Book Review of The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters edited by Gupta, Cohick, and McKnight

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship: Second Edition

Edited by Scot McKnight, Lynn Cohick, and Nijay Gupta

ISBN 978-0-8308-1785-6

Intervarsity Press

Reviewed by Clint Walker

Many folks, like me, enjoyed the first edition of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, published in 1993. At that point, I was a twenty-year-old student at Sterling College in Sterling, KS. In 2023, the year that I turned 50, the second edition of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters was released. I have been excited to dig into this fine new work and highly recommend it to students of the New Testament everywhere.

Part of the reason I am excited about this book is personal. At the time of this book's release, all three of the editors of this new volume were at Northern Seminary. During COVID, I audited a class with Nijay Gupta on Philippians. Lynn Cohick taught a class in my doctoral coursework in 2021. So, my connection has made me root for this fine work.

This is a large text, and I will admit I have not read it cover to cover. (Honestly, it is not meant to be read that way) I have read this text, and several things are helpful to know about the scholarship in this text. They are:

• This is almost entirely new in its content. Only 15 of the original articles were used, and several of them were updated (p. ix). I will probably use both the original and this update for research.
• My perception is that this volume has longer articles than the previous text and perhaps fewer topics covered. 
• The bibliographies that follow the articles are up to date, and worth paying attention to!
• I think the "Interpretation" articles in this edition are an excellent addition.
• It is really worth one's time as a reader to not only explore articles based on the table of contents but go through the contributors list. For instance, I looked up Michael Gorman, and am going to read his three articles. In some cases, you can get a "readers digest" version of influential books and ideas. Good stuff.
• Finally, this may be marketed as a more academic book, but it is a great book for anyone who loves understanding Paul and His Letters in a deeper way, no matter their background. 

If you have the money, I recommend adding this book to your library!