Recommended Greek and Hebrew Unicode typefaces

I’ve long been an advocate of Unicode. That’s non-controversial now that all the leading Bible software packages and web browsers support it by default. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, check out my other resources on this.

Here are some of my favorite typefaces that support Greek and Hebrew text for biblical studies:

Western languages (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic)

• SBL Greek - Free personal use, commercial license available
• Brill Typeface - Free personal use, commercial license available
• Gentium - open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License
• Cardo - open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License
• SBL BibLit - Free personal use, commercial license available. Apparently combines SBL Greek and SBL Hebrew, perhaps with some omissions
• EB Garamond - OpenType format, open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License. Preview at the original designer’s site, but note that the version offered there may not be the most recent.
• Alegreya and Alegreya Sans - Includes broad coverage of Greek character set, including Greek small caps, open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License
• Various typefaces by the Greek Font Society - [NOTE: click “en” at the top of the page to view the English version of the site.] Open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License

Semitics (Hebrew, etc.)

• SBL Hebrew - Free personal use, commercial license available
• Ezra SIL - open-source licensed under the SIL Open Font License
• SBL BibLit - Free personal use, commercial license available. Apparently combines SBL Greek and SBL Hebrew, perhaps with some omissions
• Many more open-source Hebrew typefaces at opensiddur.org

More options

• Brill’s recommendations for various languages
• Alan Wood’s Unicode resources

EDIT: Thanks to Joey McCollum for his recommendations. Please contact me (info in page footer) if you know of cool typefaces I’ve missed.