A Bible dictionary is a reference work containing encyclopedic entries related to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, typically concerning people, places, customs, doctrine and

Biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. Bible dictionaries can be scholarly or popular in tone. The first dictionary of the Bible in English was the ''Christian Dictionarie'' (1612) of Thomas Wilson.

Bible dictionaries of the 18th century

Bible dictionaries of the 19th century

Bible dictionaries of the 20th century

*''Barnes's Bible Encyclopedia, Biographical, Geographical, Historical and Doctrinal'' (1903), edited by Charles Randall Barnes *''Standard Bible Dictionary'' (1909), edited by Melancthon Williams Jacobus, Jr. *''Temple Dictionary of the Bible'' (1910), edited by William Ewing and John Ebenezer Honeyman Thomson *''Universal Bible Dictionary'' (1914), edited by

Augustus Robert Buckland Rev. Augustus Robert Buckland (18 April 1857 – 8 April 1942) was a British divine and writer. Early years He was born at Newport in Monmouthshire and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford (B.A., 1881), and was ordained to the priesthood of the ...

and Arthur Lukyn Williams *''

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition. The first version was published under the general editorship ...

'' (1915), edited by James Orr *''A New Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible'' (1922), edited by Selah Merrill *''The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopaedia and Scriptural Dictionary'' (1922), edited by

Samuel Fallows Samuel Fallows (December 13, 1835September 5, 1922) was an English American immigrant, minister, lecturer, and author. He was the 9th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin and served as Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal C ...

''The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopaedia and Scriptural Dictionary'' (1922
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/ref> * ''Theological Word Book of the Bible'' (1951), edited by Alan Richardson * ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'' (1952), edited by Madeleine S. and J. Lane Miller * ''

The New Bible Dictionary ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1962), edited by J. D. Douglas, (Second Edition 1982, Third Edition 1996) * ''Dictionary of the Bible'' (1965), edited by

John L. McKenzie John Lawrence McKenzie (1910–1991) was an American Catholic biblical scholar. Biography McKenzie was born on October 9, 1910, in Brazil, Indiana, the first of the six children of Myra (Daly) and Harry McKenzie. John McKenzie became the premie ...

, SJ * ''The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible'' (1970), edited by Henry Snyder Gehman * '' LDS Bible Dictionary'' (1979) * ''

Harper's Bible Dictionary ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'' is a scholarly reference book of the Bible, containing the texts of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. It is written by 180 members of the Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblic ...

'' (1985), edited by

Paul J. Achtemeier Paul John Achtemeier (3 September 1927 – 28 January 2013) was Herbert Worth and Annie H. Jackson Professor of Biblical Interpretation Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He ...

* ''The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary'' (1987), edited by Allen C. Myers * ''

Anchor Bible Dictionary The Anchor Bible Series, which consists of a commentary series, a Bible dictionary, and a reference library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture which was begun in 1956, with the publication of individual volumes in the commentary series. O ...

'' (1992) * ''Oxford Dictionary of the Bible'' (1996), by W. R. F. Browning, (2nd Edition 2009)

Bible dictionaries of the 21st century

*'' New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible'' (2008)

References

*''Dictionaries'', article by E. C. Richardson in ''The International standard Bible encyclopaedia'' (Volume 2) (1915) pp. 844–8
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Notes