The Bible is the most intensely studied book in the world, so there is a huge volume of information available. Bible reference works come in two major varieties: word based, and text based. The first variety focuses on individual words, the second on the passage of Scripture. Both varieties are useful and necessary as we try to understand what the Bible means for us today.
Word-based reference works come in three major varieties:
Text-based reference works come in three major varieties:
In this document, I will focus on printed books. In some cases the computer version is better; in some cases the printed resources are best.
Biblical information is often collected into “Bible dictionaries.” Perhaps these started as a one-volume attempt to define words, but they have grown into multi-volume sets that give a huge amount of information about words and other topics that are related to the Bible. I will start with multi-volume sets, and then look at one-volume works.
Newest listed first:
Allison, Dale C., Jr., et al., eds. Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Now 7 volumes out of a projected 30. Germany: Walter de Gruyter, 2009-. At $300 per volume (!), this is not a high priority for personal purchase. Only the biggest seminary libraries will carry this set. Much of it is a translation of liberal[1] German scholarship. Its value for us is diluted by its breadth: topics are explored not just in the Bible, but also in the history of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and secular literature and film.
Tenney, Merrill C., and Moises Silva, eds. Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. 5 volumes. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009. A conservative resource, updated by Silva from Tenney’s Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (1975). Was $150, but it now seems to be Kindle only. Apparently didn’t sell well.
Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob, ed. The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 5 volumes. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2006-2009. About $300 new. A good set. Moderately liberal; good information.
Freedman, David Noel, ed. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. 6 volumes. Originally published by Doubleday, now by Yale University Press, 1998-1992. Now in paperback: about $865 new. A scholarly standard, though expensive for its age. The fact that used copies hold their value is evidence that it is a good set.
Elwell, Walter A., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. 2 volumes; they also published the same material in a 4-volume edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1988. Out of print. Conservative.
Bromiley, Geoffrey W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 4 volumes. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979-1988. About $230; used copies for much less. It was the conservative standard, but is now old. The same title was used for a set published in 1915 (edited by James Orr); it is available for free on the internet.
There is also a substantial amount of biblical material in two other encyclopedia sets that may be in local libraries:
Carson, Thomas, ed. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. 15 volumes. 2nd ed. Gale: 2002.
Skolnik, Fred, ed. Encyclopedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Macmillan, 2006.
Older works: I include these not to recommend them, but to alert you to their real age. Since the copyright is expired, they are sometimes reprinted and displayed as if they were recent. They are often bundled in electronic resources (without mentioning the date) to make you think you are getting a lot of resources. Most are available free on the internet.
James Orr, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 5 volumes. Eerdmans, 1925. The scholarship is out of date on many issues. Digitized text. PDF copy of original books: Vol. 1: A-CL. Vol. 2: CL-HE. Vol. 3: HE-NA. Vol. 4: NA-SO. Vol. 5: SO-Z.
James Hastings, ed., Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. 2 volumes. Scribners, 1916-18. Digitized. Vol. 1: A-L. Vol. 2: M-Z.
James Hastings, ed., A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. 2 volumes. Scribners, 1906-08. Digitized. Vol. 1: A-K. Vol. 2: L-Z.
James Hastings, ed., Dictionary of the New Testament. 4 volumes. Scribners. A combination of the previous two. Digitized.
Isadore Singer, ed., Jewish Encyclopedia. 12 volumes. 1901-06. Digitized.
James Hastings, ed., Dictionary of the Bible. 5 volumes. Scribners. 1898-1904. Digitized. Vol. 1: A-FE. Vol. 2: FE-KI. Vol. 3: KI-PL. Vol. 4: PL-Z.
Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, eds., Encyclopaedia Biblica. 4 volumes. Vol. 1: A-D. Vol. 2: E-K. Vol. 3: L-P. Vol. 4: R-Z. Black, 1899-1903.
Samuel Fallows, The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopaedia and Scriptural Dictionary. 3 volumes. Chicago: 1901, 1922. Vol. 1: A-E. Vol. 2: F-PH. Vol. 3: PI-Z.
John M’Clintock and James Strong, eds., Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. 10 volumes. Harper, 1867-81. Vol. 1: A-B. Vol. 2: C-D. Vol. 3: E-G. Vol. 4: H-J.Vol. 5: K-Mc. Vol. 6: ME-NE. Vol. 7: NE-PE. Vol. 8: PE-RE. Vol. 9: RH-ST. Vol. 10: SU-Z. Supplements, 1889. Supp 1: A-CN. Supp. 2: CO-Z.
William Smith. Dictionary of the Bible. 4 volumes. Holman, 1868. Digitized. 1881 edition: Vol. 1: A-GE. Vol. 2: GE-MA. Vol. 3: MA-RE. Vol. 4: RE-Z.
John Parker Lawson and John Marius Wilson, eds., Cyclopedia of Biblical Geography, Biography, Natural History, and General Knowledge. 2 volumes. Edinburgh: Fullarton, 1866-67. Vol. 1: A-EG.
