The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195146417 ISBN 13: 9780195146417

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Offering a wealth of reliable information, The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible provides more than 300 articles that cover everyone from Adam and Eve to Jesus Christ and everywhere from the Garden of Eden to Golgotha and Gethsemane.
Readers will find fascinating, informative entries on virtually every major figure who walked across the biblical stage. Here are Hebrew Bible figures such as Cain and Abel, Noah and Methuselah, Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, Solomon and Sheba, Moses and Aaron, Naomi and Ruth, and Samson and Delilah. The New Testament is likewise well covered, with pieces on Peter and Paul, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, the apostles (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot, and of course Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Articles also define groups of people who figure in the Bible, such as Angels, Archangels, and Demons, the Magi, the Tribes of Israel, and Women. Entries on the significant places of the Bible, both ancient and modern, include kingdoms and countries (Egypt, Assyria, Mesopotamia) and cities (Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Sodom and Gomorrah), as well as geographical features such as the Sea of Galilee and Mount Hebron. The guide includes a detailed index for ease of use, and 14 pages of color maps, providing an accurate, detailed portrait of the biblical world.
Here then is the first place to turn to find factual information on the people and places of Holy Scripture. Written by an international team of noted biblical experts, it is an essential addition to any family library as well as a useful, reliable resource for scholars and students.

Review:

In the late 20th century, increasing numbers of preachers and scholars have emphasized the narrative quality of the Bible, considering Scripture to be a collection of stories about God's relationship with humanity. Narrative readings of the Bible are most trustworthy when they're based on clear understandings of the characters and settings. And such understanding is now within reach of any lay reader, in the form of the well-researched, easy-to-use reference The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Edited by Bruce M. Metzger (the renowned New Testament scholar who chaired the committee that produced the New Revised Standard Version) and Michael D. Coogan (editor of The Oxford History of the Biblical World), this book contains more than 300 entries on every major person and place in the Bible, from Adam to Zedekiah (the last king of Judah) to the Garden of Eden to Golgotha. Contributors from a range of theological traditions and academic disciplines ensure each entry is informed by the latest archaeological findings, as well as current sociological, literary critical, and linguistic research. Extensive cross-referencing will lead readers from one discovery to the next, fleshing out each Bible story as they go. Even in entries for the most familiar characters, readers will find entertaining surprises: Goliath, for example, is said to be almost 10 feet tall in I Samuel; but if you believe the Dead Sea Scrolls, he was really stood closer to 7 feet. --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author:

Bruce M. Metzger is Collard Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. A recognized authority on the text of the New Testament, he was chairperson of the NRSV Bible Committee, which produced the New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. A widely regarded interpreter of the biblical world, he is the editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of the Biblical World and co-editor (with Bruce Metzger) of The Oxford Companion to the Bible.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195146417
• ISBN 13: 9780195146417
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 436
• Editor: Metzger Bruce M., Coogan Michael D.