Hebrew Root Dictionary

The Hebrew Root Dictionary is the first dictionary of the Bible in English based entirely on traditional Hebrew sources. These references are culled from the Classical, Medieval, and Modern eras, spanning 3300 years of study and scholarship. Users will have new access to the deeper meaning of the Hebrew words, through original sources of the meaning of the roots--the core of the Hebrew language--to learn the authentic, traditional, and indigenous understanding of the language that the Prophets themselves spoke.

This landmark dictionary proves that English words can be traced back to the universal, original language, Biblical Hebrew. Genesis II supports a 'Mother Tongue' thesis, and the Bible also claims that Adam named the animals. This may seem difficult to accept, but then why do the translations of the following animals' names: Skunk, Gopher, Giraffe and Horse actually have corresponding meanings in Biblical Hebrew, such as: Stinker, Digger, Neck and Plower? The book features overwhelming data suggesting that the roots of all human words are universal, and that words have related synonyms and antonyms that must have been intelligently designed (perhaps by the designer of life himself!) The current hypothesis that language evolved from grunting ape-men may seem like the flat earth theory after reading this book. The 22,000 English-Hebrew links provide surprising evidence, and open new worlds of understanding, once we consider that all of these similar words could not be coincidences.

Introduction: I have started with the Hebrew Dictionary in the Strongs Concordance, using the Strongs numbers and their basic definitions. Then I looked up the first Concrete usage for a more concrete definition. Then I looked up the first usage, which is often more abstract, and the first use by other words using the same 3 letter root, to come up with the primary definition that would have been used by later authors of the TeNaKh. This assumes that the authors of the TeNaKh, who were prophets founded their thinking upon the earlier Scriptures. Then I compared that translation to its other cases in the TeNaKh to verify that this translation could be used in all cases. This method assumes that the Hebrew language is not defined by how common people speak, like other languages. And therefore the words do not normally have multiple meanings. But rather it is defined first by God who invented the language and dictated to the first prophet the first portion of the Bible, which became the basis for later usage. And finally, people using Hebrew for Bible study base their definition on these specific passages.

Whether you know Hebrew or not, this book will provide you with a quick reference resource for learning the meaning of many Hebrew words that lie beneath the English translations, which will open new doors for you into Biblical interpretation. The Hebrew language of the Bible must be understood from its original and Ancient Hebrew perspective. Our interpretation of a word like "holy" is an abstract idea, derived out of a Greco-Roman culture and mindset, which is usually understood as someone or something that is especially godly, pious or spiritual. However, the Hebrew word קדוש (qadosh) means, from an Ancient Hebrew perspective, unique and is defined in this dictionary as: "Someone or something that has, or has been given the quality of specialness, and has been separated from the rest for a special purpose." With this interpretation, we discover that the nation of Israel is not "holy," in the sense of godliness or piety, but is a unique and special people, separated from all others to serve God. This Biblical Hebrew dictionary contains the one thousand most frequent verbs and nouns found within the Hebrew Bible. Each word is translated and defined from its original concrete Ancient Hebrew perspective, allowing for a more accurate interpretation of the text. In addition to the one thousand verbs and nouns, the appendices in the book include a complete list of Hebrew pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions and numbers.

All previous Biblical Hebrew lexicons have provided a modern western definition and perspective to Hebrew roots and words. This prevents the reader of the Bible from seeing the ancient authors' original intent of the passages. This is the first Biblical Hebrew lexicon that defines each Hebrew word within its original Ancient Hebrew cultural meaning. One of the major differences between the Modern Western mind and the Ancient Hebrew's is that their mind related all words and their meanings to a concrete concept. For instance, the Hebrew word "chai" is normally translated as "life", a western abstract meaning, but the original Hebrew concrete meaning of this word is the "stomach". In the Ancient Hebrew mind, a full stomach is a sign of a full "life". The Hebrew language is a root system oriented language and the lexicon is divided into sections reflecting this root system. Each word of the Hebrew Bible is grouped within its roots and is defined according to its original ancient cultural meaning. Also included in each word entry are its alternative spellings, King James translations of the word and Strong's number. Indexes are included to assist with finding a word within the lexicon according to its spelling, definition, King James translation or Strong's number.