The IVP Bible Dictionaries (8 vols.)

by Ralph P. Martin; Peter H. Davids; Craig A. Evans; Stanley E. Porter

and

13 more

Publishers:

IVP; IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity

, 1993–2013

Overview

Unique among reference books on the Bible, the volumes of the IVP Bible Dictionary Series bridge the gap between scholars and those pastors, teachers, students and lay people desiring in-depth treatment of select topics in an accessible and summary format.

Articles cover traditional and contemporary biblical topics, including cross-sectional themes, methods of interpretation, significant historical or cultural background, and each Old and New Testament book as a whole.

In part and in whole, the IVP Bible Dictionary Series presents the fruit of evangelical biblical scholarship at the intersection of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining dialog with contemporary biblical research and challenges facing the church.

Key Features

• Provides material from the apostolic fathers and second-century church leaders
• Offers full coverage of the literary dimensions through each topic
• Includes Bible-encyclopedia-length articles on various subjects
• Addresses the full scope of Greco-Roman culture
• Covers Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman background
• Scripture passages link directly to your English translations and original-language texts
• Important theological and exegetical concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library

Product Details

• Title: The IVP Bible Dictionaries
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Volumes: 8
• Pages: 8,797
• Format: Digital > Logos Research Edition
• Resource ID: {E8DF6E3E-D359-443F-9D8E-CB0A11C05068}

Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch

• Editors: T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 976

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The first five books of the Old Testament lay the foundation on which the rest of Scripture stands. Its great themes, epochal events and towering figures set the stage on which the biblical story is played out. The very shape of the rest of the Old Testament would collapse were the Pentateuch to be removed. The structure of New Testament thought would be barely intelligible without it. Here we meet the great ancestral figures of Israel—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and the towering figure of Moses, whose presence dominates four of these five books. The creative act of God, the paradisal garden, the exile of Adam and Eve, the judgment of the great flood, the call of Abraham from among the nations, the covenant of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, the plan of the tabernacle, the varied experiences of Israel in the wilderness, and the announcement of the covenant blessings and curses—all of these and more contribute to a work of world-formative power. This dictionary explores the major themes and contours of the Pentateuch.

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch is the first in a four-volume series covering the text of the Old Testament. This encyclopedic work is characterized by its close attention to the text of the Old Testament and the ongoing conversation of contemporary biblical scholarship. In exploring the major themes and issues of the Pentateuch, editors T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, with an international and expert group of scholars, inform and challenge through authoritative overviews, detailed examinations, and new insights from the world of the ancient Near East.

Behind and beneath the grandeur of the Pentateuch are issues of historicity which have both puzzled and beckoned. But whereas in the mid-twentieth century many English-speaking scholars were confident of archaeological support for the patriarchal accounts, the climate has now changed. In the most extreme cases, some contemporary biblical scholars have radically challenged the antiquity of the ancestral stories, arguing for their final composition even as late as the Hellenistic era. This dictionary examines and weighs the historical issues and poses possible solutions.

The documentary hypothesis—the former reigning critical consensus—is now widely rumored to be on life support with no heir apparent. Meanwhile, conservative scholars reconsider what indeed a claim to Mosaic authorship should entail. This dictionary offers an assessment of the array of questions surrounding these issues and considers some possible ways forward for contemporary evangelical scholarship.

At the same time, there has been a fruitful turning to the nature, message, and art of the received text of the Pentateuch. Literary studies of brief episodes, sprawling sagas, complex narrative, and even the fivefold composition of the Pentateuch itself have delivered promising and exciting results. This dictionary offers both appreciative panoramas and close-up assessments of these developments and their methods.

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch is designed to be your first stop in the study and academic research of the Pentateuch, on which the rest of the Bible is built.

T. Desmond Alexander is director of Christian training at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From 1980 to 1999, he was lecturer in Semitic studies at the Queen’s University of Belfast. His main field of research is the Pentateuch, about which he has written extensively in academic journals and books. Alexander also has a special interest in the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. He is the author of From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Main Themes of the Pentateuch and Abraham in the Negev, and he is a coeditor (with Brian S. Rosner) of the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP, 2000), available from Logos.

David W. Baker is professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. He serves as editor for the Evangelical Theological Society Dissertation and Evangelical Theological Society Studies series as well as for Sources for Biblical and Theological Studies. He is coauthor (with Bill T. Arnold) of The Face of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches. In addition, he has written many articles, essays and commentaries.

Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books

• Editors: Bill T. Arnold and H. G. M. Williamson
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 1,084

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Edited by Bill T. Arnold and Hugh G. M. Williamson, the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books is the second volume in IVP’s Old Testament dictionary series. This volume picks up where the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch left off—with Joshua and Israel poised to enter the land—and carries us through the postexilic period. Following in the tradition of the four award-winning IVP dictionaries focused on the New Testament, this encyclopedic work is characterized by in-depth articles focused on key topics, many of them written by noted experts. The history of Israel forms the skeletal structure of the Old Testament. Understanding this history and the biblical books that trace it is essential to comprehending the Bible. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books is the only reference book focused exclusively on these biblical books and the history of Israel.

The dictionary presents articles on numerous historical topics as well as major articles focused on the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. Other articles focus on the Deuteronomistic History as well as the Chronicler’s History, the narrative art of Israel’s historians, text and textual criticism, and the emergence of these books as canonical. One feature is a series of eight consecutive articles on the periods of Israel’s history from the settlement to postexilic period.

Syro-Palestinian archaeology is surveyed in one article, while significant archaeological sites receive focused treatment, usually under the names of biblical cities and towns such as Jerusalem and Samaria, Shiloh and Shechem, Dan and Beersheba. Other articles delve into the histories and cultures of the great neighboring empires—Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia—as well as lesser peoples, such as the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, Philistines and Phoenicians. In addition, there are articles on architecture, Solomon’s temple, agriculture and animal husbandry, roads and highways, trade and travel, and water and water systems.

The languages of Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as the study of linguistics, each receive careful treatment, as well as the role of scribes and their schools, and writing and literacy in ancient Israel and its environs. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books also canvases the full range of relevant extra-biblical written evidence, with five articles focused on the various non-Israelite written sources as well as articles on Hebrew inscriptions and ancient Near Eastern iconography.

Articles on interpretive methods, on hermeneutics, and on preaching the Historical Books will assist students and communicators in understanding how this biblical literature has been studied and interpreted, and its proper use in preaching. In the same vein, theological topics such as God, prayer, faith, forgiveness and righteousness receive separate treatment.

The history of Israel has long been contested territory, but never more so than today. Much like the quest of the historical Jesus, a quest of the historical Israel is underway. At the heart of the quest to understand the history of Israel and the Old Testament's Historical Books is the struggle to come to terms with the conventions of ancient historiography. How did these writers conceive of their task and to whom were they writing? Clearly the Old Testament historians did not go about their task as we would today. The divine word was incarnated in ancient culture.

Rather than being a dictionary of quick answers and easy resolutions readily provided, the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books seeks to set out the evidence and arguments, allowing a range of informed opinion to enrich the conversation. In this way the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books will not only inform its readers, but draw them into the debate and equip them to examine the evidence for themselves.

Bill T. Arnold is director of Hebrew studies and professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including 1 & 2 Samuel, Encountering the Old Testament, and (with John H. Choi) A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. He co-edited The Face of Old Testament Studies.

H. G. M. Williamson is Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, on the faculty of The Oriental Institute and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on the Old Testament, including commentaries on 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, as well as The Book Called Isaiah and Studies in Persian Period History and Historiography.

Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings

• Editors: Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 967

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry carry themselves differently from those of the Pentateuch, the histories, or the prophets. The divine voice does not peal from Sinai, there are no narratives carried along by prophetic interpretation, nor are oracles declaimed by a prophet. Here Scripture often speaks in the words of human response to God and God’s world. The hymns, laments, and thanksgivings of Israel, the dirge of Lamentations, the questionings of Qohelet, the love poetry of the Song of Songs, the bold drama of Job, and the proverbial wisdom of Israel all offer their textures to this great body of biblical literature. Then too, there are the finely crafted stories of Ruth and Esther that narrate the silent providence of God in the course of Israelite and Jewish lives.

This third Old Testament volume in InterVarsity Press’ celebrated “Black Dictionary” series offers nearly 150 articles covering all the important aspects of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth, and Esther. Over 90 contributors, many of them experts in this literature, have contributed to the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, and Writings. This volume maintains the quality of scholarship that students, scholars, and pastors have come to expect from this series.

