I.2b & II.5 Consult Dictionaries & Encyclopedias - > THEO 3210 Four Gospels and One Jesus - Subject Guides at Seattle Pacific University

Dictionaries and encyclopedias of the Bible online

4 Enoch: the Online Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins
Bible Odyssey (Society of Biblical Literature)
Dictionary for theological interpretation of the Bible. Ed. Vanhoozer, Bartholomew, Treier, & Wright. 2005.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS440 .D495 2005.
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. 2nd ed. Ed. Green. 2013.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS2555.52 .D53 2013.
Dictionary of Nature Imagery in the Bible
Focuses on "the Hebrew Bible, although Second Temple Literature and the New Testament will be addressed as they eucidate passages in the Hebrew Bible."
Dictionary of New Testament background. Ed. Evans & Porter. 2000.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS2312 .D53 2000.
Dictionary of Paul and his letters. 2nd ed. McKnight, Cohick, & Gupta. 2023.
Dictionary of scripture and ethics. Ed. Green, Lapsley, Miles, & Verhey. 2012.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS680.E84 D53 2011.
Dictionary of the New Testament use of the Old Testament. Ed. Beale, Carson, Glad, & Naselli. 2023.
Cf. the 2007 Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament, also ed. Beale.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Ed. Alexander & Baker. 2003.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS1225.52 .D53 2003.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical books. Ed. Arnold & Williamson. 2005.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS1205.55 .D53 2005.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, poetry, and writings. Ed. Longman & Enns. 2008.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS440 .D53 2008.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets. Ed. Boda & McConville. 2012.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS1505.55 .D53 2012.
Dictionary of the later New Testament and its developments. Ed. Martin & Davids. 1997.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS2625.5 .D53 1997.
Dictionnaire de la Bible. Ed. Vigouroux. 1912.
Dictionnaire de la Bible. Supplément. Ed. Vigouroux. 1907- .
Vols. 1 (Abdeh)-8 (Providentissimus) only online. SPU has vols. 1 (Abdeh)-13 (Tanis) at REF BS440 .D53 Suppl.
Dictionnaire encyclopédique de la Bible. 3rd ed., rev. & aug. 2002
Eerdmans dictionary of early Judaism. Ed. Collins & Harlow. 2010.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BM176 .E34 2010.
Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible. Ed. Freedman, Myers, & Beck. 2000.
SPU houses this also on paper at General Collection and REF BS440 .E44 2000.
Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Ed. Berenbaum & Skolnik. 22 vols. 2007.
Requires a King County Library System login. SPU has the 1st (1972) edition at REF DS102.8 .E496.
Encyclopedia of the Bible and its reception
SPU houses this also on paper at BS440 .E539 2009.
Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea scrolls. Ed. Schiffman & VanderKam. 2 vols. 2000.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BM487 .E53 2000.
Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology
Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (IDD): An Iconographic Dictionary with Special Emphasis on First-Millennium Palestine/Israel
Complements the Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible (DDD), at REF BS680 .G57D53 1999.
Ministry Matters
Includes the New interpreters dictionary of the Bible, but is not available here.
New dictionary of biblical theology. Ed. Alexander & Rosner. 2000.
SPU houses this also on paper at General Collection and REF BS440 .N437 2000.
Oxford companion to the Bible. Ed. Metzger & Coogan. 1993.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF BS440 .M434 1993.
Oxford dictionary of the Jewish religion. 2nd ed. Ed. Berlin & Grossman. 2011.
Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East. Ed. Meyers. 5 vols. 1997.
SPU houses this also on paper at REF DS56 .O9 1997.
Oxford encyclopedia of biblical interpretation. Ed. McKenzie. 2 vols. 2013.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and archaeology. Ed. Master. 2 vols. 2013.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and ethics. Ed. Brawley. 2 vols. 2014.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and gender studies. Ed. O'Brien. 2 vols. 2014.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and law. Ed. Strawn. 2 vols. 2015.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and the arts. Ed. Beal. 2 vols. 2016.
Oxford encyclopedia of the Bible and theology. Ed. Balentine. 2 vols. 2015.
Oxford encyclopedia of the books of the Bible. Ed. Coogan. 2 vols.
Rösel & Bull. Bibelkunde zum Alten und Neuen Testament.
WiBiLex: Das Wissenschaften Bibellexikon im Internet
WiReLex: Das Wissenschaftlich-Religionspädagogischen Lexikon

Dictionaries and encyclopedias of the Bible offline

See the relevant pages in the handout that follows:

Basic English-Bible Reference

The (limited) value of a reputable tertiary source (Bible dictionary or encyclopedia)

A good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia can help at a number of points along the way. It can

like the lexicons and theological wordbooks, help with word studies and the clarification of concepts (I.2, I.2b Consult Lexicons & Wordbooks, II.5 Answer Questions (Concepts));
explicate "extra-biblical historical references" and answer questions of "historical background" (II.5 Identify Soures (Texts) & II.5 Answer Questions (Concepts))
provide a reasonably authoritative overview of, and "state of the question" on a given topic;
give a starter-bibliography; and
suggest keywords that might be enlisted in a search of the scholarly literature desiged to fill out and update said starter-bibliography.

Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias come in various forms. On pp. 5 ff. of the handout Basic English-Bible Reference I list a number of the pigeonholes I find helpful, i.e. Dictionaries and encyclopedias

multi-purpose in nature,
of biblical theology and ethics,
of biblical units,
of Old Testament background,
of New Testament background,
on specific topics,
of biblical interpretation and/or reception,
of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world, and
of language and linguistics.

Under each category I give a number of examples, with call numbers. Please consult pp. 5 ff. of the handout Basic English-Bible Reference for this list. Below I give but a single example. At II.5 Answer Questions (Concepts) I give three more.

Major features of such, as illustrated by the 2nd (2013) edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels only:

Dictionaries and encyclopedias of related areas online

Dictionaries and encyclopedias of related areas offline

Basic English-Bible Reference