I previously published an article on Aramaic that provides historical background to the language and describes its relevance for biblical studies. My aim in the present article is to help people who want to study the Bible in the original languages find and use resources for Biblical Aramaic. What follows below is a fairly comprehensive list of available resources, with descriptions, evaluations, and recommendations. This post is regularly updated with new resources.

First, it will be helpful to explain what is meant by “Biblical Aramaic.” Aramaic is a language with 3,000 years of written history, which means that there are many varieties/dialects of Aramaic. The type of Aramaic used in the Bible (Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12-26, Daniel 2:4b–7:28, and Jeremiah 10:11) is called “Biblical Aramaic.” When studying the Aramaic of the book of Ezra or the Aramaic of the book of Daniel, it is important to use grammars and lexicons of Biblical Aramaic, since other dialects of Aramaic have some differences in grammar and vocabulary.

Grammars

Hebrew and Aramaic are closely related languages, something like Spanish and Italian. Thus, most Biblical Aramaic (BA) beginning grammars (except the one by Reymond) are designed for students who already have a working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew (BH). Because these grammars build on a student’s Hebrew knowledge, they are generally intended to teach Aramaic grammar in only one semester, rather than the usual full year. Thus, if you don’t know Biblical Hebrew you will do well to learn the basics of Biblical Hebrew before launching into Biblical Aramaic. English language Biblical Aramaic grammars that I recommend include the ones by Callaham, Cook, Johns/Jumper, Muraoka, Rosenthal, Schuele, and Steinmann. In general, students who are primarily using one Biblical Aramaic grammar to learn the language will find it helpful to have a second grammar available to look up further explanations in the second grammar when there is a gap or something they don’t understand in the main grammar they are using. For example, Callaham is a useful supplement for Johns or Schuele, and vice versa.

Callaham, Scott N. Biblical Aramaic for Biblical Interpreters: A Parallel Hebrew-Aramaic Handbook. HA’ARETS. Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse, 2021.

• Amazon: paperback, hardcover; GlossaHouse: paperback, hardcover; Logos edition under development. There is also a Chinese version (ISBN: 9789869896733). The Logos edition of the Chinese version is divided into the Aramaic section and the Hebrew section.
• Number of chapters: 19
• Callaham earned his Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently Dean of the Institute of Public Theology. It is evident from his grammar that he is a careful and well-read scholar. However, he was not trained as an Aramaic specialist.
• An understanding of the grammar of Biblical Hebrew, such as two semesters of Hebrew grammar courses, is a prerequisite for using this book. The book starts by discussing how Biblical Aramaic is similar to and different from Biblical Hebrew, without presenting the Aramaic alphabet and vowel system or explaining how to find and use editions of the Biblical Aramaic text, because parallel knowledge of Hebrew is assumed. It is also assumed that students will be able to pronounce (read) the Aramaic words on their own.
• This grammar (abbreviated BABI) aims to facilitate the teaching of Biblical Aramaic by making side-by-side comparisons with Biblical Hebrew throughout the book. Throughout most of the grammar, the page on the left side explains a Hebrew grammatical concept, and the page on the right side explains the corresponding concept in Aramaic, with similarities and differences noted. This is a helpful approach, not only for learning Biblical Aramaic, but also for solidifying one’s knowledge of Biblical Hebrew.
• There are a small number of “Suggested Learning Exercises” at the end of each chapter, but these are different from the traditional homework assignments, and there are no vocabulary lists to memorize for each chapter. Callaham says this is because Bible software programs have reduced or eliminated the need to memorize paradigms and vocabulary lists. He favors an inductive approach to learning Biblical Aramaic, in which students learn to recognize vocabulary and grammatical forms through reading and working with the Aramaic text, and relating it to their knowledge of Hebrew. Because of Callaham’s inductive style, Aramaic grammar is explained from the start by citing portions of the biblical text that have vocabulary and grammatical forms which students have not been taught. Although there is a glossary in the back, it is assumed that students will have access to a Bible software program to parse and define words they cannot figure out on their own. Teachers who have a more traditional pedagogical style could create their own quizzes with paradigms and vocabulary, but that is not the way this grammar is designed.
• This grammar is printed with black, red, and blue text. The red and blue text is used for color-coding grammatical features.
• When new topics are introduced in the grammar, cross-references are provided to parallel sections in Johns, Muraoka, and Rosenthal for additional explanations.
• Callaham helpfully prints both the traditional names of Aramaic verbal stems and the letters used for these stems by Semiticists, e.g., Peal G, Pael D, Shaphel C, Haphel C.
• There is a complete glossary of Biblical Aramaic in the back of the grammar, with Biblical Hebrew cognates noted.
• Callaham writes in the introduction to his grammar (p. xi), “this course is free of written composition exercises and the development of speaking and listening skills.” While I agree that it is not necessary to learn Aramaic as a living language, I do find that hearing and speaking the text is part of the learning process, and is essential to developing reading skills. Of course, a professor who uses this grammar can read the Aramaic text out loud and ask students to do the same.
• Callaham has Aramaic videos lessons based on his grammar on the Daily Dose of Aramaic website (YouTube). These videos are especially valuable for independent learners. Note, however, that the Daily Dose videos are not as rigorously researched or edited as the grammar. Also note that both Vimeo and YouTube have auto-generated transcripts for the videos, and these are searchable. For example, searching the Daily Dose of Aramaic YouTube channel for “Westminster” will show the YouTube videos where Callaham comments on the Westminster morphological database.
• This is an excellent and up-to-date grammar with many scholarly references. I recommend it with the caveat that it is different from a traditional grammar, and as such will not fit everyone’s teaching or learning style. However, if one uses a traditional grammar such as Johns, Callaham’s grammar will still be a valuable tool for reference.
• Callaham wrote this grammar with the intention of making it easily translatable; it is linguistics-based, not English-based. Callaham himself translated the grammar into Chinese. Qualified persons who wish to translate the grammar into other languages can contact Callaham or GlossaHouse.

Johns, Alger F. A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Rev. ed. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1972.

Jumper, James N. An Annotated Answer Key to Alger Johns’s A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Rev. ed. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2003.

• Amazon: Johns, Jumper; Logos: both Johns and Jumper; read for free on archive.org. There is also a Korean translation (WorldCat; Kyobo). Note that the Korean edition leaves some English glosses untranslated.
• Number of Lessons: 20
• This is an excellent introductory grammar for Biblical Aramaic, written in a traditional style. Johns is Adventist, but he doesn’t have any specifically Adventist theology in his grammar. Importantly, he has a conservative view of Daniel and Ezra, and this view comes through in both Johns’ grammar and in Jumper’s answer key.
  • Johns and Jumper were both trained in Semitics. Johns studied Semitics under William Foxwell Albright, and he studied Aramaic under Joseph Fitzmyer. Thus, he is not just an OT Hebrew professor who also teaches Aramaic, but is someone whose knowledge of Aramaic is much broader and deeper than Biblical Aramaic alone. I have a high level of confidence in the volumes by Johns and Jumper since they combine advanced Aramaic scholarship with a conservative view of the Bible.
• If you know Biblical Hebrew well, you can use this grammar to teach yourself Biblical Aramaic in a few months, reading a chapter of Johns each week, doing the homework exercises, and checking your work with the answer key. Many of the early exercises in Johns are made up, but the later exercises will lead you through a translation of all of Aramaic Ezra. Translating the biblical text and reading the annotations in Jumper’s answer key was something that I found very helpful.
• Johns and Jumper work well with the traditional approach to teaching grammar. However, a professor should supplement this grammar with other, more recently published grammars that use newer terminology, especially the newer labels used by Semiticists for verbal stems.
• The price of these volumes is lower than most.

