Review by Choice Review
Browning, author of several books on the Bible and honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral, has produced an excellent dictionary of the Christian Bible whose purpose is to explain its main ideas and give information about its principal people and places. It is intended for general readers and students of secondary school or university level. It assumes use of the Revised Standard or other modern translation of the Bible. The author cautions that some names or terms may not be historical and that territorial names attached to the land do not necessarily represent current political or geographical areas. There are lists of abbreviations, books of the Bible in various editions, measures and weights, lists of important dates in biblical history, and a few maps. In the text, cross-references to main entries are indicated by asterisks. Names mentioned only once in the Bible are excluded. This dictionary is less detailed than The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (1996). Definitions are not signed but include biblical citations. Highly recommended for all levels of readers. D. D. Siles; Elmhurst College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Browning, an Anglican clergyman and former lecturer in New Testament studies at Oxford, has effectively summarized modern biblical scholarship in this concise alphabetical dictionary. The 2,000-plus entries are mostly brief definitions or descriptions of terms, places, persons, practices, and events, with longer entries, up to two pages or more, for such important figures as Jesus and Paul, dominant themes like "death" and "resurrection," and each of the separate books that make up the Bible. Included as well are articles about biblical scholarship, scholars, and related disciplines and movements, such as "criticism, biblical," "Tubingen critics," "Schweitzer, Albert," "archaeology," and "fundamentalism." Controversial topics on which adversaries often turn to the Bible are well handled. On "abortion," the entry simply says, "not an ethical issue in the Bible." On "homosexuality," the half-page entry begins, "There does not exist a Hebrew or Greek word for this inclination . . . "It concludes, "At any rate, as with medical knowledge in general, much that is now understood about the psychology and biochemistry of this condition was unavailable in the 1st century." Within entries, there are frequent citations to the Bible, but not to other sources. A brief select bibliography is included among the appendixes, along with comparative measures, important dates, and four double-page maps. Stars within entries note see also references. The most serious defect is the complete lack of cross-references from alternative but unused terms. There is no see reference from "prostitute" to "harlot," for example. Even the entry "prostitution" does not refer to "harlot." Inverted headings often lack cross-references: "thorns, crown of" needs a cross-reference from "crown of thorns." Similarly, closely related entries are not always linked--there is no reference from "communion" to "eucharist." The Oxford Companion to the Bible [RBB D 15 93] has much longer entries on fewer topics. This new Oxford title is more similar to the The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (1996), a new edition of which has just been published. However, the HarperCollins volume is three times as long, heavily illustrated, and almost twice as expensive. With its very reasonable price, the Oxford Dictionary of the Bible will be useful in all libraries that need another Bible dictionary.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In the field of biblical studies, the past ten years have seen continuing archaeological discoveries, new trends in biblical criticism, and the release of the full corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thus, it is entirely fitting that a new edition of a standard Bible dictionary appear. The first edition of The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (under the title Harper's Bible Dictionary, LJ 1/96) was well received by scholars, students, and lay readers. This edition has been expanded and revised, with approximately 25 percent of the material either new or updated. The number of contributors has also increased, from 179 to 193. The work has retained the two-column format, with 16 single-column articles interspersed throughout (including "Art in the Biblical Period," "Jesus Christ," and "The Temple"), and it is well illustrated. Many of the longer articles include a brief bibliography (most of which have been updated from the first edition). Though not a flawless work (e.g., the article "Manasseh" treats only the 14th king of Judah but neither the patriarch nor the tribe of Israel that also bear that name), it is outstanding in terms of scholarship and writing. All biblical studies collections should have this new work (balanced by New Bible Dictionary, InterVarsity, 1996. 3d ed., which represents current evangelical scholarship), even if they already own the previous edition. Browning's (New Testament studies, Cuddleson Coll., Oxford) dictionary is different in several ways. It is the work of one person. Few of the articles are more than a page long (though "Jesus" merits two and a half pages). The only illustrations are four two-page black-and-white maps at the end of the volume, and the bibliography is limited to a one-page select list of titles. The tone of the writing is at times casual, and Browning makes rather blunt statements. For instance, he declares the Bible's report of the number of Israelites who left Egypt in the exodus600,000 men plus women and children, according to the book of Exodus"unbelievable." Browning is certainly knowledgeable regarding the Bible and biblical studies, and he offers some interesting observations: "Paul's converts were often on the margin of society...and women were attracted by being valued as persons." A good choice for libraries that need to round out a comprehensive collection.Craig W. Beard, Univ. of Alabama Lib., Birmingham (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
