A Compendious Syriac Dictionary: Founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith

Rating:
Summary: For users with an advanced knowledge of Syriac (Aramaic).
Review: The sorting of the words in an alphabetical order was a great idea. It is a good piece of work for advanced users. Beginners, however, should steer clear; seeing that it makes excessively use of abbreviations, and doesn't contain any transliterations nor any tips or explanaitions pertaining to the Syriac (Aramaic) grammar. Beginners would deem the dictionary as difficult and cumbersome.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Dictionary
Review: This is still the standard reference work for any serious Syriac scholars. It does not claim to be an exhaustive dictionary, but one is hard pressed to note any words not found in the Syriac Bible. The text is clearly printed in a Jacobite script with Estrangelo headers. Payne often shows alternative forms, and other common forms for each entry. The work by Jennings is also useful, but too brief and long out of print. This reprint of the expensive Oxford edition of Payne's work by Eisenbrauns, displays Eisenbraun's characteristic attention to quality: it is printed on acid-free paper and is smyth sewn. A fine hard back, and an essential tool for any serious student of the Syriac language or Syriac Bible.