Schuele, Andreas. An Introduction to Biblical Aramaic. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

• This book comes in two sizes. The 8½ x 11 size has larger text that is much easier to read, but it is also a bulkier volume to carry around. The 6 x 9 size has much smaller Aramaic text, and the pointing can be hard to read, but it is a more convenient size to carry around. See current options from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Christianbook.com. There are several ebook versions: Kindle, Christianbook.com, and Google Play. The book is also available on Everand, Perlego, archive.org, and Google Books (preview).
• Schuele’s book is arranged as a reference grammar, but is written at an introductory level. It can be used by itself to learn biblical Aramaic, but it is best used as a complement to another grammar, such as Johns’. Since it is more technical than Johns’ grammar, students will find it helpful for providing fuller explanations for things that Johns may only explain briefly.
• Schuele’s comparative word list on pp. 93-94 is helpful.
• The book includes an answer key for the homework exercises.
• Schuele’s grammar is an easy read for those who have already worked their way through another Biblical Aramaic grammar. The whole book could be read in a day or two.
• Note that Schuele does not hold to the authenticity of the book of Daniel. However, he does hold that Biblical Aramaic is part of the Imperial Aramaic dialect.
• For a review of Schuele’s grammar, see Brian Davidson, Bulletin for Biblical Research, vol. 23, no. 2 (2013), 249-50, available here.

Rosenthal, Franz. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. 7th, expanded ed. Porta Linguarum Orientalium. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006.

• Available from Amazon. The sixth edition is available on archive.org.
• Rosenthal is the best intermediate/advanced reference grammar of Biblical Aramaic, although Edward Cook’s grammar can also be used as a reference grammar.
• When studying or translating Biblical Aramaic verses, I would recommend looking up the references in Rosenthal for each verse. This well to solidify your understanding of Aramaic grammar, as well as providing helpful grammatical information about the verse you are studying. The glossary in the back is also helpful.
• An earlier edition of this book is also available in a French translation as Grammaire d’araméen biblique (Amazon; WorldCat; Google Books).
• Rosenthal is also the editor of An Aramaic Handbook, Porta Linguarun Orientalium, Neue Serie, x, 2 parts in 4 volumes, (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1967). This is an anthology of Aramaic texts from various dialects. See WorldCat for library availability.

Muraoka, Takamitsu. A Biblical Aramaic Reader: With an Outline Grammar. 2nd ed. Leuven: Peeters, 2020.

• Available from Amazon.
• The first part of this book is a nice outline of Biblical Aramaic grammar designed for students who already know Biblical Hebrew. The grammar is brief and technical, but is complete enough to be used as an introductory Aramaic grammar.
• The second part of this book consists of a verse-by-verse commentary on the grammar of Biblical Aramaic. This section is helpful for exegesis, since Muraoka is one of the greatest biblical linguists of the modern era. He is also an evangelical Christian.
• Note that although this is called a “Reader,” it doesn’t print the text of Biblical Aramaic. 
• Overall, I highly recommend this volume for the study of Biblical Aramaic.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Fundamental Biblical Aramaic. 2nd edition. Saint Louis: Concordia, 2022.

• This is the second part of a book called Fundamental Biblical Hebrew and Fundamental Biblical Aramaic. The Fundamental Biblical Hebrew section was written by Andrew H. Bartlet.
• This book can be purchased from the Concordia website and Christianbook.com. The first edition is available on Logos.
• This is designed as a traditional teaching grammar, with fifteen lessons, vocabulary lists, and homework exercises drawn from the biblical text.
• Two digital downloads are available from the Concordia website (under “More Information”): an answer key (to the first edition; the Aramaic section starts on p. 78 of the pdf) and “What the Aramaic verb will tell you about itself.”
• Overall, I would recommend this as a solid grammar written from a conservative theological viewpoint.

Cook, Edward. Biblical Aramaic and Related Dialects: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

• Amazon paperback; Kindle; hardcover; an eTextbook is available from Cambridge; an ebook is also available from Google Play and Barnes & Noble.
• Number of chapters: 18. The book is also organized by section numbers, which the author cites instead of citing page numbers.
• The author is an expert linguist who has studied the Aramaic language in great depth. See this DDA interview.
• The author is a professor at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Although Christian in name, the Bible department at Catholic University has long been a bastion of liberalism that strongly opposes the evangelical approach to Scripture.
• The book asserts, without mentioning that many capable scholars disagree, that the book of Daniel was written in the mid-second century BC. Cook writes, “Despite the setting in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian period, it is clear from internal evidence (particularly the prophetic visions of chapters 2 and 7, and the Hebrew of chapters 8–12) that the real time of composition was the 2nd century BCE against the backdrop of the Antiochene crisis (166–164 BCE)” (p. 10). The “internal evidence” to which Cook refers is the fact that the book of Daniel prophesies future events. Since it is humanly impossible to give a detailed prophecy of future events, critics whose theology does not allow for the possibility that future events were revealed to Daniel by God must allege that the book of Daniel was a forgery (a pseudonymous work) written after the fact, rather than a true prophecy. Critics acknowledge that the prophetic visions of the book of Daniel describe genuine historical events until about 165 BC, and thus they date the time of composition of the book to around that year—in spite of compelling evidence that the book of Daniel was in fact written around 533 BC, at the time of the last vision recorded in the book.
• As a result, Cook unhelpfully classifies Biblical Aramaic (BA) as a separate dialect from Imperial Aramaic (IA), and he tries to show that the grammar of Biblical Aramaic is part of a transition from Imperial Aramaic to the Aramaic of Qumran. (Traditionally, critics have recognized that Biblical Aramaic has the grammatical characteristics of Imperial Aramaic, and have simply extended the period of Imperial Aramaic to the mid-second century BC in order to include the book of Daniel.) The examples and explanations throughout the book are designed to compare and contrast BA with IA, as well as with Qumran Aramaic (QA). Cook’s theological errors can lead him to make to linguistic errors, when he assumes that certain characteristics of BA must be later developments from IA instead of dialectical variations within IA (which was not a perfectly uniform dialect).
• This grammar is highly technical, and is designed for use by linguists, rather than by the typical seminary student. The book uses terms such as SC (“suffix conjugation”) instead of “imperfect,” PC (“prefix conjugation”) instead of “perfect,” A-clause, B-clause, and TAM (“Tense Aspect Mood”). The grammar also uses letters such as G, D, C, tG, tD, etc. for labeling verbal stems. While this system of labeling verbal stems is efficient from a linguistic point of view, students may find it difficult to relate what they have learned to discussions in other grammars and commentaries of the Peal, Pael, Haphel, Aphel, etc. In addition, non-linguists will encounter a considerable amount of completely new vocabulary that differs from older or “standard” grammatical terminology. Many of the technical grammatical notes in the grammar, while helpful, are extraneous for developing the ability to read Biblical Aramaic and more properly belong in a reference grammar.
• Cook takes an inductive approach to learning Aramaic. Therefore, there are no homework exercises or vocabulary lists in Chapters 1-17. Professors will have to create their own homework assignments or quizzes if using this grammar. Chapter 18 contains a selection of Aramaic readings with grammatical and lexical notes. These readings are selected from both biblical and extrabiblical Aramaic.
• The book includes a complete glossary of Biblical Aramaic.
• I believe Cook’s grammar is very useful as a reference grammar for Biblical Aramaic, due to its wealth of detailed linguistic information. Indeed, it is more like a reference grammar than an introductory/teaching grammar. People who have already been introduced to Biblical Aramaic through another grammar may want to work their way through Cook’s grammar as a means of reviewing and deepening their knowledge of Biblical Aramaic. However, many seminary students will find this grammar too technical for use as their first introduction to Aramaic, and some professors will be disappointed by the lack of homework exercises and assigned vocabulary. The antibiblical theology of Cook’s grammar also makes me hesitant to recommend it as a seminary textbook. This grammar is really designed for use in a Semitics program, although it also has considerable value as a reference grammar.