Coverage of each biblical book includes an introduction to the book itself as well as separate articles on its ancient Near Eastern background and its history of interpretation. Additional articles amply explore the literary dimensions of Hebrew poetry and prose, including acrostic, ellipsis, inclusio, intertextuality, parallelism, and rhyme. And there are well-rounded treatments of Israelite wisdom and wisdom literature, including wisdom poems, sources, and theology. In addition, a wide range of interpretive approaches are canvassed in articles on hermeneutics, feminist interpretation, form criticism, historical criticism, rhetorical criticism, and social-scientific approaches.

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, and Writings is sure to command shelf space within arm’s reach of any student, teacher, or preacher working in this portion of biblical literature.

A stellar cast of younger and senior scholars has put together a handbook for the study of the writings of the Old Testament. While one will find easy access to the expected and necessary basic information on the various books of wisdom and poetry, there will be some interesting surprises for readers as the authors take up theological, rhetorical, metaphorical, and sociological dimensions of this literature. An important sign of the times is the fact that for each biblical book, major attention is given to the history of its interpretation.

—Patrick D. Miller, professor emeritus of Old Testament theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

At last, a fully comprehensive, fascinating compendium of information about Psalms, Wisdom literature, and other writings of the Old Testament! From characters such as Ruth to major wisdom books such as Job, from scholarly method to major theological themes, this volume gives us articles of real depth and substance. Its broad and thorough remit includes contributions on Jewish and Christian tradition, festival worship, ancient Near Eastern background, and Hebrew language from a range of highly qualified experts in the field. An essential reference book for all serious-minded students of the Hebrew Scriptures.

—Katharine J. Dell, senior lecturer in Old Testament studies, University of Cambridge

This volume in the acclaimed InterVarsity Press Bible dictionaries will serve to further enhance the reputation of the series. Longman and Enns have brought together a great team of authors to cover wisdom, poetry, and writings of the Old Testament. This volume is comprehensive and up to date as, for example, the articles on history of interpretation and intertextuality indicate. This volume will be an invaluable resource for students, pastors, and scholars as they seek to hear God’s address through these biblical books. The wisdom and poetic books have not always received the attention they deserve, and this volume will play a significant role in addressing that imbalance. Highly recommended!

—Craig Bartholomew, H. Evan Runner Professor of Philosophy, Redeemer University College, Ontario, Canada

This volume on wisdom, poetry, and writings covers over 100 topics like acrostic poetry, Old Testament ethics, Psalms of lament, Messiah, retribution, rhetorical criticism, and worship. The articles are scholarly but accessible and unintimidating. Both pastors and laymen will be able to profit from this dictionary without having to know or read Hebrew.

—David Wenkel, Christian Library Journal

Tremper Longman III (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary; PhD, Yale University) is Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. He is also visiting professor of Old Testament at Mars Hill Graduate School, visiting professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, and adjunct of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. He lectures regularly at Mars Hill, Regent College in Vancouver, and the Canadian Theological Seminary in Calgary. Longman is the author or coauthor of over 20 books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament (with Raymond B. Dillard) and many others.

Peter Enns (PhD, Harvard) is professor of Old Testament at Eastern University. He has also served on the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary as professor of Old Testament. He is the author of several books, including the Two Horizons Commentary: Ecclesiasties and the NIV Application Commentary: Exodus.

Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets

• Editors: Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 966

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

With the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, IVP’s Black Dictionary series completes its coverage of the Old Testament canonical books. A true compendium of recent scholarship, the volume includes 115 articles covering all aspects of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve, and Daniel. Each book’s historical, cultural, religious, and literary background is thoroughly covered, alongside articles on interpretation history and critical method. Pastors, scholars, and students will find this an essential resource for their Old Testament studies.

This eighth volume in the Black Dictionary series continues to provide up-to-date, accessible scholarship in the tradition established by the prior volumes. As has consistently been done in previous volumes, the editors have assembled a stellar cast of contributors to acquaint the reader with information necessary to the understanding of the prophets and the prophetic literature, as well as to the hermeneutical issues and to the conversations current in scholarship. The strength of this and the other volumes in the series is that, while they provide important introductory material, they also offer the reader a remarkable depth that allows a mature and nuanced understanding of the subject matter, thereby surpassing other dictionaries, surveys, and even commentaries. Every pastor and scholar should not only add this to their library but should keep it ready to hand for constant use.

—John Walton, professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

The advantage of the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets is focus. Attention is paid in a sustained way to the prophets as a specific literary collection, and the reward is integration and mutual illumination across these varied witnesses. The volume deals with older questions of history, method, and culture, and newer concerns with hermeneutics, canon, and theological significance. History of interpretation is also provided. This up-to-date resource will prove useful both in the classroom and in the scholarly discussion.

