The Oxford Companion to the Bible

Booklist This comprehensive one-volume companion to the Bible is more than just a dictionary. Words are defined and concepts explored in clear, succinct sentences. In addition, the influence of the Bible on contemporary culture is related in such articles as "The Bible and the Arts", "Dance and the Bible", and "Freud and the Bible." The many contributors read as a veritable who's who among biblical scholars. Although this companion is not meant to be an exhaustive reference, it is a highly reliable guide whose presence will enhance any library's reference section. Mary Deeley,

The Very Reverend Professor Henry Chadwick, Ex-master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge The Oxford Companion to the Bible is excellent, packed with solid information soberly and carefully presented, a reliable guide to an intricate subject.

The Most Reverend Dr Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland the best attempt I have yet come across to interpret Scripture with that ambitious yet practical parallel of intellectual depth and popular presentation. I firmly believe that it deserves a priority place on the bookshelf of all who wish to take their reading of the Bible seriously.

Evening Press to serious students of the Bible worth every penny ... The really strong feature of this excellent work is the abundance of interpretive essays which distinguish it from the ordinary Bible dictionary.


The Irish Catholic This is a single volume of everything the modern reader of the Bible - be they scholar, member-of-the-clergy, believer or non-believer - needs fully to appreciate its meaning and importance. A very worthwhile companion.


Eric Heaton, Country Life This overflowing cornucopia of biblical learning well deserves its title. It is not a conventional dictionary of the Bible, but a companionable volume for curious browsing. This Oxford Comapnion, richly deserves the general reader. He will take pleasure in such gems as the article on "Names for the Nameless", in which one of the editors, wearing his learning lightly, unearths the names invented by Jewish and Christian writers for all those left anonymous in the biblical record.


Lucy Lethbridge, Catholic Herald Riveting 1,000-page, one-volume ... dictionary of biblical terms, names, references, influences and background to biblical texts and events. Intriguing.


D.C. Parker, University of Birmingham, Religion and Theology, August 1994 The Oxford Companions are pleasing books - attractive in the bookcase, comfortable in the hand, and easy to read. It will be desirable to those who are of a dilettante disposition (I do not mean the word unkindly), those who read widely and those who enjoy browsing in Oxford Companions.


Robert Dunlop (Revd), Baptist Times While the whole volume has a scholarly atmosphere, it is cast in manageable English, not overweighted with technical terminology or theological jargon. There is a good balance of information, interpretatio...

<br>Bruce M. Metzger is George L. Collord Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary. A recognised authority on the text of the New Testament, he was chairperson of the NRSV Bible Committee, which produced the New Revised Standard Version, and he was co-editor (with Roland E. Murphy) of The New Oxford Annotated Bible.<br>Michael D. Coogan is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College.<br>