Question 1

What is a Bible lexicon?

Accepted Answer

A Bible lexicon is a specialized dictionary of the original biblical languages – Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic – that provides definitions, grammatical information, and usage examples for every word in the Bible. Lexicons help readers understand the precise meaning of terms that may be obscured or simplified in English translation. Scholars and students use lexicons alongside concordances to study Scripture in its original linguistic context.

Question 2

How many Greek words are in the New Testament?

Accepted Answer

The Greek New Testament contains approximately 5,400 unique word forms (lemmas), though the total number of word occurrences exceeds 138,000. The Abbott-Smith Lexicon, one of the primary Greek lexicons used by scholars, catalogues around 5,400 distinct terms drawn from the Koine Greek of the first century. Each Greek word is typically assigned a Strong's number (G1–G5624) for easy cross-referencing.

Question 3

How many Hebrew words are in the Old Testament?

Accepted Answer

The Hebrew Old Testament contains approximately 8,000 unique root words, with the Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) Hebrew Lexicon cataloguing around 8,600 entries. The total occurrence count across the entire Hebrew Bible exceeds 300,000 words. Hebrew Strong's numbers run from H1 to H8674, covering both common vocabulary and rare hapax legomena (words that appear only once in the entire text).

Question 4

What is Biblical Aramaic?

Accepted Answer

Biblical Aramaic is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew that appears in portions of the Old Testament, most extensively in Daniel (chapters 2–7) and Ezra (chapters 4–7), as well as a few verses in Genesis and Jeremiah. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the ancient Near East during the Babylonian and Persian periods and was widely spoken by Jews during the Second Temple era. The BDB lexicon and Jastrow's Dictionary are the two primary sources for studying Biblical Aramaic vocabulary.

Question 5

How do Strong's numbers work?

Accepted Answer

Strong's numbers are a reference system created by James Strong in 1890 that assigns a unique number to every distinct Hebrew and Greek root word in the Bible. Hebrew words are numbered H1–H8674 and Greek words G1–G5624. These numbers allow readers who do not know the original languages to look up the precise word used in any given verse by consulting a concordance or lexicon. Strong's numbers are widely used in interlinear Bibles, commentaries, and study tools.

Bible Lexicon

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