Product Description

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books is the second volume in IVP’s Old Testament dictionary series. This volume picks up where the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch left off – with Joshua and Israel poised to enter the land – and carries us through the postexilic period. Following in the tradition of the four award-winning IVP dictionaries focused on the New Testament, this encyclopedic work is characterized by in-depth articles focused on key topics, many of them written by noted experts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #267702 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 996 pages

Evangelicals Now, July 2006
The dictionary is compiled for the general reader rather than the scholar and so is very accessible.

From the Publisher
The history of Israel forms the skeletal structure of the Old Testament. Understanding this history and the biblical books that trace it is essential to comprehending the Bible. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books is the only reference book focused exclusively on these biblical books and the history of Israel.

From the Inside Flap
The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books presents articles on numerous historical topics as well as major articles focused on the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. Other articles focus on the Deuteronomistic History as well as the Chronicler’s History, the narrative art of Israel’s historians, innerbiblical exegesis, text and textual criticism, and the emergence of these books as canonical. One feature is a series of eight consecutive articles on the periods of Israel’s history from the settlement to post-exilic period, which form a sort of condensed history of Israel within the DOTHB.

Syro-Palestinian archaeology is surveyed in one article, while significant archaeological sites receive focused treatment, usually under the names of biblical cities and towns such as Jerusalem and Samaria, Shiloh and Shechem, Dan and Beersheba. Other articles delve into the histories and cultures of the great neighbouring empires – Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia--as well as lesser peoples, such as the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, Philistines and Phoenicians. In addition there are articles on architecture, Solomon’s temple, agriculture and animal husbandry, roads and highways, trade and travel, and water and water systems.

The languages of Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as linguistics, each receive careful treatment, as well as the role of scribes and their schools, and writing and literacy in ancient Israel and its environs. The DOTHB also canvasses the full range of relevant extrabiblical written evidence, with five articles focused on the various non-Israelite written sources as well as an article on Hebrew inscriptions.

Articles on interpretive methods, on hermeneutics and on preaching the Historical Books will assist students and communicators in understanding how this biblical literature has been studied and interpreted, and its proper use in preaching. In the same vein, theological topics such as God, prayer, faith, forgiveness and righteousness receive separate treatment.

The history of Israel has long been contested territory, but never more so than today. Much like the quest of the historical Jesus, a quest of the historical Israel is underway. At the heart of the quest to understand the history of Israel and the Old Testament’s Historical Books is the struggle to come to terms with the conventions of ancient historiography. How did these writers conceive of their task and to whom were they writing? Clearly the Old Testament historians did not go about their task as we would today. The divine word was incarnated in ancient culture.

Rather than being a dictionary of quick answers and easy resolutions readily provided, the DOTHB seeks to set out the evidence and arguments, allowing a range of informed opinion to enrich the conversation. In this way it is hoped that the DOTHB will not only inform its readers, but draw them into the debate and equip them to examine the evidence for themselves.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous resource, superb quality and worth every penny: but it should be digitised
The IVP (Inter-Varsity Press) Dictionary of the Old Testament is actually several individual volumes which combine to make one (massive!) dictionary resource. It comprises:

* DOT Pentateuch [the first five books of the Bible]
* DOT Historical Books [from Joshua to Nehemiah]
* DOT Wisdom, Poetry & Writings [Psalms, Ecclesiastes, etc.)

(I expect there is a DOT Prophetic Books [Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.] planned for the near future, though I couldn't find any mention of one on the IVP website.)

While this makes them expensive over all, the quality and quantity of scholarship they make available makes it worthy investment. I have bought the DOT Pentateuch and this DOT Historical Books in the last couple of years and hope to get them all eventually.

Even though I emphasise that this is a series of dictionaries, each individual volume still represents a complete and comprehensive unit. A vast array of topics are covered, usually in fairly significant (but digestible) detail. The first, for instance, is `Agriculture and Animal Husbandry' which spans and improbable twenty pages (three-and-a-half of which are bibliography!). This first article is clearly subdivided into four further sections, the last section being a `Conclusion' bringing everything together. In this case:

`Throughout the entire period depicted in the Historical Books of the OT there exists a recognisable tension between the true worship of Yahweh... and the idolatrous Baal worship prevalent in Syria-Palestine...' (p17)

`Agriculture and animal husbandry played a central role in Israelite society and religion. After all, it was Yahweh who had given the land... to his chosen people Israel... [and who] supplied the precipitation and sun necessary to raise crops and maintain herds...' (p16)

(Compare the `Agriculture' article in my DOT Pentateuch review on Amazon.)

The uniformly clear and comfortable reading format and overall aesthetic layout also make them a single reference work. There is a continuity of articles too - at least in the absence of repetition. For instance, of the two volumes I own, the entry for `Angel of the Lord' (directing you to `Theophany', from the Greek for `god' and `to appear') only appears in the Pentateuch volume. It's easy to see this as an error of omission if you only own the Historical Books volume, but I imagine each volume would be larger and even more expensive if articles were duplicated. (Perhaps the omission of `Spirit' or `Holy Spirit', etc. from both volumes would be covered in the Wisdom or (potential) Prophetic Books volumes?)

The only real criticism I have is that digital media would be more convenient in many cases. While I have always preferred books as opposed to disks (and vinyl as opposed to CDs), still the digital media so much cheaper and easier to use. I have owned Essential IVP Reference Collection CD-ROM (mine is version 2) for years but could never have afforded all the superb New Testament reference books which it contains. I hope that IVP will have an Essential Collection for the Old Testament too, one day.

In the mean time, this is a hugely expensive series but worth every penny which I always think of as an investment, not an expense. I suppose you could say, `you get what you pay for' and paying for this title - or series - gets you supreme quality: highly recommended.

EDIT:
I note that the Logos Bible Software website now lists the Pentateuch and Historical Books dictionaries as 'under developement'. So someone is digitising them - or two of them, at least. ('Pre-Publication' price is lower, if you're quick...)