—Christopher R. Seitz, research professor of biblical interpretation, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

IVP’s ‘Black Dictionaries’ are renowned as a primary resource for serious study of the Bible. The volume on the prophets brings the coverage of the Old Testament canon to completion. Boda and McConville have gathered an exceptional group of both senior and younger contributors who have maintained the superior quality of the articles that has characterized the previous volumes. The scope of the articles is comprehensive, their content profound. All the articles give an up-to-date description of the state of the art on a particular topic, and many make new important contributions. I highly recommend this volume for all students of the Bible, in particular students, clergy, and scholars.

—Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets completes IVP’s Dictionary of the Old Testament with a rich and comprehensive volume on a part of Scripture that intrigues many people. Combining careful research with readability, this is an excellent addition to the libraries of all who wish to learn more about the Bible. Students and pastors in particular will want to make it their first point of reference when working on the prophetic books.

—Nathan MacDonald, research team leader, Göttingen University

Mark J. Boda is professor of Old Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

J. Gordon McConville is professor of Old Testament theology at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, England. He is the author of several books and studies on Old Testament topics, including Law and Theology in Deuteronomy, the Two Horizons Commentary: Joshua, and more.

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels

• Editor: Joel B. Green
• Edition: 2nd
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2013
• Pages: 1,120

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The second edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels is a thoroughly reconstructed and revised version of the critically acclaimed 1992 first edition. Since that groundbreaking volume was published, a wave of Jesus and Gospel scholarship has crested and broken on the shores of a new century.

Jesus has been proposed as sage, shaman, revolutionary, marginal Jew, Mediterranean peasant or a prophet of Israel’s restoration. The non-canonical Gospels have been touted, examined and reassessed. There are revised understandings of historiography, orality, form criticism, empire and more. The second edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels amply weighs and assess the gains and shortcomings of this new scholarship.

Here is a self-contained reference library of information and perspective essential to exploring Jesus and the Gospels. This volume bridges the gap between scholars and those pastors, teachers, students and interested readers who want thorough treatments of key topics in an accessible and summary format. Articles cover each Gospel, major themes in the Gospels, key episodes in the life of Jesus, significant background topics, as well as issues and methods of interpretation.

Among other benefits, it allows multiple opportunities for each of the Gospels to be weighed and heard in its own voice. Bibliographies are full and up to date, putting readers in touch with the best work in the field. All of this allows the articles to serve as launching pads for further research.

When the first edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels was published, it was immediately recognized as an innovative reference work. By taking a particular corpus of biblical books and exploring it with in-depth articles written by specialists in the field, it refashioned a staple reference genre. This dictionary model has now been applied to each segment of the biblical canon in successive volumes.

Those who have enjoyed and benefitted from the wealth in the first edition will find the second edition an equally indispensable companion to study and research. Over ninety percent of the articles have been completely rewritten, and the rest thoroughly revised and updated. Here is the doorway into a reliable and comprehensive summary and appraisal of the last twenty years of Jesus scholarship. A new generation of scholars has opened the way to make this a Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels for the twenty-first century.

Joel B. Green (BS, MTh, PhD.) is professor of New Testament interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary. He was vice president of academic affairs, provost and professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Prior to his appointment at Asbury in 1997, he was associate professor of New Testament at the American Baptist Seminary of the West/Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters

• Editors: Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid
• Series: The IVP Bible Dictionary Series
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 1993
• Pages: 1,067

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

No other single reference work presents as much information focused exclusively on Pauline theology, literature, background, and scholarship. In a field that recently has undergone significant shirts in perspective, the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters offers a summa of Paul and Pauline studies. In-depth articles focus on individual theological themes, such as law, resurrection, and Son of God; broad theological topics, such as Christology, eschatology, and the death of Christ; methods of interpretation, such as rhetorical criticism and social-scientific approaches; background topics, such as apocalypticism, Hellenism, and Qumran; and various other subjects specifically related to the scholarly study of Pauline theology and literature, such as early Catholicism, the center of Paul’s theology, and Paul and his interpreters since F. C. Baur. Separate articles are also devoted to each of the Pauline letters to hermeneutics and to preaching Paul today.

The DPL will be a great help for students of theology and men and women in ministry, as well as for academic theologians.

