Journal of Biblical Literature - Society of Biblical Literature

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ences on Aramaic (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 109, which Sokoloff utilizes
often. Similarly, sometimes the coverage of Persian loanwords is inconsistent. Thus
for the noun ptgm (p. 454) Sokoloff refers to OP as well as CPA and Syr., while for the
verb šdr #2 (p. 538) there is no mention of Rosenthal’s suggested link to Persian *aµ(x)štidrauga
(see Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic [6th ed.; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz,
1995], 63). Such inconsistency in coverage is understandable, particularly as a
proper etymological survey of Aramaic is not really possible until a new generation of
decent dialect dictionaries has been produced, thus enabling a comprehensive survey to
be made. Sokoloff’s efforts certainly bring us closer to this aspiration.
Not every entry has a bibliographical section. Such data are supplied for technical
terminology such as botanical terms and to refer the reader to discussions of dialectology/orthography
and the like, which have a bearing on the dictionary’s coverage or treatment
of a particular lexeme. This seems to be a sensible approach, especially in
comparison with DCH, which has an exhaustive bibliographical section that often contains
superfluous entries. Again, because there is no attempt at a comprehensive bibliography,
there are oversights. For example, one who consults the entry for the verb krz
(p. 268) will find no reference to Kutscher, Hebrew and Aramaic Studies (Jerusalem:
Magnes, 1977), 126, which contains an essential analysis of the suggested derivations of
this root. The reader will need the presence of mind to consult the entry for the noun
krwz (seven entries before krz) to be referred to this resource.
The reverse index of references cited in DJPA (pp. 595–820) will prove of limited
use, and perhaps the space could have been devoted to more useful indices (cf. Kaufman,
242, who is more positive about this feature of DJPA). For example, DCH and
CDG give reverse English-Hebrew and English-Ge>ez vocabulary lists respectively.
Such lists are not too difficult to compile electronically.
As noted above, many corrections have been incorporated into this second edition,
so the present reviewer noticed only one questionable gloss in DJPA. Sokoloff defines
the idiom