Part I: The Bible as a Whole

With this installment we begin the bibliography promised in the lead editorial of the September 11 issue. As stated then, this list is not offered as one that contains only wholly trustworthy books. We hope that our comments will guide the user in forming his own judgments about the value for him of the books mentioned.

TRANSLATIONS The place to begin a study of the Bible is with the Bible. This seems obvious. But all too often—in churches and Bible classes as well as in university and seminary classrooms—people turn to books about the Bible before they look at the Bible itself. And sometimes they never take the second step.

To understand the Bible, you must read it until its message becomes a part of you. To do this you will want to own several translations.

You probably have a copy of the Authorized or King James Version of 1611. Keep on reading it, if only for the majestic beauty of its language. Do not limit your study to this version, however, even if it is the one you prefer. The New Scofield Reference edition (Oxford, 1967) is a slight modernization and correction of the King James coupled with doctrinal and other annotations.

Of the post-KJV translations, the English Revised Version of 1885 and the American Standard Version of 1901 are still the best literal translations of the Hebrew and Greek idioms, and are preferred by many for this reason. However, the language is that of a bygone age (without the virtues that make the KJV a masterpiece of English literature), and a good case might be made for the view that one who needs to know Hebrew and Greek idioms would be best advised to learn Hebrew and Greek.

The Revised Standard Version (1952), despite some lingering deficiencies, is probably the best all-purpose translation both for private study and for public reading, and it is encouraging to observe that most church fellowships in English-speaking countries recognize this. The style is good, readable, but rather formal modern English; it does not depart so far from either the idiom of the Biblical languages or the language of the KJV as to cause the pious reader to wonder whether he is, in fact, reading from the Bible at all. The Harper Study Bible (Zondervan, 1964), edited by Harold Lindsell, and the Oxford Annotated Bible (Oxford, 1962), edited by Herbert May and Bruce Metzger, are two good study Bibles based on the RSV.

For private reading (as distinguished from close, detailed study), a more idiomatic translation is recommended: for example, the New English Bible (1970) or the Jerusalem Bible (1966). The NEB represents the best of British biblical scholarship. Although it has been strongly criticized by some for its translation of certain Old Testament passages, still it is to be commended as the most scholarly and accurate of the idiomatic English versions. The Jerusalem Bible, based on an excellent French translation (it is not simply a translation of the French), is the Roman Catholic counterpart of the Protestant-sponsored NEB. It is not, in general, marked by the same quality of scholarship as its French equivalent; nevertheless, it is an essentially reliable translation that often gives fresh insights into the true meaning of a passage.

There are literally dozens of other translations in print today. Almost any of these (with the notable exception of the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) will be found helpful in some way, though the student may feel overwhelmed by the variety of possible English translations of a given word or phrase (witness Zondervan’s The New Testament in Twenty-six Translations!). Of the very popular recent translations of the New Testament, Today’s English Version (“Good News for Modern Man”) by R. G. Bratcher (1966) has been described as “not only clear and accurate, but also a masterpiece of modern linguistic study”; although it has some of the weaknesses of any translation done by one person, it is undoubtedly the best of this type. J. B. Phillips’s translations of the New Testament (1958) and four Old Testament prophets (1963) into modern English should continue to be popular among young people, though one should not rely on them to the exclusion of the standard versions mentioned above. The student should be aware that the Amplified Bible (1965), which is based on an erroneous linguistic foundation (the incorporation of synonyms and alternative renderings into the text in order to bring out the “full sense” of the original), and Kenneth Taylor’s “Living” series (completed 1970) are not among the better English translations.

If you know a second modern language, by all means use it in your Bible study, but do not get stuck with a 350-year-old translation. Use an up-to-date version, such as La Bible de Jérusalem (the product of the Dominican School of Biblical Studies in Jerusalem), which is probably the best French translation, and the Züricher Bibel, the German equivalent of the RSV.

GENERAL Every serious student of the Bible should know something about the history of Bible translation. The English Bible: A History of Translations, by F. F. Bruce (Oxford, revised 1970), is a very readable and strictly reliable introduction to the subject. Another valuable work by the same author, The Books and the Parchments (Revell, revised 1962), is much broader in scope and seeks to present to the intelligent “layman” the basic features of the biblical languages, the text and canon of the Old and New Testaments, the ancient versions, and the history of the English Bible. A larger work of interest to the seminary or theological specialist is the superbly produced and comprehensive Cambridge History of the Bible (Cambridge, 1963–70; three volumes), one of the truly great cooperative efforts of recent biblical and historical scholarship.