—Peter Stuhlmacher, professor emeritus, University of Tubingen

In this splendid new reference work the serious student of the Bible will find a comprehensive summary of the best of modern scholarship concerning the life, times and thought of St. Paul.

—W. Ward Gasque, president, Pacific Association for Theological Studies

Gerald F. Hawthorne (1925–2010) served as a professor of Greek for 42 years at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, as well as chairperson of the Institute for Biblical Research, which he founded.

Daniel G. Reid (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a senior editor for reference and academic books at InterVarsity Press, where he has worked since 1986.

Dictionary of New Testament Background

• Editors: Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter
• Series: The IVP Bible Dictionary Series
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 1,328

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The Dictionary of New Testament Background joins the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, and the Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments as the fourth in a landmark series of reference works on the Bible. In a time when our knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world has grown by leaps and bounds, this volume sets out for readers the wealth of Jewish and Greco-Roman background that should inform our reading and understanding of the New Testament and early Christianity.

The Dictionary of New Testament Background takes full advantage of the flourishing study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and offers individual articles focused on the most important scrolls. In addition, the Dictionary encompasses the fullness of second-temple Jewish writings, whether pseudepigraphic, rabbinic, parables, proverbs, histories, or inscriptions. Articles abound on aspects of Jewish life and thought, including family, purity, liturgy, and messianism. The full scope of Greco-Roman culture is displayed in articles ranging across language and rhetoric, literacy and book culture, religion and cults, honor and shame, patronage and benefactors, travel and trade, intellectual movements and ideas, and ancient geographical perspectives.

No other reference work presents so much in one place for students of the New Testament. Here an entire library of scholarship is made available in summary form. The Dictionary of New Testament Background can stand alone or work in concert with one or more of its companion volumes in the series. Written by acknowledged experts in their fields, this wealth of knowledge of the New Testament era is carefully aimed at the needs of contemporary students of the New Testament. And its full bibliographies and cross-references to other volumes in the series will make it the first book to reach for in any investigation of the New Testament in its ancient setting.

In the wake of several other fine dictionary efforts, we now have in hand the Dictionary of the New Testament Background from InterVarsity Press. It provides one-stop shopping on a host of background issues with up-to-date bibliographies and a coterie of the top scholars writing in their areas of specialty. For anyone wanting to set the New Testament in its proper historical, social, literary, and theological contexts, this volume is a must. Clean out the old leaven of outdated background books and put this one on your shelf.

—Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary

Yet another superb dictionary from IVP! This, like the others, will be within arm's reach whether I'm preparing a sermon or writing a book, or even just browsing in the fascinating hinterland of early Christianity.

—N. T. Wright, canon theologian, Westminster Abbey

The breadth and scope of the dictionary on the one hand, and the depth of scholarship demonstrated on both small and large entries are notably impressive, and it is clear that everything anyone might wish to know about the background of the New Testament is to be found in this massive work. Not only does it deserve an important place with the other encyclopedic dictionaries in the IVP series, but it will hold a unique place among all dictionaries of this kind. More power to IVP for this bold undertaking, and salutes and best wishes for continued production and success with the entire project.

—David Noel Freedman, chair in Hebrew biblical studies, University of California, San Diego

Written in many cases by scholars who are internationally recognized authorities on the specific topics covered, these essays cover the ground clearly, succinctly, and yet comprehensively, and provide adequate references and bibliography for students to proceed further. The importance of context and background for understanding texts cannot be overemphasized, but there is a danger of simply distilling out the information most directly relevant to a given text and thereby giving a skewed impression of the whole; this is a danger which is avoided by the present volume which is much more holistic in its approach. Students will bless IVP for this welcome tool for study, and they will pray for the timely appearance of similar volumes devoted to the Old Testament.

—I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen

Where would you go to find a succinct overview about marriage, sex, and the family in the New Testament world? Or a brief introduction to any book of the apocrypha? Or a description of a particular philosophy or religion that competed with Christianity in the first century? Or the most important historical and cultural developments that led to the Hellenization of Israel? Or a brief description of the city of Corinth? These and numerous related topics are all addressed in IVP’s new blockbuster Dictionary of New Testament Background. The authors form an all-star cast of scholars from all major branches of Christianity and Judaism, with a heavy emphasis on evangelicals. But expertise is never sacrificed for the sake of a uniform theological perspective, and the contributions are both up-to-date and filled with detailed, state-of-the-art bibliographic references. A must buy for anyone who wants in one volume so rich an array of historical and cultural background information for the New Testament.