Greenspahn, Frederick E. An Introduction to Aramaic. 2nd ed. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

• Available from Amazon; Logos: English; Spanish; Korean version: WorldCat, Kyobo
• Number of chapters: 32; answer key in back
• The title of this book indicates that it is a general introduction to Aramaic, but in fact its focus is on Biblical Aramaic until the final chapters. Compared to Johns, this is a much longer introductory grammar that is designed to be part of a year-long Introduction to Aramaic course in a Semitics program, rather than a one-semester Biblical Aramaic course in a seminary program. Greenspahn’s method is, unfortunately, based on the view that the Bible is not any more special than other works of literature. He says, “With only some 200 verses of the Bible in Aramaic, there would be little reason to learn the dialect for that reason alone” (p. 1).
• Greenspahn’s grammar is liked by many Aramaicists for its linguistic accuracy. However, as the SBL grammar, it is heavily colored by higher criticism, and for me this ruins the book. For example, on p. 5, he says, “scholars are not certain about the historical reliability of biblical statements about the patriarchs.” His comments on Daniel 7 are in line with the critical interpretation of that key prophetic chapter. He says on p. 161 that “The reference to Daniel’s spirit as having a sheath (נִדְנֶה) suggests a distinction between the body and the mind, which emerged only late in the biblical period.” There really is no reason to add his belief that earlier biblical writers didn’t believe that the soul or mind is distinct from the body.
• One thing that bothered me when using Greenspahn was the way he cavalierly edits the biblical text in the homework exercises. In theory, the homework exercises require the translation of the entire corpus of Biblical Aramaic, but nearly all of the biblical texts are “simplified” and “abridged” and “normalized” in order to fit the plan of Greenspahn’s grammar. To Greenspahn, the biblical text is not sacred, so there is nothing bothersome about changing it to suit his purposes. Only Daniel 7 is presented without modification.
• Greenspahn uses a different system of nomenclature for the Aramaic verbal system than many other grammars of Biblical Aramaic, which can be confusing. The system Greenspahn uses has its merits, but it is designed for comparative Semitics scholars and linguists, not for clergymen who want to learn Biblical Aramaic. It would be helpful if Greenspahn used the nomenclature of both systems, so that students would be able to understand other grammars, lexicons, and commentaries.
• Many of the homework exercises are too challenging for most students. Asking students to translate unpointed extrabiblical Aramaic texts and write in the correct vowels is okay for an advanced Semitics program, but not for a seminary class in Biblical Aramaic. The same could be said for the exercises which ask students to translate English sentences into Aramaic.
• In summary, this grammar has an arrogant tone, which is evident in (1) Greenspahn’s glib handling of the biblical text; (2) Greenspahn’s strident dismissal of the authenticity of Daniel, without so much as mentioning that there are many competent scholars who believe the book is authentic; (3) Greenspahn’s replacement of standard BA verbal nomenclature with the labels used by Semiticists; and (4) Greenspahn’s presentation of homework exercises that are too challenging for anyone but gifted Semitics students.
• Greenspahn’s comments on Aramaic grammar are generally reliable, where they are not colored by his theology. But Johns is easier to understand and better organized.

Van Pelt, Miles V. Basics of Biblical Aramaic. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023.

• Amazon: paperback, Kindle; also available on Logos. The video lectures for the second edition are expensive; they can be purchased from Zondervan or from Vimeo or accessed through Zondervan’s MasterLectures for a monthly subscription. Logos sells the video lectures for the first edition.
• The second edition only makes superficial modifications from the first edition; it is not a comprehensive revision. The second edition is a higher quality printing than the first edition, with stronger, whiter pages. It also adds colored fonts to highlight words or parts of words in the Aramaic text.
• Number of Lessons: 22. An answer key (for the first edition) is available online here.
• Van Pelt’s approach is the polar opposite of Greenspahn’s and Cook’s. He says, “This grammar was not written for Aramaic scholars or for students interested in comparative Semitic grammar” (p. xi). Van Pelt makes no attempt whatsoever to explain the place of Aramaic in the Semitic language family or the history of the Aramaic language.
• Van Pelt’s grammar is popular because of the Zondervan marketing machine, but it is oversimplified for language purists. Van Pelt has a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but was not trained as an Aramaicist or a Semiticist. Thus, his explanations are not as precise as those in other grammars, and are too dumbed-down at times. Van Pelt mentions in the preface that he received some assistance from his colleague Peter Lee, who has a Ph.D. in Semitics and Egyptian languages, but the fact that he needed help hardly gives me confidence in this grammar, and I don’t trust its technical accuracy. The Basics of Biblical Hebrew grammar coauthored by Pratico and Van Pelt has also been criticized for technical inaccuracy, such as referring to wāw-consecutives as “the converted Perfect” and “the converted Imperfect.”
• Example #1: Van Pelt unhelpfully refers to the Aramaic infinitive as the “infinitive construct,” on the assumption that this will help students who know Biblical Hebrew understand the function of the Aramaic infinitive. However, this terminology is unique to Van Pelt. Aramaic only has one infinitive, and so Aramaicists do not use the term “infinitive construct,” which is strictly a Hebrew grammar term.
• Example #2: Van Pelt does not use any diacritics or guttural markers in his transliterations, on the assumption that these will make the grammar too difficult. Many Semiticists would say that Van Pelt misrepresents the sounds of Aramaic by omitting these diacritics.
• Example #3: Van Pelt seems to treat Aramaic as a dialect of Hebrew in order to “help” students learn the language (p. 3), but from a linguistic standpoint this is incorrect.
• See also Andrew W. Litke’s review of the first edition of Van Pelt. Most of Litke’s corrections and criticisms were not taken into account in the publication of the second edition.
• Concerns about the linguistic accuracy of Van Pelt’s grammar make me hesitant to use or recommend it.

Ribera-Florit, Josep. Guía para el Estudio del Arameo Bíblico. 2nd edition. Madrid: Sociedad Bíblica, 2005.

