New Bible Dictionary
Third Edition
Edited by D.R.W. Wood
IVP. 1,298 pages. £34.99
The New Bible Dictionary was first published in 1962. That edition ran to 1,370 pages which were set in two columns and in 9 point type. The second edition (1982) was completely reset using the same page size as the first but in 8 point type (nine lines to the inch instead of eight), giving a rather more cramped look to each page. This new edition follows the pattern of the second.
This edition has no black and white plates or two-colour maps at the back like the first edition. Like the second, it has a good smattering of maps and illustrations incorporated into the text and a useful index which was not a feature of the original production. This enables the reader to find information on a particular topic in entries other than the one dedicated to the topic. For example, a reader who wants to discover the meaning and implication of Old Testament references to Baal finds an entry under the name, Baal, on page 108 and then from the index he learns that there is further information on pages 20 (under Ahab), 154, 159, 272, 439, 496 and 778.
At the top of each page of the index is a rubric designed to explain the way in which the type used for the page numbers indicates the kind of entry to which reference is being made. This reads: 'Principal references: bold type; text references: roman, illustrations and chart references: bold italic; maps: medium italic'. This surely merits mild criticism because not too many readers will be familiar with the technicalities of printing and because the differences of type are used only for two, three or four digit page numbers and are rather hard to distinguish in what is essentially quite small (8 point) print.
It is interesting that of the four consulting editors, three (A.R. Millard, J.I. Packer and D.J. Wiseman), were involved in producing the first edition 35 years ago. Most of the original articles have been retained and, according to the editors, required little or no modification to maintain the claim to be 'new' and up-to-date. The additional material in the third edition is largely the result of research in archaeology and culture. Comparing the third edition with the second, three contributors have been dropped and 20 new ones introduced. Because the list of contributors does not indicate the entries for which they are responsible, it is virtually impossible to find which items have been dropped and which have been added or amended.
In all three editions, there are two articles under the title 'law', dealing respectively with the Old and New Testaments. Out go A. van Selms, John Murray and F.C. Fensham, and in come Gordon Wenham and T.R. Schreiner. Dealing with the New Testament, Schreiner focuses on the Jewish background and on the meaning of the term 'law'. He then examines what he designates 'the law and human inability' before asking the question: 'Is Jewish legalism criticised in the New Testament?'. In the latter section, he responds to and rejects the arguments of E.P. Saunders that post-Reformation Protestant thought has consistently misrepresented Judaism as being essentially legalistic. He warns, however, that legalism is not a specifically Jewish problem: 'Legalism is due to pride, and the desire for self-exaltation, which is a problem common to all humanity, not just the Jews.' His final section helpfully discusses the 'abrogation and fulfilment of the law' as taught in the New Testament. The reviewer would like, however, to have seen some reference to and exposition of Paul's phrase 'under Christ's law' (1 Corinthians 9.26 cf. 'law of Christ' in Galatians 6.2). John Murray, in the two earlier editions, did at least give this phrase a passing mention.
Two articles also been replaced are by the late Professor F.F. Bruce on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes. The new and more up-to-date articles are by the Oxford academic, D.K. Falk, who points out that though there are some similarities between the Essenes and early Christianity, efforts to identify the two have failed.
One entry that obviously needed updating is the one on English versions of the Bible. This now includes the New Testament in the 1996 Contemporary English Version. However, the New International Version, produced by evangelicals and reputedly the most widely used in the English-speaking world, only gets a one-sentence mention - hardly adequate in an evangelical dictionary which gives considerable space to earlier and recent versions that have more exotic than practical relevance today.
The New Bible Dictionary has had an immensely successful run - the first edition (1962) was reprinted 13 times and the second (1982) was reprinted nine times. From the beginning, it has been a mine of information to those who love the Bible and are concerned to discover its origins and meaning. I have used it since 1962 and always been grateful to those whose vision in the post-war years led to its publication. This new edition carries on a great tradition and will make the volume an effective tool for students in the early years of the 21st century - a fourth edition will, no doubt, be produced by or before the year 2020!
A review of such a large and diverse volume is far from easy. My comments include some small disappointments but are not meant to detract in any way from the great worth of the volume. It is a work of reference that will stand the test of time and should be on the bookshop of every serious student of the Scriptures. The price may seem somewhat stiff for some students, but anyone who knows the cost of quality books today will know that it is reasonable. Indeed as John Stott says on the back cover: 'I doubt if there is any better value for money today...'. I heartily and enthusiastically commend this new edition of the New Bible Dictionary.
Norman A. Shields