A good statement of an evangelical approach to the authority of the Bible is found in a symposium edited by Merrill C. Tenney, The Bible: The Living Word of Revelation (Zondervan, 1968). Here ten outstanding scholars tell why they hold to the doctrine of “the divine origin and authority of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God to men” in the midst of the theological relativism and skepticism of the day. Revelation and the Bible, edited by Carl F. H. Henry (Baker, 1958), is more comprehensive than its title suggests, with essays on archaeology, biblical criticism, and hermeneutics as well as theological subjects. It remains one of the most important volumes on the subject and stands as a permanent testimony to the renaissance of evangelical biblical and theological scholarship that began in the English-speaking world two or three decades ago. J. Levie, The Bible, Word of God in Words of Men (Kenedy, 1962), and O. Loretz, The Truth of the Bible (Herder, 1968), offer reverent treatments of the problems of relating the results of modern biblical criticism to a high view of Scripture; the authors are Roman Catholic.

Handbooks or introductory guides to the whole Bible are abundant. Most of them contain little more than the information that could be found in half a dozen articles in a good Bible dictionary, and they often represent inferior standards of scholarship. Some are so superficial and carelessly inaccurate as to be positively harmful. Once again, the emphasis should be placed on works that help the student understand the Bible for himself, rather than attempting to do his thinking for him.

Unique among Bible-study guides is Search the Scriptures (Inter-Varsity); this provides the beginner with a do-it-yourself study program that takes him through the whole Bible in three years. The various Scripture Union publications graded to suit each age group (samples available from The Scripture Union, 2136 Darby Road, Havertown, Pennsylvania 19083), are also to be recommended highly, as are the many other Inter-Varsity Bible-study aids (a catalogue of publications is available from Inter-Varsity Press, Box 5, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515). The excellent Bible Study Guides, published by the Scripture Union in England, are available in North America through Eerdmans.

The Bible Companion, edited by William Neill (McGraw-Hill, 1960), is a reliable guide to the historical, archaeological, geographical, and cultural background of the Bible and contains much useful information for the general reader. A Companion to the Bible, edited by H. H. Rowley (T. and T. Clark, revised 1963), is a fuller and slightly more technical treatment of similar subjects; if the pastor or theological student were to own only one introduction to biblical studies, this would probably be the best to have. The Bible and Modern Scholarship, edited by J. Philip Hyatt (Abingdon, 1965), is a collection of papers presented at the centennial meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature; it is intended to introduce the serious student to the results of modern biblical research. The work is valuable not only because the scholars are of worldwide fame but also because they express very differing points of view on similar subjects. Thus the reader does not get the false impression sometimes given by works that purport to present “the assured results of biblical criticism,” that is, that scholarly opinion about the Bible is more uniform than it actually is.

A unique aid to serious Bible study is Jack Finegan’s Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Princeton, 1964)—a difficult book not designed for the general reader. Finegan provides the more advanced student with an authoritative survey of the principles of chronology in the ancient world and the problems of biblical chronology. Here is discussion of Bible numerology that makes sense!

CONCORDANCES Of the various available concordances to the English Bible, the one most helpful to the general student is Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible (Eerdmans). There is little value in being able to look up simply the occurrences of an English word that happens to be used in the KJV or some other translation (which is what most concordances—such as Strong’s—offer), unless all you want to do is locate a particular verse. What the Bible student needs to know are the various Hebrew and Greek words rendered by a single English term, and the various English words used to translate particular Hebrew and Greek terms. By making careful use of Young’s, the student is able to do this. In addition, once he has learned the alphabets, he is able to use both The Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament and The Englishman’s Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament (Zondervan). The student who knows more than the alphabets of the biblical languages will, however, wish to make use of the more accurate and scholarly tools available, namely, the concordances to the Hebrew Old Testament by Mandelkern or Lisowsky-Rost, to the Greek Old Testament by Hatch and Redpath, and to the Greek New Testament by Moulton and Geden.

DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS A good Bible dictionary is the most valuable aid to Bible study after the Bible itself. The contemporary student of Scripture is fortunate in the number of excellent works available today. Pride of place belongs to The New Bible Dictionary, edited by J. D. Douglas and others (Eerdmans, 1962), and The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, edited by G. A. Buttrick and others (Abingdon, 1962; four volumes). The former has been correctly described by W. F. Albright as “the best one-volume dictionary in English” (or, one might add, German or French or any other language) and is easily the best buy on the biblical-studies market today. It represents the best of present-day evangelical scholarship, is especially strong in Near Eastern archaeology and history, and contains excellent bibliographies. The IDB is larger, often less conservative in its conclusions, but indispensable for the more advanced student.