John Parker Lawson, ed., Bible Cyclopaedia. 1841-50. Vol. 1: A-J. Vol. 2: K-Z. Vol. 3: Biography.
John Kitto, ed., The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature. 2 volumes. Gould, 1845. Vol. 1: A-H. Vol. 2: I-Z. 3rd edition, vol. 3: M-Z.
Tremper Longman III, Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Baker, 2013. 1792 pages. 5½ pounds. $25. A very large one volume. Most books published by Baker are written by conservative scholars.
Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, and Nicholas Perrin. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. 2nd ed. InterVarsity, 2013. 1120 pages. $41. InterVarsity’s “black dictionary” series is very good. InterVarsity is also conservative.
Mark Boda and J. Gordon McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets. InterVarsity, 2012. 992 pages. $41.
J.D. Douglas, Merrill C. Tenney, and Moisés Silva. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Zondervan, 2011. 1584 pages. $23. An extensive revision of the Pictorial Bible Dictionary (1987). Although Zondervan is now owned by HarperCollins, Zondervan generally publishes conservative works.
Mark Allan Powell, HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. 3rd ed. HarperCollins, 2011. 1168 pages. $30. Supersedes the Harper Bible Dictionary (1985). HarperCollins publishes liberal as well as conservative scholars.
Scott Hahn, Catholic Bible Dictionary. Image, 2009. 1008 pages. $26.
Tremper Longman and Peter Enns, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings. InterVarsity, 2008. 991 pages. $38.
Walter Elwell and Philip Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Tyndale, 2008. 1352 pages. Conservative. $25.
Bill T. Arnold and H.G.M. Williamson, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books. InterVarsity, 2005. 1084 pages. $40.
Daniel Reid, IVP Dictionary of the New Testament. InterVarsity, 2004. 996 pages. $26. A one-volume abridgment of four IVP dictionaries. Cheaper than buying four, but it uses the first rather than the current edition of Jesus and the Gospels.
Chad Brand, Charles Draper and Archie England, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Revised edition. Nashville: Holman, 2003. 1704 pages. $20. A Southern Baptist publisher.
T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. InterVarsity, 2002. 976 pages. $38.
Walter Elwell, Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible. Baker, 2001. 944 pages. May be out of print.
David Noel Freedman, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans, 2000. 1425. $36. Includes conservative and liberal contributors.
Craig Evans and Stanley Porter, Dictionary of New Testament Background. InterVarsity, 2000. 1328 pages. $40. Covers the intertestamental period.
Martin Manser, Alister McGrath, J.I. Packer, and Donald Wiseman. Zondervan Dictionary of Bible Themes. Zondervan, 1999. Comparable to the much older Nave’s Topical Bible. Available on biblegateway.com. Mostly a list of scriptures relevant to each theme.
Charles Pfeiffer and Howard Vos, Wycliffe Bible Dictionary. Hendrickson, 1998. 1851 pages. $25. Probably an abridgement of the two-volume Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (Moody, 1975).
Ralph Martin and Peter Davids, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments. InterVarsity, 1997. 1319 pages. $36. Covers Acts, General Epistles, Revelation and developments into the 2nd century.
I. Howard Marshall, A.R. Millard, J.I. Packer, and D.J. Wiseman, New Bible Dictionary. 3rd ed. InterVarsity, 1996. 1317 pages. $29.
Ronald Youngblood, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Completely revised edition. Nelson, 1995. 1392 pages. $33.
Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. InterVarsity, 1993. 1067 pages. $39. Now the oldest of the IVP dictionaries; a second edition is in the works.
Merrill F. Unger and R. K. Harrison, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Moody, 1988. 1424 pages. $26. The original Unger’s Dictionary was published in 1957.
Allen Myers et al., Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Eerdmans, 1987. 1094 pages. Superseded by Freedman’s work in 2000.
Herbert Lockyer, Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Thomas Nelson, 1986. 1128 pages. Probably the same as Lockyer, Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Nelson, 2003). $15. Nelson, now owned by HarperCollins, is conservative.
William Gentz, The Dictionary of Bible and Religion. Abingdon, 1986. 1150 pages. Abingdon the United Methodist Publisher – usually liberal.
Henry Gehman and Robert Wright, The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible. Westminster, 1970. 1027 pages. A revised edition of Gehman’s work from 1944, which was based on Davis’s work in 1911.
John McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible. Macmillan, now Touchstone, 1965. 976 pages. Roman Catholic.
[1] “Conservative” and “liberal” are loose categories for what is really a wide spectrum or network of beliefs. The terms are sometimes used as insults for “those who disagree with me,” but they can also be used as neutral descriptions. In general, conservative scholars view the Bible as trustworthy (not necessarily inerrant, but still reliable); liberal scholars view the Bible more skeptically. Theologically, conservatives accept that “Jesus died for our sins,” but since there is no scientific or historical proof of this, liberals tend to avoid it, seeing Jesus more as a gifted teacher than as the (unproveable) incarnate Son of God. Both sorts of scholars tend to have their blind spots, which means that it is often helpful to consult works written by both types: moderately conservative scholars and moderately liberal ones.