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MICHAEL SOKOLOFF, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (Dictionaries of Talmud, Midrash, and Targum 2; Publications of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project; 2d ed.; Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press; Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002). Pp. vii + 847. $109.
MICHAEL SOKOLOFF, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods (Dictionaries of Talmud, Midrash, and Targum 3; Publications of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project; Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press; Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002). Pp. 1,582. $160.
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic is the dialect that was spoken and written by Jews, mainly in Palestine, during the Byzantine period (third century to the Arab conquest) and for some time afterward, corresponding to the Amoraic and Geonic (post-Amoraic) periods in Jewish chronology. Together with Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Samaritan Aramaic, it forms the western branch of Middle (or Late) Aramaic. The dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, first published in 1990, is based on inscriptions, targums, Palestinian midrashim, the Palestinian Talmud, halakic literature, poetry, papyri, amulets, marriage documents, and Masoretic notes. The need for a new printing has afforded Sokoloff the opportunity to take account of recent developments in the field and to correct errors that he discovered or that were pointed out by others (especially K. Beyer, J. Blau, M. A. Friedman, S. A. Kaufman, M. Macuch, and J. W. Wesselius)...