1.3 Million Words Added to the Lexham Bible Dictionary

At the end of 2014, we shipped a massive update to the Lexham Bible Dictionary (LBD) that pushed the article count to over 5,000 articles and its word count to over 2.7 million words. In a few weeks, we’ll ship another update that includes over 1.3 million new words across over 1,800 more articles.

Have you ever picked up Wayne Grudem’s massive 1,300-page Systematic Theology? This update is the equivalent of adding two of those huge tomes to the LBD.

The most advanced Bible dictionary in existence is bigger than ever.

Not just more . . . better

In addition to adding 1,800 more articles, we’ve also revisited LBD’s most crucial and popular articles to ensure the content is up to our high standards. Our academic reviewers have tirelessly pored over thousands of articles, reviewing research and editing content so that you can find all the information you’re looking for—quickly and easily.

We’ve also updated thousands of links, enhancing the interconnectivity that can only be found in your Logos library.

Let’s say you want to see every dictionary article related to the canon. Our new mapping articles give you an overview of all the biblical traditions and the various critical issues related to canonization. From there, you can hone in on the particular area of research you’re most interested in. For example, here’s an excerpt from the “Overview of the Canon” article regarding the New Testament:

The New Testament consists of writings by Christians about Jesus, the early church, and the early church’s teachings. The New Testament canon of almost all present-day Christian groups includes 27 books ascribed to the apostles or people closely associated with them. Some of these books were universally accepted as part of the canon of the New Testament as far back as the earliest surviving canon lists, while others, such as Revelation, were disputed for centuries before ultimately being accepted. Only one present-day church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, has a different New Testament canon. Two versions of the Ethiopian Orthodox New Testament canon exist; the “narrow canon” includes the same 27 books as other New Testament canons, while the “broader canon” includes several additional books. (However, the additional books of the broader canon are not necessarily viewed as having the same level of authority as the books of the narrow canon.)

For information about how the 27-book New Testament canon was established, the role heresies played in accelerating the process, and the relationship of the church fathers to the sacred texts, see this article: Canon, New Testament.

For more information on the books in the Ethiopian Orthodox broader canon of the New Testament, see these articles: Canon of the Bible, Traditions of the; New Testament; Sinodos; Didascalia, Ethiopian; Ethiopian Book of Clement; Book of the Covenant, Ethiopian.

We’ve also added links to related articles and updated thousands of bibliography entries with links to original sources that appear in Logos.

Information at your fingertips

Finding the most relevant information is easy with the LBD. The most relevant information is placed at the beginning of each article, letting you dig deeper as you continue reading. This makes it a great tool for Bible studies, Sunday school classes, small groups, and individual study.

Because digital books have no back cover, we’ll continue to add content that expands the scope of LBD and ensures it never goes out of date. When this new update ships, the dictionary will include 6,800 articles and over 4 million words. That’s the equivalent of a 10,000 page book in print!

All of this amazing content and functionality is completely free. The Lexham Bible Dictionary is included in every Logos library and the Faithlife Study Bible app.