According this page at UTA’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the well-known Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs is in the process of being revised by Jo Ann Hackett and John Huehnergard:
Jo Ann Hackett and John Huehnergard plan to create a revision of the standard English dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, the Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament of F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs (Oxford 1906). While still the most reliable and most frequently used English dictionary of Hebrew, BDB has also been showing its age for many decades in one of the aspects for which it was most noteworthy, namely, the presentation of cognate information in related Semitic languages — the information on which, in part at least, the meaning of the Hebrew roots is based. This is the aspect of the dictionary that Hackett and Huehnergard plan to revise most thoroughly.
As one who uses BDB fairly frequently, I have often wondered why it has taken so long for a good scholarly revision to appear. Many lexica in our field are revised for newer generations (think of the various versions of BDAG or LSJ) and it has been over a century since BDB was first published by Oxford. The appearance of a new edition will be much appreciated especially since there have been major developments in the study of the Hebrew Bible since BDB’s original publication. For starters, the Ugaritic language was discovered which helps lexicographers and biblical scholars better understand the meaning of the Hebrew cognates. Also, the biblical texts from the Qumran which were discovered in the ’40s and ’50s give alternative readings to the Hebrew Bible. Further, the sectarian writings from the Judean Desert give scholars more context to better understand the meanings of Hebrew words much in the same way that the discovery of the papyri shed light on the New Testament lexicography. Of course, students of the HB can always consult the multi-volume HALOT or its abridgement Holladay, but as Goldilocks might say, the amount of information in BDB is usually just right. Clearly a revision of BDB is in order, and I greatly look forward to their work.
If anyone has more information on this, I’d be very interested to learn about it. When is the expected publication date? Will it still be published by Oxford? Will this new edition be affordable? Will it be coded to the Strongs concordance? Just kidding on that last one.
I noticed that Jo Ann Hackett and John Huehnergard gave a paper on this at the Philadelphia SBL in 2005: “Updating the Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew Lexicon.” Unfortunately I missed it and was probably off at some Didache paper instead.
H/T: John Anderson
Update: Charles Halton asks whether a revision of BDB is even necessary. Jim West chimes in as well.
As it happens the Philadelphia paper by Hackett and Huehnergard was just published this week in a volue:
Dyk, Janet, wt al., Foundations for Syriac Lexicography III (Gorgias Press, 2009).
See: http://www.gorgiaspress.com/bookshop/p-56296-dyk-janet-wido-van-peursen-beryl-turner-terry-falla-reinier-de-blois-foundations-for-syriac-lexicography-iii.aspx
Jim
Excellent! Thanks for the information, Jim.
Brandon:
If you come across the actual text for this article, I would be curious to look at it. Thanks!
Brandon:
Over on Rob Kashow’s blog you note that you have it on good authority that Hackett and Huehnergard are indeed moving to UT-Austin. Of course, on my blog I have noted the good authority of Jack Sasson. I am curious, though, what you have heard. If you prefer to share via email instead, you know how to reach me.
All the best! Thanks!