If you've viewed the WTC Attack matrix and other advanced matrixes on this website, you'll notice that instead of individual words for terms in the matrix, that there are complete sentences. This article explains what is needed to go to that advanced level in the Bible code.

Personally, I've found that the Bible code uses the entire spectrum of words used in the Torah and Tanakh, plus modern Hebrew words. Therefore, very few people have that entire vocabulary in their Hebrew knowledge and capability. The following is my working definition of the language used in the Bible code:

What Language is in the Bible Code? The Bible code is in Hebrew, period. To further expand that definition, the Hebrew used in the Bible code includes all attested word forms in the Torah and Tanakh, as well as modern Hebrew words. Additionally, I include attested Aramaic as used in the books of Ezra and Daniel. Since the Aramaic part of the Tanakh is a very small part of it, we would assume that proportionally, any use of Aramaic in the Bible codes is proportionally small.

In order to go to the level of developing sentences in the Bible code, one needs to learn Biblical Hebrew Grammar. There is no way around it. I recommend a one-year (2-semester) seminary course in Biblical Hebrew Grammar that most people can do at home as self-study. I did the one-year course in 6 months by doing the lessons and exercises in the evenings. The following is my recommended course and the required books with the place to buy the books at a very nice discount.

1. Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar, by Dr. Page H. Kelley

2. Handbook for Biblical Hebrew by Dr. Kelley et.al. This is the Instructor's Handbook with all the answers for all the lessons, plus learning points. The Handbook is absolutely necessary to do the course as self-study.

3. Brown Briggs Driver Hebrew and English Lexicon

You can buy all three books at http://www.christianbooks.com at a very nice discount and the total for all three books is about $60.00. If you are not christian, don't worry, since there isn't even one sentence in these books that is christian. They are strictly about Hebrew as used in the Torah and Tanakh. However, Christian Books sells them cheaply and usually for less than they can be bought at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com. However, check Amazon before purchase to get the best deal.

At what level of Hebrew knowledge does a person need to be at, in order to do the one-year seminary course using the books above? I imagine most students in seminary start with zero knowledge, but they have a classroom instructor to help and guide them. As self-study, you really need to first learn the Hebrew letters, nikud (vowelization marks) and be able to read Hebrew a little, even if at a very basic level. How can you prepare by learning the basics before you begin the one-year seminary course using the books above?

For the very beginner who has no knowledge of Hebrew, I recommend Hebrew World multimedia software. You can buy it on the Hebrew World website. It teaches the letters, nikud (vowelization), letters as numbers, calendar, simple phrases, and even practice reading Hebrew where you can speak it, then listen to a native Israeli speaking it. Hebrew World was put together by professor Danny ben-Gigi, a native-born Israeli who was head of the Hebrew Language training at Arizona State University. With Hebrew World, a person can learn all the basics very well in a month at home and learn the proper Israeli pronunciations from the start. If you learn the basics of Hebrew first, then you could sail through the one-year seminary course mentioned above, much faster and without an instructor or in-classroom situation.

What Other Publications are Useful?

Dictionaries:
1. Ben-Yehuda's English-Hebrew and Hebrew-English Dictionary -- a cheap paperback book, but still a powerful dictionary. Using abbreviations, it shows verbs with root forms, nouns and specifies gender of the noun, adjectives and gender, and more. I use it a lot when snooping terms as part of a longer sentence or phrase. Very inexpensive.

2. The Oxford Hebrew English-Hebrew Dictionary -- the hardcover is expensive and the papercover is much less expensive, but has the same page size as the hardcover. Avoid the compact or pocket version which is condensed and has far fewer entries. The Oxford Dictionary only goes from English to Hebrew, but it covers scientific words, medical words and slang terms much better than any other dictionary.

3. Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary -- I used to use this one a lot but now I use Ben-Yehuda's far most often. I think if you buy the 2 above, then you don't need this dictionary. Not too expensive.

My recommendation is to buy #1 and #2 above, buying the papercover version of the Oxford Dictionary. Best purchased at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com

Concordances:
1. The Englishman's Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament by George V. Wigram -- this is a reverse concordance where the words are Hebrew words in alphabetical order. Use of this concordance requires knowledge of Hebrew grammar, but for Bible codes work it is superior to all others. Under each word, it categorizes verb roots by the type of verb attested in the scriptures and gives book chapter and verse where used. Verb types are further broken down into perfect, imperfect, participle, infinitive, imperative for each verb type attested in the scriptures. Nouns are shown by gender and adjectives also noted. This is the tool needed for advanced Bible codes work. It can be bought inexpensively at Christian Books.com.

2. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible -- while this is the standard for people studying the scriptures, it's usefulness for Bible codes work is far less. I have an NASB Exhaustive Concordance and use it somewhat, but I use #1 above most of the time. I think it is good to have an exhaustive concordance and Christian Books.com sells many of them at nice prices.

3. Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible -- I bought this to see if it had usefulness for Bible codes research. It is OK, but not really worth having or using. Wigram's (#1 above) is the ticket to have if you make the effort to learn Biblical Hebrew Grammar.

My recommendation is to have and use #1 above, The Englishman's Hebrew Concordance.... Buy it at Christian Books.com at a very nice price. If you learn Biblical Hebrew Grammar, you will use Wigram's concordance and the Brown Briggs Driver Hebrew Lexicon all the time.

What about those multi-volume Translator's Lexicons? They are a waste of time for Bible codes work, and I've looked at many in major university and seminary libraries. They are good for pastors looking for arcane tidbits of information for sermons, but not useful for Bible codes work. The same goes for many other Hebrew dictionaries. Some may be good for use in speaking Hebrew or ordering in restaurants,etc. but the ones I've mentioned seemed best suited for Bible codes work.

I know it seems like I've recommended a lot of books, but in total you can purchase all of the recommended books plus the one-year seminary course books for about $130 total.

http://www.christianbooks.com for the following:

1. Biblical Hebrew Grammar: An Introductory Grammar
2. Handbook for Biblical Hebrew Grammar
3. Brown Briggs Driver Hebrew Lexicon
4. The Englishman's Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament
5. (only if you don't have a regular concordance) Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (for the English Bible version you use.)

http://www.amazon.com or http://www.bn.com for the following:

1. Ben-Yehuda's English-Hebrew and Hebrew-English Dictionary (a cheap paperback)
2. The Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary, buy the papercover edition for a great savings.

http://ad2004.com/shopping/ for the following:

1. Hebrew World -- to quickly learn the basics of Hebrew with a great multimedia program.

I am open to recommendations from others concerning books, and if you have a recommendation let me know.

What is snooping? The way I look for a matrix is to develop 15-30 terms that should be in my target matrix. This helps me find the correct matrix. Once I have found the correct matrix, I snoop the terms in it. That is, I look at the letters before and after the already found word, and see if it is part of a sentence or long phrase. Snooping well takes knowledge and skill in Biblical Hebrew Grammar, plus having the proper reference books.

An Alternative Set of Books to the One-Year Seminary Course Recommended Above
A few fellow codes researchers have pointed out that there is an alternative to the Biblical Hebrew Grammar course above by Dr. Page Kelley. Dr. Menahem Mansoor was a professor of Hebrew at the University of Wisconsin for 27 years and he developed course books on learning Hebrew too. His books are:

Biblical Hebrew: Step By Step, Volume 1, by Menahem Mansoor

Biblical Hebrew: Step By Step, Volume 2, by Menahem Mansoor

I looked at professor Mansoor's books and decided that the integrated one-year seminary course was the way to go in learning Biblical Hebrew Grammar indepth. Mansoor's books seemed too basic and slow to me. To equal Dr. Kelley's course books, I believe you would have to buy and use both of Mansoor's books, and then buy a more advanced course book to equal the one-year seminary course. The second year books are:

A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew by C.L. Seow.

An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, by Waltke and O'Connor
A big 600-page book that is a great reference tool once one has learned Biblical Hebrew Grammar.

It seems a bit much to have to buy and use 4 different books in order to equal the strength of the one-year seminary course book by Dr. Page Kelley. Plus, Dr. Kelley's course book is integrated with use of the Brown Briggs Driver Hebrew Lexicon, which functionally prepares a person much better to do Bible code research. However, in the interest of fairness I felt that I should mention this alternate route using Dr. Mansoor's books, even though I am not recommending it as a first choice.

Other Books (not recommended):

Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words (because it only has selected words, I don't think it's that useful for Bible codes work. Not recommended)

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (2-volume set) by R. Laird, Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. (Lot's of background information, but use of this may be a burden in Bible code research rather than a help. Wigram's Englishman's Concordance and the Brown Briggs Driver Hebrew Lexicon are all that are really needed, thus I don't recommend this 2-volume set).