BOOK REVIEW OF THE ZONDERVAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE DICTIONARY

ZONDERVAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE DICTIONARY

Written by J.D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney

Revised by Moises Silva

Published by Zondervan

Reviewed by Clint Walker

 

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary has been a standard of one-volume Bible dictionaries for decades. In April 2011, the good people at Zondervan publishing will release the latest update on this modern classic. The first copy of this work was published in 1963 as the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, and was edited by Merrill Tenney. Twenty four years later the text was re-released under the title New International Pictorial Dictionary, and this edition was overseen by J.D. Douglas. Now, with twenty-four more years passing, Moises Silva has guided the revisions and additions to this edition of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. The result is an excellent update to the two previous editions of the text. Several needed updates are made, and the changes are made without leaving the strong foundation that the original work set for casual readers and church leaders alike. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary is an excellent resource for nearly any Christian teacher, from a Sunday School teacher to a college professor, to have on their bookshelf.

 

There have been several updates to this work in adding or revising content. The Introduction tells the reader that "almost 1800 new entries have been added, bringing the total to over 7200" (p. v). There have also been updates in photographs, and new maps added. The content of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary has been brought into the twenty-first century.

 

Other updates to the text are more cosmetic, and make for a more pleasant study experience for the reader. The nature of the alphabetization of the new text makes the new text more accessible to lay persons. The fonts and the layout have been updated for a new generation. The pictures are sharper. The maps are more visually appealing.

 

As a pastor, what I enjoy about the text is the relative brevity of the entries. In many Bible Dictionaries, one entry can be pages long. This is not the goal of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Instead, most of the entries last from 1/8 or a page to a full page, and can be read in only a few minutes. For instance, if I wanted to know what the "abomination of desolation" was, I could turn to page 12 in the text and read a brief overview of the term in less than a half of a page. I would have several Scripture references to look up, and a good idea of the scholarly issues and debate about that term. This is very helpful for me, especially when I am familiar with the issue people are speaking about, but don't necessarily know all the terminology that they are using.

 

Also, the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary is relatively affordable. For around twenty dollars you can have a bible dictionary on your shelf that will be a treasured resource for years. It is worth investigating!