which in his own mind are still open. The number of such cases, however, is comparatively small, and the uncertainty can always be expressed by a word of caution. And even if the objection were much more important it would be better to assume the burden of it, in order to give students of Hebrew, from the outset, the immense advantage of familiarity with the structure and formative laws of the Hebrew vocabulary in their daily work. Another objection incidental to this arrangement is thought to be the increased difficulty of reference. This difficulty will diminish rapidly as students advance in knowledge, and by the practice of setting words formed by prefix or affix—or otherwise hard for the beginner to trace—a second time in their alphabetical place, with cross-references, it is hoped to do away with the difficulty almost entirely.
The Aramaic of the Bible has been separated from the Hebrew, and placed by itself at the end of the book, as a separate and subordinate element of the language of the Old Testament. This is a change from that older practice which, since it was adopted here, has been made also by Siegfried and Stade, and by Buhl, and which the Editors believe will commend itself on grounds of evident propriety.
The question of adding an English-Hebrew Index has been carefully considered. With reluctance it has been decided, for practical reasons, not to do so. The original limits proposed for the Lexicon have already been far exceeded, and the additional time, space, and cost which an Index would require have presented a barrier which the Editors could not see their way to remove.
The work of preparing the Lexicon has been divided as follows:—The articles written by Professor Driver include all pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections, and other particles, together with some nouns whose principal use (with or without a preposition) is adverbial; also some entire stems of which only one derivative is used adverbially: e. g. I. בדד, בלה (not בְּלִיַּעַל), יחד, I. כלל, מאם, רגע; but in the case of יוֹמָם, נֶגֶד, סָבִיב, i. עֵבֶר, מַעַל and עַל (sub עלה), עִם, עַתָּה, יען (sub ענה), among others, Professor Driver's responsibility does not go beyond the particular words. Under פָּנֶה he is responsible for the treatment of פְּנֵי with prepositions prefixed. He has prepared a few other articles, as well; e.g. אֱלִיל, II. בדד, הֶבֶל, ישׁה, תּוּשִׁיָּה, תָּמִיד, מחר, מָעַט, ֜תֹּהוּ. In addition to articles for which he is exclusively responsible, he has read all the proofs, and made many suggestions.
The following articles have been prepared by Professor Briggs[1]; they are in the main terms important to Old Testament Religion, Theology, and Psychology, and words related to these:—
אֲבַדּוֹן, אדן, I. אהל, אוב, II. אוה, I. אול, I. און, אור, אֵל, אֱלֹהים, אֱלוֹהַּ, II. אלה, I. אמן, אפד, II. ארן, ארר, אִשֶּׁה, אשׁם, אשׁר (but not אֲשֶׁר); באשׁ, בָּגַד, i. בַּד, בושׁ, בחר, I. בטח, בין (not [בַַּ֫יִן], בֵּין), בכר, בְּלִיַּעַל, בָּמָה, בעל, בקשׁ, I. ברא בְּרִית, כרך, i. כַּר, ברר
- ↑ Except where words are pointed, or special restrictions made, it is generally to be understood that Professor Briggs is responsible for all words belonging to the stem whose letters are given. Proper names, and much of the etymological material, especially in the last two-thirds of the book, form a standing exception, nor is Professor Briggs responsible for any part of the Biblical Aramaic.
