Syriac

Robert Payne Smith published the largest Syriac Lexicon of the 19th Century. It was originally published in 1879 by Claredon Press.

His lexicon is based on the unpublished collections of many European colleagues who passed away, as well as major medieval Lexica. For this reason, each entry is bibliographically rich. Smith exceeds other lexica especially in the areas of proper names and idioms. The glosses of the lexicon are in Latin, but short enough that a translation tool would compensate for lack of facility in Latin.

Upon release of the first facsimile, Paul de Legarde unleashed severe criticism towards Smith's work. There were not yet any critical editions of many of the Syriac mss., including the Peshitta. De Legarde also accuses Smith of misreading his medieval sources on account of his lack of knowledge of Arabic and Iranian dialects, which represents the original cultures within which those sources circulated. By the time of the final facsimile, however, Smith enlisted the editorial assistance of renowned Arabicist William Wright.

Jessie Payne Smith (Mrs. Margoliouth) is the daughter of Robert Payne Smith. Upon his death in 1895, J.P. Smith sought to publish an abridgment of her father's work in English.

Due to its accessibility, this dictionary is most widely used by students of Syriac. There are, however, a few caveats to keep in mind. Citations are not provided for the entries. Thus, if one wants to know where to look up a given word in context, recourse must be made to her father's work. Also, there are words in the Syriac Bible not included in this dictionary.

The second edition of Carl Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum appeared in 1928. Words not found in either of the Smith dictionaries, such as rare words and many Biblical words, are found this work. The second edition includes material not available to Brockelmann during preparation for his first edition.

The dictionary is organized according to roots. All glosses are given in latin. References given are not quoted, thus making the glosses difficult to place. Also, some abbreviations used in the body are not spelled out in the list of abbreviations.

Although more reliables than the Smiths' volumes, Michael Sokloff in his translation, update and expansion volume notes that these and other difficulties in Brockelmann's work prompt users to  turn to J.P. Smith's dictionary; Sokloff even says that scholars only cite Brockelmann as "a demonstration of their scientific acumen" (pg. xii, n. 29).

After Brockelmann's dictionary, new advances in Semitic studies in general, and newly formed critical editions of Syriac texts in particular, necessitated the need for an up-to-date dictionary. Such a task, however, would take decades. Thus, 81 years later Dr. Michael Sokoloff decided to translate, expand, update, and correct Brockelmann's work.

The translation of Latin glosses alone makes this work welcome. Sokloff, however, did not confine himself to a translation alone. He has added additional English glosses. Also, references are now quoted in full along with updated editions of certain texts which makes them easier to find in modern libraries. Finally, Sokoloff made sure all abbreviations were included in the list of abbreviations at the beginning. The comparative Semitic data in Brockelmann's edition was replaced with insights into other Aramaic dialects, mostly due to time limitations in revising the comparative Semitic material.

Keep in mind, however, that Sokoloff is not claiming an up-to-date lexicon and is still largely dependent on Brockelmann.