Theology Today - Vol 20, No. 1 - April 1963 - BOOK REVIEW - The Interpreter's Dictionary Of the Bible

134 - The Interpreter's Dictionary Of the Bible

The Interpreter's Dictionary Of the Bible
Edited by George A. Buttrick
Four volumes. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1962. $45.00.

This four-volume dictionary is a notable contribution to Biblical studies, and as one looks over the list of the writers of the various articles, it becomes evident that the academic scene has shifted and that there has come to the fore a new generation of Oriental and Biblical scholars. According to the title page, the work is an encyclopedia identifying and explaining all proper names and subjects in the Bible and the Apocrypha, and it seems that the editor and his associates have succeeded in achieving their goal. Since the writers of the different articles were allowed ample space, in many cases they have added important and extensive bibliography, which is helpful for students and pastors who have access to a theological or university library.

In reviewing a Bible dictionary of this size, no more can be done than to indicate in a general way some significant features of this publication. It may accordingly be appropriate to note some of the trends of thought and to refer to some of the points of view presented here and there in these volumes. The coming of the Sumerians into the lower valley of the Euphrates is dated ca. 3300 B.C. The founding of the First Dynasty in Egypt is placed ca. 3000 B.C. There is much uncertainty in early chronology among scholars. In one place the date of Hammurabi is set at 1792-1750 B.C., but under "Chronology" the lower one, 1728-1686, is given as accepted by many historians. Apparently there is no reason to doubt that Israel's ancestors came from Babylonia to Northern Mesopotamia and thence to Palestine and that later some of them went to Egypt. In the article on "Book of Exodus" and "Chronology" the view is held that the date of the Exodus (ca. 1290 or 1280 B.C.), as proposed by Professor W. F. Albright, has much in its favor. Many readers, however, would like to have approximate dates given for Saul, David, and Solomon. One of the difficulties in Old Testament studies is the chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah, and in this connection the system of Thiele (1951), who dates the disruption of the Hebrew kingdom at 931 B.C., has been accepted. According to this scheme Jerusalem was captured in 597, while Jehoiachin was king, and finally taken and destroyed in 586 B.C. While there is no unanimity among scholars concerning the date of Ezra, his coming to Jerusalem has in this work by preference been set at 428 instead of 458 B.C. For ready reference it would also have been valuable to have a chronological table of world events up to the time of Saul as well as one of the time from Herod until the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. A tentative conclusion is that Jesus was born in 8-6 B.C., but under the article on Jesus Christ no date is suggested.

135 - The Interpreter's Dictionary Of the Bible

A study of ancient history is necessary to understand Biblical origins and to set the events of the Bible into the Oriental panorama and the international environment. In this connection the histories of Egypt, Sumer, Assyria and Babylonia, the Hittites, and Persia and of Greece and Rome have been written by leading authorities in these fields. The results of archaeology have been utilized throughout the dictionary; the article on "Archaeology" has received 10 1/2 pages, and of special interest here is the table of the archaeological periods of Palestine from ca. 8000 B.C. to A.D. 636. The important articles on "Jerusalem" and the history of Israel have 24 and 14 1/2 pages respectively. At the end of Volume I are 24 Westminster maps, but unfortunately no index of place names has been supplied, and consequently their value has been severely curtailed. There are, however, numerous black and white maps throughout the four volumes, and these are very convenient in visualizing the location of various places.

An article of 11 1/2 pages is devoted to the "Dead Sea Scrolls," and under "Text, New Testament" is presented a list of manuscripts with names and places. On the other hand, however, it is a serious omission that no clear and definite listing of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament is given to which the student of the Bible may turn for information in this field. Concerning the Aleppo Hebrew manuscript of the entire Old Testament, it is asserted (Vol. IV, p. 588): "now reported destroyed." It is a fact that it suffered damage in the destruction of the Old Synagogue at Aleppo, and today it contains only 294 folios of the presumable original number of 380. It is now, however, used at the University of Jerusalem in the preparation of a new edition of the Hebrew Old Testament.

Proper regard has been paid to linguistics, and generally the etymologies are good. Since they come from different hands, there is, however, some inconsistency, as, for example, in interpreting the vowel i, whether it be the first person possessive or a glide. The articles on the Ethnic Divisions of Man, Languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek have considerable value for the student of Biblical languages and contain extensive bibliographies.

Articles on Biblical criticism are included, and despite changes of opinion about the Pentateuch in recent years, the view is held that it is fair to say that the documentary hypothesis remains the landmark of Pentateuchal criticism and the foundation for all further research. While the term "Hexateuch" may have proved useful in the history of criticism, its existence as an independent entity is properly doubted. In the discussion of Isaiah, Deutero-Isaiah, and Trito-Isaiah it is noted that a theological thought begun by Isaiah pervades the book that bears his name.

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In the case of the Letter to the Ephesians the conclusion is reached that it is not from the hand of Paul. As regards the authorship of the Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and the Apocalypse, various theories are presented.

The discussion of Biblical translations in the main is good, but it is rather surprising that under English Bible no reference is made to the excellent Jewish Version (Philadelphia, 1917), which has been reprinted many times. In line with the present interest in Biblical theology two articles on the subject are included in the encyclopedia, which maintains a wholesome attitude toward Scripture. In this connection mention may be made of a few themes: Covenant, Election, Faith, Foreknowledge, God, justification, Regeneration, Repentance, Resurrection. As regards the Servant of the Lord, it is observed that in recent years there has been an increasing support of the traditional Christian interpretation and that none except Christ was the fulfillment of the concept.

The editor and his associates are to be commended for having produced this dictionary. The print is clear and sharp and is easy to read; the numerous illustrations have an educational value and generally add to the beauty of the page. In the middle of each volume are eight colored plates, but they have no relation to the adjacent pages. This up-to-date work should be in the pastor's study, but if he has Hastings' four-volume Dictionary of the Bible or the Encyclopaedia Biblica, he should not discard them: they represent a type of scholarship that may never be repeated. And furthermore there should still remain room on his shelf for a one-volume dictionary of the Bible.

Henry S. Gehman
Princeton, New Jersey