
Originally Posted by
stevedaley
2. I have the paper copy of BAG before it was BDAG, but have never seen Halot. Would this set be the best use of my $200? Admittedly, I'm not the best linguist no one will be asking me to teach Greek or Hebrew soon, but I do use my Greek and Hebrew every week in preparations of sermons and Bible Studies, and I have found the current BW10 dictionaries to be a real blessing. Will I be adding a lot by getting the BDAG and HALOT combo?
You'd be getting a significant update in scholarship in going from BAG to BDAG, since the later is based on a revised German original as well as incorporating more recent linguistic and textual research. And of course the convenience in digital over paper is significant. E.g., studying Hebrews 4:1 in BW 10, I want to look up κατάπαυσις (rest). Hovering the mouse over it brings it up in BDAG, where the discussion lists a dozen or so biblical verses (LXX and NT). Then I just hover over them to bring them up in a popup. Doing all that with paper books just doesn't compare for efficiency; and of course I can easily copy the texts to build up my sermon notes.
As for HALOT, if you're only going to buy a couple of modules, I would go with lexicons. If you're using BDB, HALOT is incomparably better if only because it is more recent (Hebrew lexicography advanced by leaps and bounds in the 20th century). If you're using Holladay, HALOT gives so much more detail. To me--just my opinion--getting at the nuances of word meanings with high-end lexicons lays a foundation on which you can build as you study those words in their contexts.
David Rensberger
Atlanta, Georgia