• Included in select Logos libraries; see also WorldCat.
• This is an original (not translated) Spanish grammar of Biblical Aramaic. It was written by a specialist who was obviously an expert in the Aramaic language. Some students may find it too technical, but the linguistic information in the book is reliable.
• More information about the book can be found on the late author’s website (English; Spanish).
• The book includes a complete glossary of Biblical Aramaic.
• The book prints the complete text of the Aramaic portions of Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia, without the text critical notes.
• This is very valuable volume for the study of Biblical Aramaic by Spanish speakers. Because of its high level of scholarship, it can also be used for reference by speakers of other languages.
• For information about older Spanish grammars of Biblical Aramaic, see Vega María García González, “Viscasillas y Goñi: el arameo bíblico en España entre el XIX y el XX,” available on Academia.edu.

Magnanini, Pietro and Pier Paolo Nava. Grammatica di aramaico biblico. Bologna: Edizioni Studio Domenicano, 2008.

• This Italian grammar of Biblical Aramaic was written by Pietro Magnanini, who has a Ph.D. in Semitics and is a career professor of Semitic languages, with the technical assistance of Pier Paolo Nava. The two authors have also published a grammar of Biblical Hebrew in Italian. They are Catholic but not conservative vis-à-vis their date of the book of Daniel. A Spanish language review of this grammar by Ángel Urbán is available here. The Magnanini-Nava grammar is clear and concise, and is organized by paragraph numbers for use as a reference grammar. It is written like a reference grammar, without a separate section for syntax (only phonology and morphology), but it can be used as an introductory grammar. The main part of the grammar is followed by verb paradigms, the text of the entire corpus of Biblical Aramaic, and a complete glossary of Biblical Aramaic. There is also an index of verses cited. This grammar is available new or used from various online booksellers, such as Amazon.com, Amazon.it, and Edizioni Studio Domenicano. For library availability, see WorldCat. This book is certainly a great resource for Italian speakers, and its quality makes it a useful reference for non-Italian speakers.

Geiger, Gregor. Introduzione all’aramaico biblico. 2nd ed. Milan: Edizioni Terra Santa, 2021.

• This is an introductory grammar of Biblical Aramaic written in Italian, designed for use by students who already have some knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. The author has a Ph.D. in Hebrew from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and taught Biblical Aramaic at Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem for fifteen years before writing this grammar. The grammar is arranged in 12 chapters, with vocabulary and homework exercises. A book review by Claudio Balzaretti is available here. To obtain this volume, see Edizioni Terra Santa, Amazon.com, Google Play, and this Google Books preview.

Dammron, A. Grammaire de l’araméen biblique. Strasbourg: P. H. Heitz, 1961.

• This is an original (not translated) French language grammar of Biblical Aramaic by Alfred Dammron. It was reviewed favorably by E. Dhorme (WorldCat; JSTOR; Persée). Pierre Grelot also recommended the book, but wrote a list of corrections (JSTOR). Dammron’s Grammaire is intended to teach Biblical Aramaic grammar to students who already have some knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. The book is organized by section numbers, not chapters, and does not include homework exercises. Dammron appears to hold to the authenticity of the books of Ezra and Daniel, and he even affirms conservative dates for the reigns of Saul (1030–1011) and David (1011–972). Since this book is out of print but still copyrighted, it is difficult to obtain; HathiTrust cannot display a pdf copy, but helpfully shows search results for words and phrases within the book. The book is owned by 114 libraries worldwide, according to WorldCat. Readers of this book will find some of its terminology and linguistic conventions dated, and should refer to Grelot’s review for his corrections/criticisms. The French translation of Rosenthal is another useful supplement. Also see the introductory grammar by Patrick Anani Etoughé. Although Dammron’s Grammaire was published more than 60 years ago, it remains useful due to the paucity of Biblical Aramaic resources in the French language.

Bauer, Hans and Pontus Leander. Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1927.

• Bauer-Leander is a standard reference grammar of Biblical Aramaic, although it is considered somewhat dated. The book is out of print and only exists in German; used copies may be found on eBay. Libraries that hold copies this grammar can be found on WorldCat. A pdf version may be borrowed free of charge from Archive.org or downloaded free of charge from Freimann-Sammlung Universitätsbibliothek, Google Books, or Google Play Some of the English grammars of Biblical Aramaic incorporate insights from Bauer-Leander.

Segert, Stanislav. Altaramäische Grammatik: mit Bibliographie, Chrestomathie und Glossar. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, 1975.

• This is a reference grammar for various dialects of ancient Aramaic, including Biblical Aramaic. It is out of print and there is no English translation; used copies may be available on eBay. Libraries that hold copies this grammar can be found on WorldCat. It can also be borrowed free of charge from Archive.org. See also the reviews by Isbell, Naveh, Pardee, Clarke, Hopkins, and Hoftijzer.

김구원. 『성서 아람어 문법』. 서울: 비블리카 아카데미아, 2012. (Translation: Kim, Koowon. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Seoul: Biblica Academia, 2012.)

• This is an original (not translated) grammar of Biblical Aramaic in Korean that was published in 2012. The author has an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. For Korean speakers who have limited knowledge of English, this grammar is probably easier to understand than the translations of Greenspahn and Johns. It has 20 chapters, with homework exercises, paradigms, and a glossary. For more information, see WorldCat, Kyobo, and the author’s Academia.edu page.

Other Grammars

• Neef, Heinz-Deiter. Arbeitsbuch Biblisch-Aramäisch. 3rd ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018. This is the most up-to-date introductory grammar of Biblical Aramaic in German. It is nicely formatted and linguistically reliable. It can be purchased from Logos, Amazon, or Mohr Siebeck. See also WorldCat and Google Books.
• Reymond, Eric D. Complete Aramaic: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Aramaic with Original Texts. London: Teach Yourself, 2021. The title Complete Aramaic refers to the fact that this book is designed to teach Biblical Aramaic “from scratch,” without assuming previous knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. This is the main advantage and distinctive of this grammar. Note that the author does not accept the authenticity of the book of Daniel, and often says things that dismiss the claims made in the biblical text. The grammar is designed to be easy to follow, although it would be nice if the author gave both the older and newer labels for the verb stems. He calls, for example, “hitpə‘el” what other grammars call the “Hithpeel” or “Gt” stem. The grammar is available from Amazon and Christianbook.com.
• Anani Etoughé, Patrick. Précis de grammaire d’Araméen biblique. Lulu, 2013. The author’s name is sometimes written as Patrick Anani Etoughé, and sometimes as Patrick Etoughé Anani. This appears to be the most up-to-date French language grammar of Biblical Aramaic. The author is Seventh-day Adventist. The book is available from the publisher, Lulu, and from Amazon.fr and Amazon.ca.
• Jean, Charles-F. Grammaire hébraïque élémentaire: Suivie de notions d’araméen biblique. 3rd ed. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1950. This book has been reprinted and is available from various online booksellers; search by ISBN number 2706300361.
• Koopmans, Jochem Jans. Aramese Grammatica. 2nd ed. Leiden: Nederlands instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 1957. See WorldCat for library availability.
• Dalrymple-Hamilton, Francis. An Inductive Grammar of Biblical Aramaic with Particular Reference to Daniel 2^4b–7²⁸. Edinburgh: Edina Press, 2012. See the review by Gardner in Australian Biblical Review (Academia.edu; FBS). For library availability, see WorldCat. Dalrymple-Hamilton began his academic career later in life, but earned two doctorates and several master’s degrees. He taught Semitic languages at Sheffield and St Andrews Universities and at Princeton Seminary. Although he was a Baptist minister (like H. H. Rowley), Dalrymple-Hamilton explicitly denies the inerrancy of the book of Daniel in his grammar, and he affirms that the book of Daniel was written between 167 and 165 BC. This, in turn, affects his analysis of the language of the book of Daniel. (The doctrinal statement of his church affirms the inspiration of the Bible, but not its inerrancy; see the video of his funeral service from March 2023.) The method of learning Biblical Aramaic recommended in this grammar will be difficult for most students—Dalrymple-Hamilton says to read through Rosenthal’s reference grammar and then to read the text of Daniel 2:4b–7:28 while referring to the explanatory notes in his book. However, those who learn Biblical Aramaic through a standard introductory grammar will find this book valuable as an aid to reading and analyzing the Aramaic text of Daniel.
• Strack, Hermann Leberecht. Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen. 6th ed. Clavis linguarum semiticarum 4. München: Beck, 1921. Strack’s grammar has been reprinted by Wipf and Stock and is available on Amazon. A digital edition is available for free on archive.org.
• Kautzsch, E. Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen. Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, 1884. For more information, see WorldCat. A pdf copy can be downloaded from archive.org or Freimann-Sammlung Universitätsbibliothek.
• Marti, Karl. Kurzgefasste Grammatik der Biblisch Aramäischen: Sprache, Literatur, Paradigmen, Texte und Glossar. 3rd ed. Berlin: Reuther & Reichard, 1925. For more information, see WorldCat and this review. A pdf of the first edition can be downloaded from archive.org or Freimann-Sammlung Universitätsbibliothek. A pdf of the second edition can be downloaded from Google Books. A pdf of the third edition can also be downloaded from Google Books. For a hard copy reprint (edition unclear), see Amazon.
• Qimron, Elisha. ארמית מקראית [Biblical Aramaic]. [Beersheba]: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1993. This is a grammar of Biblical Aramaic written in Modern Hebrew. For more information, see WorldCat and Amazon.