Other works sold in the bookstores tend to pale into insignificance beside those giants. The revised version of the one-volume Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible, edited by F. C. Grant and H. H. Rowley (Scribner, 1963), will be found useful (though it contains no bibliographies), as will its more conservative counterpart, The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney (Zondervan, revised 1969); but neither approaches the standard of the two previously mentioned dictionaries.

Among older works, the five-volume A Dictionary of the Bible, edited by James Hastings (T. and T. Clark, 1900–4), is still extremely valuable and is worth picking up second-hand. The popular International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Eerdmans, revised 1927; five volumes) will soon be superseded by a revised edition under the general editorship of G. W. Bromiley—wait for it. Another conservative work scheduled to appear in a year or so is The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia in six volumes.

All the worthwhile information contained in the older one-volume dictionaries, such as Davis or Smith, will be found in the NBD, the IDB, or one of the other dictionaries recommended above. Save your dollars, therefore, and buy the best. Unger’s bears the weaknesses of a one-man effort, and Harper’s is too radically “liberal” (without much scholarship) to be of real value. Don’t be misled by the title of The New and Concise Bible Dictionary—it was first published in the late 1800s!

For students who know German, there are two extremely useful reference works in this area: The Biblisches-Historisches Handwörterbuch, edited by Bo Reicke and L. Rost (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1962–66; three vols.) is strong in the area of historical research; Die Religion in Geschichte and Gegenwart (Mohr, third edition 1957–65; seven volumes) is more theologically oriented but is an indispensable tool for the biblical scholar. These volumes are beyond the financial reach of most students, unfortunately, but they are readily available in all good theological libraries.

ATLASES With so many Bible atlases available today, the beginning student finds himself overwhelmed at the prospect of choosing. One word at the start: Choose an atlas primarily for its maps, then move to the category of “historical geography” or even “history.” An inexpensive collection of first-rate maps can be found in the Oxford Bible Atlas (Oxford, 1962). Other inexpensive editions of maps are also available. Not so good for topographical details but better for tracing historical movements, and valuably illustrated, is the Atlas of the Bible (Nelson, 1956), by L. H. Grollenberg, O. P. Finally, the apex of historical cartography has been reached in the product of two Israeli scholars, Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-yonah, whose Macmillan Bible Atlas (Macmillan, 1968) contains 264 maps tracing every movement of importance in the biblical world. Naturally, works of this type involve an element of interpretation, and you will want to keep checking facts in the Bible. Other good (Westminster Historical Atlas of the Bible) and more expensive (New Atlas of the Bible) atlases are also available to round out the cartographic feast.

After securing a good collection of maps, turn your attention to an “atlas” specializing in geographical commentary on the movements of biblical history. In this category falls the scholarly Rand McNally Bible Atlas, by E. G. Kraeling (Rand McNally, 1956), recently supplemented by the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Atlas (Zondervan, 1969), edited by E. M. Blaiklock. Almost half the latter book comes from the skilled pen of R. K. Harrison, who, together with such specialists as geographer J. M. Houston and New Testament scholars F. F. Bruce and Merrill C. Tenney, has written a book of exceptional value for the general reader as well as for the student.

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY Of works spanning both the testaments, George Adam Smith’s Historical Geography of the Holy Land (Hodder and Stoughton, 1910) is still unrivaled for a classical breadth of “feeling” for the land. A more contemporary work, though limited in scope, is Denis Baly’s Geography of the Bible (Harper & Row, 1957)—readable, accurate, and geographical rather than historical. For technical historical geography at its best, though limited to Old Testament matters, The Land of the Bible by Yohanan Aharoni (Westminster, 1966) has no competitor. And finally, for those who read French, the classic La Géographie de la Palestine, by Pere F-M. Abel (Gabalda, 1933–38; two volumes) is still a bargain, if you can find it. One additional note: You will at times need information on the broader world of the Bible, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt; for this consult the Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands (Moody, 1967), by C. F. Pfeiffer and H. Vos.

ARCHAEOLOGY Books listed as archaeological are often little more than history illustrated by archaeological data, and care must be exercised in the search for an ideal treatment. For the beginner seeking a knowledge of technique, Mortimer Wheeler’s Archaeology from the Earth (Pelican, 1954) is still the best. Kathleen M. Kenyon’s Beginning in Archaeology (Praeger, revised 1966) explores the possibilities on a worldwide scale and outlines the steps necessary to become an archaeologist, even suggesting universities with archaeological programs. For a more specifically Palestinian introduction, the opening chapters of The Archaeology of Palestine (Pelican, revised 1961) by W. F. Albright give a succinct overview. The rest of the book sketches developments within Palestine according to the usual chronological sequence, with special reference to pottery types.

