Over recent years the way many of us use reference books has changed. If I cannot remember whether Thingummy was the father or son of Whatsisname, or how many Ls there should be in Maher-shalal-hash-baz, or how many miles there are to Babylon I no longer turn to my trusty Bible dictionary and, I suspect, neither do you. Instead I use my electronic Study Bible or preferred search engine and click for the answer rather than turn pages. Publishers have noticed this trend and have moved much of their reference material into newer formats (e-books, CD-ROMs, etc.) or started to redefine what reference books are and how they should work.

In 1992 a big black dictionary appeared. It is a hardback with 934 pages, 260 x 185 x 55 mm in size and weighing in at over 1 kg. The title makes its terms of reference clear: Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and it does what it says on the cover with articles from “Abba” to “Zion”. (Actually the first and last articles are “Abiathar” and “Zechariah’s Song”; if you want Abba you have to look under “God”, “Prayer”, and “Son of God” and for Zion see “Mountain”.) These examples should, I hope, start to give you an idea of the range of topics that can come under the heading “Jesus and the Gospels” and if you cannot find what you are looking for there are three sets of indexes: “Gospel References”, “Subject”, and “Articles”. There had not been a project like this since the pair of two-volume set edited by James Hastings at the beginning of the twentieth century and Hastings was never the most reliable of guides, so there was a positive reception for this new project. There are now eight big black dictionaries available which I list below in what I think is the most logical order:

• Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, David W. Baker and T. Desmond Alexander, eds., 2002, 954pp.
• Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, Bill Arnold and H.G.M. Williamson, eds., 2005, 1060pp.
• Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings, Tremper Longman and Peter Enns, eds., 2008, 967pp.
• Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, Mark Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., 2012, 965pp.
• Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Joel Green, Scot McKnight and I. Howard Marshall, eds., 1992, 934pp.
• Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Gerald Hawthorne, Ralph Martin and Daniel Reid, eds., 1993, 1038pp.
• Dictionary of Later New Testament and Its Developments, Ralph Martin and Peter Davids, eds., 1997, 1289pp.
• Dictionary of New Testament Background, Craig Evans and Stanley Porter, eds., 2000, 1328pp.

All are published by InterVarsity Press and while none are cheap all are nevertheless excellent value. Since 1992 Jesus studies have moved forward, particularly through the work of Richard A. Burridge and N. T. Wright, and so Jesus and the Gospels is now in its second edition, still edited by Joel Green but now with Jeannine K. Brown and Nicholas Perrin so I now have to ask myself whether I want this instead of the first edition or as well as. Whether the other seven volumes will be upgraded in the near future is not known but whether they are or not, all will serve Bible students very well for many years to come.

Steven Whitehead

This article is from BiBloS, a teaching resource of the British Bible School. To read more articles or download the whole of Issue 3, click here.