Lexicons

• Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated by M. E. J. Richardson. Leiden: Brill, 2001. This work, commonly abbreviated as HALOT, is widely recognized as the standard lexicon for Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic. The Aramaic section is volume 5 of the 5-volume edition (ISBN: 9789004115286, 9004115285), or at the end of volume 2 of the 2-volume edition. This lexicon reflects a high level of Aramaic scholarship and incorporates the advances in Aramaic studies that followed the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. HALOT is the primary lexicon I recommend for Biblical Aramaic. To purchase HALOT, see Amazon; Accordance; Logos. There is also a concise version of HALOT edited by William Holladay that is much less expensive (Amazon; Logos). The Aramaic volume of the German edition (Aramäisches Lexikon, vol. 5 of Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament, 3rd ed., ISBN: 9004098038) can be borrowed from archive.org. When doing Aramaic exegesis, I recommend opening HALOT in Accordance or Logos and doing a Scripture search for the verse you are studying in order to read what HALOT says about the use of each word in each verse.
• Gzella, Holger, ed. Aramaic Dictionary. Translated by Mark E. Biddle. Volume 16 of Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Joef Fabry. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018. This excellent resource (abbreviated TDOT) is the best supplement to HALOT. TDOT has in-depth articles on most words in Biblical Aramaic. The authors of these articles are Aramaic experts who survey the usage of Biblical Aramaic words in extrabiblical Aramaic, which can be very helpful. Note that while the linguistic information in this volume is reliable, the theological analysis will be from a critical point of view. To purchase, see Amazon; Christianbook; Logos; Accordance. For the original German edition, see Logos; Amazon. This is Aramäisches Wörterbuch, vol. 9 of Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament (ThWAT).
• Vogt, Ernst. A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic: Clarified by Ancient Documents. Translated and revised by J. A. Fitzmyer. Subsidia Biblica 42. Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2011. This lexicon by Vogt and Fitzmyer is another excellent supplement to HALOT. For availability, see Amazon and WorldCat.
• The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL = “Targum Lexicon” in Logos) is the best general Aramaic lexicon. CAL covers all periods of ancient Aramaic, not just Biblical Aramaic. CAL can be accessed online for free. The online version is more complete than the version in Logos. For Biblical Aramaic definitions, look for the abbreviations BA^Ezra and BA^Dan (example). In the Logos version of CAL, the abbreviation is “BibAr” (also “BibArEzra” or “BibArDan”).
• Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, eds. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907. This work, commonly abbreviated as BDB, was the standard lexicon of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic before the publication of HALOT. While I still use and recommend BDB for Biblical Hebrew, I generally do not refer to BDB for Biblical Aramaic. The Aramaic section contains some errors and is not as well researched as the Hebrew section. To purchase BDB, see Amazon; Christianbook; Logos; Accordance; see also archive.org for online access.
• Gibson, Jonathan and Bryce Simon. An Interpretive Lexicon of Old Testament Hebrew and Aramaic: Analysis of Adverbs, Conjunctions, Interjections, Particles, Prepositions, and Pronouns. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2024. This book is scheduled to be released on July 16, 2024. It may be preordered from Amazon, Christianbook, and Logos.
• Swanson, James A. A Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Aramaic (Old Testament). 2nd ed. Logos Research Systems, 2001. This is a useful resource for Biblical Aramaic that is only available in Logos. However, it is not as reliable as HALOT.
• Swanson, James. Diccionario de idiomas bíblicos: Arameo (Antiguo Testamento). Translated by Alejandro Peluffo. Edited by Rubén Videira Soengas and Guillermo Powell. Lexham Press, 2014. This resource is only available in Logos.
• Reymond, Philippe. Dictionnaire d’Hébreu et d’Araméen bibliques. Les éditions du Cerf, 2017. This book was evidently first published in 1998, but has since been reprinted or revised. Can search for the ISBN 9782204124669. The author was one of the editors of HALOT.
• Reymond, Philippe. Dizionario di ebraico e aramaico biblici. Claudiana, 2019. Available from the publisher (ISBN: 9788868982430).
• Ortiz, Pedro. Léxico hebreo-español y arameo-español. Madrid: Sociedad Bíblica, 1997. This dictionary gives short definitions of each word in the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament. The Hebrew section is first, and the Aramaic section follows. The unique thing about this dictionary is that the words are alphabetized by the Spanish definitions, rather than by the Aramaic spellings. The book is available on archive.org and Logos; can search for hard copies using the ISBN number 8480830727.
• Davidson, Benjamin. The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. London: Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1850. Reprinted by Hendrickson Publishers. The first part of this book contains a concise grammar of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic, with paradigms. While this grammar is very dated, this book is still in print and worth mentioning because it is the only printed analytical lexicon of the Old Testament. (An analytical lexicon lists all the inflected forms of all the words in the Old Testament in alphabetical order, with parsing information and brief definitions.) Davidson does not list the Aramaic words separately from the Hebrew; Aramaic words are identified by the abbreviation “Ch.” or “Chald.” The print book is available from Amazon or Christianbook.com. The digitized book is available on archive.org.
• Matheus, Frank. A Biblical Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon (GlossaHouse, 2020). This is a very concise but complete lexicon of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic. Available from Amazon: hardcover; paperback.
• Diehl, Johannes Friedrich and Markus Witte, eds. Hebräisches und aramäisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament. 4th ed. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2021. This is a “completely revised edition” of the book by the same title that was originally edited by Georg Fohrer and published in German in 1971, with an English translation published in 1973. (Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the New Testament, available from Logos; Amazon; see WorldCat for library availability.) A Spanish translation was published in 1982. (Fohrer, Georg. Diccionario del hebreo y arameo bíblicos. De Gruyter, 1982. Available from De Gruyter, Google Play, Barnes & Noble; see WorldCat for library availability.) The new edition provides brief glosses for every Hebrew and Aramaic word in the Old Testament, as well as for some words that occur in related extrabiblical Hebrew and Aramaic, such as in the books of Sirach and Tobit. The Aramaic vocabulary is listed alphabetically after the Hebrew section. Presumably an English translation will be published soon. The new German edition is available on Amazon and Logos.
• Postma, F., H. J. Bosman, and R. Oosting. Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament: Hebräisch/Aramäisch-Deutsch und Hebräisch/Aramäisch-Englisch. (A Hebrew/Aramaic-English and Hebrew/Aramaic-German Lexicon of the Old Testament.) Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2009. This lexicon gives brief definitions of Aramaic and Hebrew words in German and English. It was originally made for the Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible, to provide readers with brief definitions of words when hovering over a tagged text. It is only available in Logos.
• Mitchel, Larry A. A Student’s Vocabulary for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. Updated edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017. The Aramaic section of this book lists all the vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic, organized by frequency, with brief definitions. Available from Amazon: 2nd edition; Logos: 1st edition. There is also a Korean-English version of the 1984 edition (WorldCat; Kyobo).
• Pratico, Gary D. and Miles V. Van Pelt. The Vocabulary Guide to Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019. The Aramaic section of this book lists all the vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic, organized by frequency, with brief definitions. Available from Amazon; Logos.
• Most introductory grammars of Biblical Aramaic include a glossary.
• Biblical Aramaic Vocabulary: All Aramaic Words in the Old Testament. Languages of the Bible and the Qur’an. Andalus Publications, 2021. This book lists all the vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic, organized by alphabetically, with brief English glosses. Available on Amazon.
• Vocabulario Arameo Bíblico: Todas las palabras arameas del Antiguo Testamento. Lenguas de la Bíblia y el Corán. Andalus Publications, 2021. This book lists all the vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic, organized by alphabetically, with brief Spanish glosses. Available on Amazon.
• Vocabulaire Biblique Araméen: Tous les mots araméens de l’Ancien Testament. Andalus Publications, 2021. Available from Amazon.fr and Amazon.ca.
• Vocabulari Bíblico Arameu – Català: Totes les paraules aramees de l’Antic Testament. Llengües de la Bíblia i l’Alcorà, vol. 6. Andalus Publications, 2021. Available from Amazon.es and Amazon.com.
• Cook, Edward. Dictionary of Qumran Aramaic. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015. This dictionary is less useful for Biblical Aramaic, since it is designed for use with Aramaic texts from Qumran; Biblical Aramaic is from an earlier period. Available from Amazon and Accordance.
• Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim (available free here and here; for purchase in Logos and Amazon) and Payne Smith, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary (available free here and here; for purchase in Logos and Amazon) can be used with CAL for diachronic word studies, but should not be used for translating Biblical Aramaic.