—Craig L. Blomberg, professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary

Dr. Craig A. Evans received his PhD in New Testament from Claremont Graduate University and his DHabil from the Karoli Gaspar Reformed University in Budapest. He is the John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Baptist University in Texas.

Evans taught at Trinity Western University in British Columbia for 21 years, where he directed the graduate program in biblical studies and founded the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute. He has recently served on the advisory board for the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs.

Evans has written and edited extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His published works include From Prophecy to Testament, Jesus and the Ossuaries, Jesus: The Final Days, and Dictionary of New Testament Background.

Stanley E. Porter is president, dean, and professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. He is the author or editor of numerous studies in the New Testament and Greek language, including Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics: Open Questions in Current Research, Discourse Analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and Results, and Rhetorical Criticism and the Bible, all available from Logos in the Studies in New Testament Greek and JSNTS Collection (17 Vols.).

Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments

• Editors: Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 1997
• Pages: 1,289

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The third of IVP’s critically acclaimed series of dictionaries of the New Testament provides focused study on the often-neglected portions of the New Testament: Acts, Hebrews, the General Epistles and Revelation. Furthermore, its scope goes beyond the life of the New Testament church to include the work of the apostolic fathers and early Christianity up through the middle of the second century.

The Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments offers a summa of New Testament studies. Designed to bring students, teachers, pastors and general readers up to date and up to speed, this one-of-a-kind reference volume presents more information than any other single work—dealing exclusively with the theology, literature, background and scholarship of the later New Testament and the apostolic church.

In-depth, comprehensive articles focus on theological themes, methods of interpretation, background topics and various other subjects specifically related to the study of New Testament theology and literature. Expert contributors include Darrell Bock, George R. Beasley-Murray, I. Howard Marshall, Ben Witherington III and James D. G. Dunn. Wide-ranging articles range from the books of James and Jude to household codes, from the Roman emperor cult to gnosticism and docetism, questions of canon to second-century church leaders like Ignatius and Polycarp.

The Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments takes its place alongside the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and Dictionary of Paul and His Letters in presenting mature evangelical scholarship—committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining a dialogue with contemporary scholarship and the challenges facing the church.

Written by a broad range of contributors, the Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments covers a wide range of topics, not only on the rest of the New Testament but also on the early second-century church. The articles are of consistently high quality, with superb bibliographies that should cause them to be the first place one turns for most of the topics covered in this excellent volume.

—Gordon D. Fee, Regent College

This volume is a worthy companion to the two previous ones. Its deep, detailed and rigorous coverage of every topic one can think of in the later New Testament is enhanced by taking the discussion forward well into the second century. A book no serious student will want to be without.

—N. T. Wright, canon theologian, Westminster Abbey

The Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments continues in the formidable tradition pioneered by the DJG and DPL, covering Acts, Hebrews, James and Jude, the letters attributed to Peter and John, and Revelation. The articles are weighty, written on the whole by people who are experts in the respective areas. . . . This volume extends the treatment of the various topics into the middle of the second century, by including treatment of the respective themes by the apostolic fathers. . . . This initiative informatively sets the later New Testament writings in the ongoing historical trajectory of reflection on the gospel and apostolic teaching.

—Max Turner, London Bible College

This volume provides an excellent reference tool. . . . Numerous articles offer constructive help and contain very useful up-to-date bibliographies. I gladly commend this volume to students of the subject.

—Anthony C. Thiselton, University of Nottingham

The coverage of this dictionary embraces not only the remaining books of the New Testament but also includes the apostolic fathers and other related topics. The volume will thus provide assistance to pastors and students alike in understanding the broader historical context of early Christianity and its literature. Both IVP and the editors of the volume are to be congratulated on producing such a helpful dictionary.

—Bruce M. Metzger, Princeton Theological Seminary

Ralph P. Martin (PhD) is distinguished scholar in residence at Fuller Theological Seminary and previously at the Graduate School of Theology of Azusa Pacific University. He was formerly professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary and associate professor in biblical studies at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, and James and 2 Corinthians in the Word Biblical Commentary, for which he also serves as New Testament editor.

Peter H. Davids is a self-employed professor and scholar in Stafford, Texas. He has taught biblical studies at Regent College (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Canadian Theological Seminary (Regina, Saskatchewan), and he continues to teach in theological schools in Europe. He is the author of The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude in the Pillar New Testament Commentary and The Epistle of James in the New International Greek Testament Commentary.