It is organized by (Hebrew) alphabetical order of three letter roots.

BDB was based on the Hebrew-German lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius, translated by Edward Robinson.

The chief editor was Francis Brown, with the co-operation of Samuel Rolles Driver and Charles Augustus Briggs, hence the name Brown–Driver–Briggs.

Some modern printings have added the Strong's reference numbers for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic words.

[citation needed] In 2013, semitists Jo Ann Hackett and John Huehnergard received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to fund creation of a revised and updated electronic version of the BDB; the resulting Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon will be available through a website (Semitica Electronica) or via print-on-demand.