Other resources

• Bible software – Bible software is an extremely useful resource that has unique tools in its on right, but that also brings together many of the other resources in one place and helpfully links them together. The top two academic Bible software programs are Accordance and Logos. Logos has many more Biblical Aramaic books available, but I personally find Accordance more user-friendly for the resources that it has. Both programs are very expensive. (1) Both Accordance and Logos offer multiple syntax trees for the entire Old Testament, including the Aramaic sections. These syntax trees will be very helpful for understanding the grammar of the text if you are weak in Aramaic. Of course, it is ideal if your knowledge of Aramaic advances to the point where you can evaluate these syntax trees critically, but most of the time the grammar is straightforward. (2) Accordance and Logos both have tagged Targumic texts. Accordance has the most complete tagging, but doesn’t provide information from CAL, like Logos does. (3) Accordance and Logos also offer Syriac resources.
• Online platforms – Various online platforms are available for the study of Biblical Aramaic, such as Jesus Spoke Aramaic, Daily Dose of Aramaic, and Immersion Biblical Aramaic.
• Seminaries – Many seminaries offer an introductory Aramaic course, and often these courses are available online for registered students.
• STEP Bible – STEP Bible is a popular free resource for studying the Bible in the original languages, and it includes both Biblical Aramaic and the Syriac NT. See, for example, Daniel 7:1 with the tagged ASV text in parallel with the tagged Aramaic text (Strong’s). Also, John 1:1 with a tagged ASV text in parallel with the tagged Tyndale House Greek New Testament, the Syriac Peshitta text, and James Murdock’s translation of the Syriac Peshitta.
• Biblical Aramaic: A Reader and Handbook. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2016. (Amazon; Christianbook; Logos) – This volume is small enough to be easily portable, and provides a handy way to keep your biblical Aramaic fresh by reading through it periodically. The lists in the back are also handy. You can read through Biblical Aramaic using this volume for review quite quickly. You can get similar information in your Bible software, but the reader is probably better for language proficiency.
• Kline, Jonathan G. Keep Up Your Biblical Aramaic in Two Minutes a Day: 365 Selections for Easy Review. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2017. (Amazon, hardcover; Christianbook, imitation leather; Accordance; Logos) – This book has the Aramaic text in parallel with an English translation, and a sort of interlinear below. If you have good Bible software, you probably don’t need this book. I find the free Daily Dose of Aramaic videos more helpful for daily review.
• Magnanini, Pietro and Alberto Maccaferri. Analisi grammaticale dell´aramaico biblico. Bologna, Italy: Edizioni Studio Domenicano, 2013. (Amazon.com; Amazon.it; Edizioni Studio Domenicano) – This book prints the text of each Aramaic verse in the Bible, with annotations underneath including parsings, Italian translations, brief grammatical explanations, and references to grammars. It also includes an analysis of all the Aramaic terms in the New Testament.
• Cook, John A. Aramaic Ezra and Daniel: A Handbook on the Aramaic Text. Baylor Handbook on the Hebrew Bible. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019. (Amazon; Logos) – This book provides detailed analysis and explanations of the Aramaic grammar of Ezra and Daniel. Note that Cook follows critical views of the interpretation of Ezra and Daniel, and considers the Aramaic of Daniel to have been written in the second century BC.
• Noonan, Benjamin J. Advances in the Study of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020. (Amazon; Logos) – This book is a handy reference for the history of scholarly research and debate regarding Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic.
• Jerusalmi, Isaac. The Aramaic Sections of Ezra and Daniel: A Philological Commentary with Frequent References to Talmudic Aramaic Parallels and a Synopsis of the Regular Verb. 2nd ed. Auxiliary Materials for the Study of the Semitic Languages 7. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1982. Available on Google Play; see also JSTOR). This book, written by a rabbi, was originally written (in 1966/1970) for use as a one-semester graduate course in Biblical Aramaic, and was primarily intended for use by Jewish students. The book is designed to teach Biblical Aramaic inductively, proceeding verse-by-verse through all the Biblical Aramaic passages. It contains a list of many of the words in each verse, with definitions and parsings—something that Bible software now generally does better. More helpfully to the contemporary student, the book also includes verse-by-verse explanations of the grammar and orthography of Biblical Aramaic. Comparisons are made with Biblical Hebrew and Talmudic Aramaic, with the intention of using one’s knowledge of Biblical Hebrew to learn Biblical Aramaic, and to use one’s knowledge of Biblical Aramaic to learn Talmudic Aramaic. Some Syriac and Arabic parallels are also noted.
• Commentaries on Ezra and Daniel interpret the Aramaic text. It is important when studying grammatical aspects of the text to understand how possible grammatical options affect interpretation, and which of these interpretations are reasonable in the context. Many commentaries also include notes about Aramaic grammar and meanings of words. Note, however, that most of the technical commentaries are non-evangelical.
• The UBS Handbooks on Ezra (Logos; UBS) and Daniel (Logos; UBS; Amazon) are helpful for translation issues, although they are not written from a conservative viewpoint. In Accordance, the OT UBS Handbooks are sold only as a set. The Daniel volume was originally published in French and is available for free borrow on archive.org.
• Bible dictionaries will have an article on Aramaic and articles on many of the names that occur in Biblical Aramaic.
• Academic studies – There are many academic books, book sections, and journal articles written on specific issues in Biblical Aramaic, as well as on general Aramaic grammatical issues that relate to Biblical Aramaic. See, among others:
  • Andrason, Alexander and D. Allen Hutchinson. “Interjections in Biblical Aramaic: A Radial Model.” Aramaic Studies 18 (2020): 1-45. (Academia.edu; Brill; also available in EBSCO)
  • Andrason, Alexander, Vuyisa Gysman, Hans-Christoph Lange, and Martinus Van Renssen, “The Historical Present qātēl in Biblical Aramaic.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 142.3 (2022): 547-571. (Academia.edu; Lockwood; ProQuest; also available in EBSCO/ATLA)
  • Archer, Gleason L., Jr. “The Aramaic of the ‘Genesis Apocryphon’ Compared with the Aramaic of Daniel.” Pages 160-169 in New Perspectives on the Old Testament, edited by J. Barton Payne. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1970. (Archive.org; Archive.org)
  • Butts, Aaron Michael. “The Aramaic Šap̄ˁel in Its Semitic Context.” Aramaic Studies 16 (2018): 117-143. (Brill)
  • Carver, Daniel E. “The Past Time Uses of the Imperfect in the Aramaic of Daniel.” Aramaic Studies 19 (2021): 155-176. (Brill)
  • Fitzmyer, Joseph A. and Stephen A. Kaufman. An Aramaic Bibliography, Part I: Old, Official, and Biblical Aramaic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1992. This work contains a list of journal articles and books relating to Old, Official (Imperial), and Biblical Aramaic. It is somewhat dated and somewhat tedious to use. Available for free borrow on archive.org.
