & Readers

Keep Up Your Biblical Aramaic in Two Minutes a Day

Jonathan G. Kline

Short Aramaic readings for every day of the year, in the spirit of Daily Dose.

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Written very much in the same spirit as Daily Dose of Aramaic, this book helpfully provides short Biblical Aramaic readings for every day of the year.

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Bibles & Readers

Biblical Aramaic: A Reader

Timothy Lee

All biblical Aramaic texts with vocabulary glosses, verb parsing, and paradigm charts.

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This compact reader contains all Biblical Aramaic texts from Daniel, Ezra, Jeremiah, and Genesis. Below the text in the bottom margin are glosses for infrequently used words, as well as parsing of verb forms. Following the text are helpful paradigm charts for reference.

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Lexicons & Reference

Reference Grammars

Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen

Hans Bauer and Pontus Leander

Bauer and Leander’s classic German reference grammar of Biblical Aramaic.

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Bauer and Leander’s reference grammar of Biblical Aramaic remains a standard reference, despite its age and concomitant use of superseded terminology.

Reference Grammars

Altaramäische Grammatik

Stanislav Segert

A German reference to ancient Aramaic dialects, with a chrestomathy and glossary.

More details about Altaramäische Grammatik

Segert analyzes the grammar of various ancient dialects of Aramaic, including the Aramaic attested in biblical texts. Coverage of linguistic data is both broad and deep. A helpful chrestomathy and glossary appear at the end of the book.

Lexicons & Reference

Aramaic Ezra and Daniel: A Handbook on the Aramaic Text

John A. Cook

A textual commentary on Ezra and Daniel grounded in modern linguistic analysis.

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Cook’s textual commentary is grounded in modern linguistic analysis rather than traditional philology. Aware that many readers approach the book without prior training in linguistics, Cook provides an orientation to his analytical categories and the major linguistic issues he addresses in Biblical Aramaic. This book fills a previous gap in literature; hence it has become an essential resource for interpretation of the biblical passages it treats.

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Lexicons & Reference

Biblical Aramaic: A Reader and Handbook

Donald R. Vance, et al.

All biblical Aramaic passages with detailed grammatical notes and categorized vocabulary lists.

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This book is indeed both a valuable reader and a handbook, in that it contains all the passages of Biblical Aramaic and supplies detailed reading notes. While there are other “readers” in existence, this one is especially helpful for its focus on grammatical analysis, in that the book provides materials such as categorized word lists that aid the reader in developing a feel for the language.

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Lexicons & Reference

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Vol. 16: Aramaic Dictionary

Holger Gzella

Extended treatment of Aramaic vocabulary within the context of other Ancient Near Eastern Semitic languages.

More details about Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Vol. 16: Aramaic Dictionary

Crowning the venerable TDOT series is this final volume on Aramaic. As a theological dictionary, it does not profile “grammar words” like prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, and particles. However, most of the remaining vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic receives at least paragraph-length treatment. These entries place Biblical Aramaic firmly within the context of other formerly living Semitic languages of the Ancient Near East and cast further light upon semantic issues for the biblical interpreter.

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Also available in the original German

Lexicons & Reference

The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann J. Stamm

The HALOT academic lexicon, covering the vocabulary of both Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic.

More details about The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

This standard academic lexicon for Biblical Hebrew (HALOT) also covers the Aramaic of the Old Testament. Although more expensive than classic lexicons of the past, its importance is difficult to understate.

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Also available in the original German

Lexicons & Reference

A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic

Ernst Vogt

A lexicon focused on Biblical Aramaic, informed by extrabiblical literature.

More details about A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic

This lexicon is naturally focused exclusively upon Aramaic, unlike HALOT, and it is more affordable. The “clarification” mentioned in the subtitle has to do with the consultation of extrabiblical Aramaic literature.

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Also available in the original Latin

Lexicons & Reference

Advances in the Study of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic

Benjamin J. Noonan

An orientation to current grammatical and syntactical scholarship for intermediate and advanced readers.

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Noonan provides a reader-friendly orientation to the state of scholarship on the major issues of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic grammar and syntax. He takes into account the valuable contributions of scholars who write in languages other than English. Intermediate to advanced students of Hebrew and Aramaic should consider this book required reading.

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Tools & Apps

Reading Plans & Downloads