2009 Christianity Today Merit Award winner! 2009 ECPA Gold Medallion (Bible Reference & Study) The Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry carry themselves differently from those of the Pentateuch, the histories or the prophets. The divine voice does not peal from Sinai, there are no narratives carried along by prophetic interpretation nor are oracles declaimed by a prophet. Here Scripture often speaks in the words of human response to God and God’s world. The hymns, laments and thanksgivings of Israel, the dirge of Lamentations, the questionings of Qohelet, the love poetry of the Song of Songs, the bold drama of Job and the proverbial wisdom of Israel all offer their textures to this great body of biblical literature. Then too there are the finely crafted stories of Ruth and Esther that narrate the silent providence of God in the course of Israelite and Jewish lives. This third Old Testament volume in InterVarsity Press’s celebrated “Black Dictionary” series offers nearly 150 articles covering all the important aspects of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther. Over ninety contributors, many of them experts in this literature, have contributed to the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. This volume maintains the quality of scholarship that students, scholars and pastors have come to expect from this series. Coverage of each biblical book includes an introduction to the book itself as well as separate articles on its ancient Near Eastern background and its history of interpretation. Additional articles amply explore the literary dimensions of Hebrew poetry and prose, including acrostic, ellipsis, inclusio, intertextuality, parallelism and rhyme. And there are well-rounded treatments of Israelite wisdom and wisdom literature, including wisdom poems, sources and theology. In addition, a wide range of interpretive approaches is canvassed in articles on hermeneutics, feminist interpretation, form criticism, historical criticism, rhetorical criticism and social-scientific approaches. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings is sure to command shelf space within arm’s reach of any student, teacher or preacher working in this portion of biblical literature. Tremper Longman III and Peter E. Enns edit this collection of 148 articles by 90 contributors on Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther.
Luke LinEvery student serious about pursuing biblical studies and every pastor committed to solid exegetical work should keep a copy of this indispensable volume within arm’s reach.
Paul J. KisslingEditors Longman and Enns have assembled a truly outstanding team of both senior and junior scholars who present up-to-date research with current bibliographies on all the major issues confronting the interpreter of these important books. If you are only going to buy one encyclopedic dictionary on the Bible, this is the one I would recommend.
Authors and editors have taken great care to make the articles both scholarly and readable, and one can say that they have succeeded in producing a work that supplements all existing biblical reference works.
J. McKeownThis useful addition to this series of dictionaries provides an excellent resource for students and others who require an accessible overview of the study of biblical books and general topics in the wisdom and poetry category.
James Chukwuma OkoyeStudents and professors of Scripture have, in this volume, a precious and incredibly up-to-date resource.
Charles TelferThe Dictionary offers a lot of helpful, accessible material at a reasonable price.
P.C. BeentjesA beautiful accession to the series, and its price is unbelievable!
Scott C. JonesThe volume covers much ground and covers it well. Well worth the price for any layperson, student, or scholar who wishes to engage the varied corpus that this dictionary covers.
J. McKeowAn excellent resource for students and others who require accessible overview of the study of biblical books and general topics in the wisdom and poetry category.
This Dictionary should be in the collection of any library covering Biblical studies regardless of religious affiliation. Once again IVP has done the scholarly community a great service.