  •  Fitzmyer, Joseph A. A Wandering Aramean: Collected Aramaic Essays. SBL Monograph Series 25. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1979. (archive.org)
  • Kitchen, K. A., “The Aramaic of Daniel.” Pages 31-79 in Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel. London: Tyndale, 1965. (archive.org)
  • Makujina, John. “Old Persian and the Marking of Narrative Sequence in Biblical Aramaic: The Possible Influence of Pasāva on Bēʾdayin and ʾĕdayin.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 72 no. 1 (2013): 85-97. (JSTOR; University of Chicago)
  • Muraoka, Takamitsu. “Three Grammatical Issues in Biblical Aramaic.” Ancient Near Eastern Studies 57 (2020): 53-58. (Peeters)
  • Noonan, Benjamin J. “A (New) Old Iranian Etymology for Biblical Aramaic ‮אֲדַרְגָּזַר‬‎.” Aramaic Studies 16 (2018): 10-19. (Brill; also available in EBSCO)
  • Paul, Shalom. “Dan 6,8: An Aramaic Reflex of Assyrian Legal Terminology.” Biblica 65 (1984): 106-10. (JSTOR; Brill)
  • Paul, Shalom. “Gleanings from the Biblical and Talmudic Lexica in Light of Akkadian.” Pages 242-256 in Minḥah le-Naḥum: Biblical and Other Studies Presented to Nahum M. Sarna in Honour of his 70th Birthday (ed. Marc Brettler and Mihael Fishbane; JSOTSup 154; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993). (Brill; Logos; Amazon; Perlego) See p. 252 for Paul’s comments on Daniel 6:8 and 9:27.
  • Paul, Shalom M. “Decoding a ‘Joint’ Expression in Daniel 5:6, 16.” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 22 (1993): 121-127. (archive.org; archive.org; Brill)
  • Paul, Shalom. “Daniel 6:20: An Aramaic Calque on an Akkadian Expression.” Scriptura 87 (2004): 315-316. (Academia.edu; Brill; Scriptura)
  • Pusey, E. B. Daniel the Prophet. 2nd ed. Oxford: James Parker, 1868. See his discussion of “Peculiarities of Biblical Aramaic” (pp. 44-57) and “Aramaic words of Daniel lost subsequently” (pp. 602-622). Page numbering differs in the edition of this book published by Funk & Wagnalls in 1885, which has larger pages. In that edition, these discussion are on pages 102-114 and 482-498.
  • Rowley, H. H. The Aramaic of the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford, 1929. Rowley compares various forms of extrabiblical Aramaic with biblical Aramaic, showing similarities and differences. He argues strongly, though dishonestly, for a second century date of composition for the book of Daniel. (archive.org)
  • Shepherd, Michael B. The Verbal System of Biblical Aramaic: A Distributional Approach. Studies in Biblical Literature, vol. 116. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. (Amazon)
  • Smelik, Willem. “A Biblical Aramaic Pastiche from the Cairo Geniza.” Aramaic Studies 9/2 (2011): 325-339. (Academia.edu; Brill; also available in EBSCO/ATLA)
  • Suchard, Benjamin D. “Biblical Hebrew יש and Biblical Aramaic איתי Followed by Non-verbal Clauses as Markers of Polarity Contrast.” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 47/1 (2021): 61-78. (Academia.edu; Leiden)
  • Suchard, Benjamin D. “The Origins of the Biblical Aramaic Reading Tradition.” Vetus Testamentum 71 (2021): 105-119. (Academia.edu; Brill)
  • Stefanovic, Zdravko. The Aramaic of Daniel in the Light of Old Aramaic. JSOTSup 129. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic, 1992. (Logos; Amazon; Google Books preview) Stefanovic’s conclusion: “The text of DA in its present form (including ch. 7) contains a significant amount of material similar to OA texts. The key desideratum coming out of this study is that the search for features in DA of an early date should be pursued more intensively in the future” (p. 108). Stefanovic is a Seventh Day Adventist, and this was his dissertation at Andrews University.
  • Wilson, Robert Dick. “The Aramaic of Daniel.” Pages 261-306 in Biblical and Theological Studies. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912. (archive.org)
• Critical editions of the Hebrew/Aramaic biblical text will note variants in the manuscripts or ancient translations of Aramaic Ezra and Daniel.
  • BHS (Amazon; Christianbook; Logos; Accordance) is still the standard scholarly edition, in spite of its shortcomings.
  • BHQ includes a helpful textual commentary, but the only Aramaic fascicle available to date is Ezra and Nehemiah (Amazon; Logos; Accordance). It can also be helpful to read the Masora notes in BHQ. The Daniel fascicle of BHQ is currently in preparation by Agustinus Gianto and Marco Settembrini.
  • Kennicott is often overlooked, but very useful.
  • Also very helpful is Hans-Friedemann Richter, Daniel 2–7: Ein Apparat zum aramäischen Text, Semitica et Semitohamitica Berolinensia 8 (Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2007). This book is a verse-by-verse textual commentary on the Aramaic section of Daniel. A pdf copy can be purchased from the publisher. Hard copies are available from Amazon. See WorldCat for library listings.
  • For an analysis of variants in the Syriac Peshitta, see Richard A. Taylor, The Peshitta of Daniel, Monographs of the Peshitta Institute of Leiden. vol. 7 (Leiden: Brill, 1994). Available from Logos; Amazon; Google Books preview.
  • Shelomo Morag, The Book of Daniel: A Babylonian-Yemenite Manuscript (Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sepher, 1973). This is an important catalogue of variants in “Bab-Yem,” a fourteenth century Hebrew/Arabic diglot MS. (archive.org)
• Audio recordings – Biblical Aramaic is a small enough corpus so that you listen to all of it in an hour or two. (1) Michael Wingert’s readings of Aramaic Daniel and Aramaic Ezra are excellent, with authentic-sounding pronunciation. (2) The 929 Project has excellent free online recordings, which are made by native speakers of Modern Hebrew who read Aramaic with a Hebraic pronunciation. I have made playlists of Omer Frenkel’s reading of Ezra and Daniel in Hebrew and Aramaic on SoundCloud. (3) Abraham Schmueloff’s recordings which feature modern Hebrew/Sephardic pronunciation, are available in various places online, such as here.
• Flashcards – The small size of the Biblical Aramaic corpus makes memorizing the entire vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic an achievable goal. With the vocabulary memorized, you will be able to sight-read all the Biblical Aramaic texts. Various flashcard apps can be used to help with this. Alternatively, you can make your own physical flashcards for Aramaic. Search Amazon for “blank flash cards” to see options.
• Comparative Semitics – (1) See my chart of Semitic phonological equivalences. A chart like this one is important for recognizing Aramaic cognates of Hebrew words. An Aramaic word and a Hebrew word that are from the same Semitic root may be spelled differently due to differences in the development of Hebrew and Aramaic phonology from Proto-Semitic (example: דְהַב in Aramaic = זָהָב in Hebrew). (2) See my chart of the Semitic verbal system. This chart will help you remember the function of Aramaic verbal stems by showing their Hebrew equivalent. It also shows the two different systems of nomenclature for Aramaic verbal stems. (3) More technical studies include Comparative Semitic Linguistics: A Manual by Patrick R. Bennet and The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook, edited by Stefan Weninger (sample chapter on Christian Palestinian Aramaic here).

