Customer Reviews

Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (English and Hebrew Edition)

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Impressive work of scholarship, especially when one realizes this was compiled before the advent of computers and word processors. I agree with the previous reviewer: the text needs to be reset, as the type is unreadable in many places. One can also assume that since the 1910's (when the Jastrow first appeared,) new research based on, for example, the Qumran texts has expanded our knowledge of Aramaic, as well as post-second Temple times. Until that happens, this is the one to get.

Of course all students of Talmud need a Jastrow dictionary, but this CD rom is a scam! It has no search capacity--you have to scroll through 1700+ pages to find what you're looking for. Some con artist must have scanned the book into PDF format and then put it out on the market for nearly 20 dollars a pop. Shameful, shameful, shameful! It is completely unusable.

This dictionary is an absolute must for anyone learning Gemara or any other Aramaic works. It is simply the best Aramaic dictionay around. Not only is every possible definition given, Jastrow brings down numerous examples of the usage of each word, ensuring a firm grasp of each word's nuances. A dictionary like this does not come around often. This should hold a prominent position on anyone's bookshelf- an easy to reach one; you'll use it often!

This dictionary of Talmudic Aramaic is in such wide use that any student of the Talmud knows what is meant when told to "look in Jastrow." Nowdays, there are many additional sources one may turn to. For example, "The Practical Talmud Dictionary," by Frank and "Aiding Talmud Study" by Carmel are valuable at explicating the specialized logical terms in the Talmud, and the Soncino English translation is helpful in understandintg difficult textual passages. However, there is still no true substitute for "the Jastrow," and it belongs in the library of every student of the Talmud.

I find Jastrow very helpful when reading literature from the Talmud onward. It is helpful in determining the root of inflected forms, especially for words that are quite "mutated." I find it helpful for researching possible readings for alleged corrupt texts in the Massoretic Text, for example, the supposed corruption in Hos 8:13. Although it is a very good dictionary, at times the Hebrew Letters are hard to read. I have found it quite indispensable, and you can't beat the price.

"The Jastrow" is a generally helpful source in the study of all Judaic texts. Its combination of Aramaic and Hebrew is helpful; although it is not organized very well, it is an indispensible tool in the translation of texts. The dictionary's best feature is its cross-references, which are especially helpful when searching for an unknown source.

This book, even though it is over 100 years old, is still widely used. Any English student of the Targums or Rabbinic Literature still needs to have a well-thumbed copy of this. For those who are interested and are able to contribute, a fully searchable PDF "Jastrow" is being put together via the following web site: jastrowproject.info.

The dictionary displays the hebrew verb when such exists and the various tenses of the verb all within the same definition. There are excellent examples of the usage of the word in source texts.

Although no Hebrew or Aramaic scholar should be without this dictionary, the current edition of this text needs to be updated. The words at the top of each page are difficult to read and the title page indicates that this text only includes entries for the letters aleph through kaph when, in fact, the dictionary includes entries from aleph to tav. The publisher needs to clean up these problems rather than just printing new texts from the same plates that they have been using for the last eighteen years.

I agree with the posters here about the usefulness of the content of the Jastrow. The CD-Rom version, however, has been very disappointing. It's just a massive PDF with the entire dictionary scanned in. I guess that helps if you need to zoom in on the type to see what's going on, but the fact that they didn't even bother to put in a search option really bugs me. Really, aside from the zooming (and physical space issues, I guess), there's no reason to buy this on CD-Rom.