Staff Report
UNM Religious Studies Professor Emeritus Shlomo Karni, has spent the last four years compiling data for a book of common Hebrew words and terms used in the Bible.
The book, titled Dictionary of Basic Biblical Hebrew, currently being published by Carta, The Israel Map & Publishing Company, is an essential tool for students interested in uncovering the deeper meaning of the Old Testament, Karni said.
By providing students with a reference base of more than 6,000 Hebrew words, Karni's publication will identify parts of speech, gender and numbers and offer definitions from the often confusing dialect.
Karni hopes that the four years he spent compiling data will permit easy access and a more thorough understanding of the Bible in its original language.
"The idea came to me from two main sources -- the classes on biblical Hebrew that I taught at UNM between 1972 and retirement, and friends in Bible study groups," Karni said in a UNM press release.
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Karni also said that no other book exists that grants the layperson such an approachable account and extensive admittance to ancient Hebrew and its accordance with Biblical interpretations.
Karni is also professor emeritus in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
Copies of Dictionary of Basic Biblical Hebrew will be available for purchase at the UNM Bookstore, Feb. 27, and Karni will sign books from 4-6 p.m.