Going beyond

It is possible to gain a working knowledge of Aramaic solely by studying Biblical Aramaic, especially if one already knows Biblical Hebrew. However, the amount of Aramaic in the biblical corpus is too small to develop expertise in the Aramaic language simply by reading and rereading Biblical Aramaic. This is the opposite of the situation for Classical Hebrew, which has a large biblical corpus and a very small extrabiblical corpus. In Aramaic, the biblical corpus is generally too small for lexical studies, but there is a huge corpus of extrabiblical Aramaic, so that our knowledge of ancient Aramaic is actually greater than our knowledge of ancient Hebrew. There are various ways to “go beyond” Biblical Aramaic in order to become an Aramaic expert. This usually entails study in a Semitics program, although there are also online lessons and self-study options.

1. Judaic Aramaic – Studying extrabiblical Jewish texts written in various Aramaic dialects will give one the sort of exposure to a large corpus of literature that is needed to develop skill in a language. The Targumim and Midrashic literature are very helpful in this regard. For texts closer to the biblical period, one can study the Elephantine Papyri, the Aramaic texts from Qumran, and Jewish inscriptions from the Second Temple Period.
   • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1923) is available on archive.org (here, here, and here) and on Logos.
   • James M. Lindenberger, Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters, 2nd ed. (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003) is available from Amazon and Logos.
   • Takamitsu Muraoka, A Grammar of Egyptian Aramaic, 2nd ed., Handbook of Oriental Studies (Leiden: Brill, 2003). The Brill edition is hardcover, which makes it expensive (Amazon), but it is even expensive as a pdf from Brill. A less expensive paperback edition was published by SBL Press in 2014 (Amazon). The first edition is available on archive.org (here and here). For library availability, see WorldCat (Brill rev. edition; SBL edition).
   • Porten, Bezalel and Ada Yardeni, eds. Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt: Newly Copied, Edited, and Translated into Hebrew and English. The first and third volumes of this four-volume series are available for free borrow on archive.org.
   • Takamitsu Muraoka, A Grammar of Qumran Aramaic, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Supplement 38 (Leuven: Peeters, 2011). For availability, see Amazon and WorldCat. This grammar follows the same format and outline as Muraoka’s Grammar of Egyptian Aramaic, which makes it easy to compare the two.
   • A Handbook of the Aramaic Scrolls from the Qumran Caves by Daniel Machiela is available for free download, although the reader should note that Machiela’s discussion of the Aramaic of Daniel overlooks key features which reflect a sixth-century Mesopotamian setting for the composition of the book, such as the use of Akkadian names and expressions.
   • Various resources are available for the study of Targumic Aramaic, such as Frank’s grammar and Cook’s glossary.
2. Syriac – Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic with a vast corpus of literature and many connections to biblical studies. Syriac is useful for textual criticism in both the OT and the NT. It is also useful for Comparative Semitics and Patristics. Syriac is still used in the liturgy of some Eastern churches. Syriac is the dialect of Aramaic that the Biblical Language Center chose for their course on learning Aramaic as a living language. There are many grammars and other resources available for the study of Syriac. A useful printed Syriac-English New Testament is the one published by Gorgias Press.
3. Imperial Aramaic – The study of extrabiblical Imperial Aramaic literature (including inscriptions) is useful for the study of Biblical Aramaic.
4. Old Aramaic – For a reader of Old Aramaic (i.e., the Aramaic before Imperial Aramaic), a good place to start is Inscriptions from the World of the Bible: A Reader and Introduction to Old Northwest Semitic by Peter Bekins (Amazon; Logos).
5. Neo-Aramaic – For those who wish to learn Aramaic as a spoken language, there are various dialects of Neo-Aramaic in existence, such as Assyrian and Chaldean. But be aware that there are significant differences between Biblical Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic. For more information, see the articles on Neo-Aramaic here and here. For Chaldean, see this Mango Languages course, this introductory grammar, this intermediate grammar, and this video course based on the grammar. There is also an inexpensive dictionary of Modern Aramaic.
6. Comparative Semitics – Learning other Semitic languages besides Hebrew will also increase one’s grasp of Aramaic. The Semitic languages are closely related, so if one learns Arabic, Akkadian, Ethiopic, Ugaritic, et al. he will be able to understand how the specific grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic fits within the overall pattern of Semitic grammar and vocabulary.

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