DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE

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 notto 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."