Books dealing with the results, rather than the methods, of biblical archaeology are numerous. Perhaps Albright’s volume, cited above, is the best short, moderately technical treatment. Miss Kenyon’s Archaeology in the Holy Land (Praeger, 1960), similar in format, is the personal statement of one leading British specialist and contains an even fuller treatment of pottery types. Both these books give the detailed technical information needed for an introductory course in biblical archaeology and form a valuable resource for the seminarian and layman alike.

For the reader whose interest turns directly from archaeology to Bible history, a general treatment such as J. A. Thompson’s The Bible and Archaeology (Eerdmans, 1962) or Millar Burrow’s What Mean These Stones? (Meridian, 1941) may be recommended. Burrow’s caution in making archaeology illuminate and confirm the Bible is frequently a valuable corrective to the overly apologetic treatment of some conservative writers. Two very useful and dependable histories, both drawing heavily on archaeology and well illustrated, are Biblical Archaeology by G. E. Wright (Westminster, 1957; the text alone, abridged, is also available) and Jack Finegan’s Light from the Ancient Past (Princeton, revised 1959).

For specific sites, the latest journal and excavation reports should form the basis of any detailed work. Summary articles on twenty-eight sites, chiefly Palestinian, appear in Archaeology and Old Testament Study, edited by D. Winton Thomas (Oxford, 1967), the Jubilee volume of the Society for Old Testament Study. For some other sites there are reliable but popular monographs available, outstanding among which are Wright’s Shechem, Biography of a Biblical City (Duckworth, 1965), Yigael Yadin’s Masada (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1966), Kenyon’s works on both Jericho and Jerusalem (though a bit more difficult for the uninitiated), and various treatments by Nelson Glueck, chiefly relating to the Negev and lower Trans-Jordan.

INTERPRETATION On the history of biblical hermeneutics, see Robert M. Grant, A Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible, Macmillan, revised 1963), an extremely well-written and interesting book. F. W. Farrar, History of Interpretation (Baker, 1885), is the classic nineteenth-century survey of the subject. Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation (Baker, revised 1956), provides an intermediate introduction to hermeneutics in general, while A. B. Mickelsen, Interpreting the Bible (Eerdmans, 1963), is a more thorough but decidedly less lucid work. The Interpretation of Scripture, by J. D. Smart (Westminster, 1961), is a rather dull book, but it is representative of a less orthodox approach to the subject than the treatments by Ramm and Mickelsen. James Barr’s now famous monograph, The Semantics of Biblical Language (Oxford, 1961) raises some crucial linguistic issues for the scholar, though few have been able to follow him in all his conclusions. It should be noted that more recent books with the word hermeneutic (note the singular!) in the title center around problems of theological methodology and have little to do with the traditional concerns of biblical interpretation.

ONE-VOLUME COMMENTARIES Three up-to-date one-volume commentaries should be mentioned at the beginning: The New Bible Commentary: Revised, edited by Donald Guthrie and others (Eerdmans, 1970), Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, edited by M. Black and H. H. Rowley (Nelson, 1962), and The Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by R. E. Brown, J. A. Fitzmeyer, and R. E. Murphy (Prentice-Hall, 1968).

The revised NBC replaces the older work of the same title and is a companion volume to the New Bible Dictionary; it represents the very best of contemporary evangelical scholarship and is the one that would be most useful to the majority of the readers of this magazine. Peake’s is more theologically inclusive than the NBC (though it uses a number of the same authors) but is an equally worthy volume; it is aimed at a more academically advanced audience than the NBC. The JBC represents the best of contemporary (American) Roman Catholic scholarship and is especially good in providing bibliographical information; it is unfortunate, however, to find some Catholic scholars very prone to accept the assumptions of nineteenth-century “critical orthodoxy” in a day when these are being questioned by Protestant and Jewish scholars of many different backgrounds.

MULTI-VOLUME COMMENTARIES As a general rule, one must be wary of buying complete sets of a commentary series. It is usually better to obtain the best individual volumes on particular books of the Bible from many different sets. Guides to the best such volumes will appear in subsequent installments of this bibliography. In the meantime it may be noted that The International Critical Commentary (T. and T. Clark) is the standard multi-volume exegetical commentary in the field. Although many of the individual commentaries are very old (dating as far back as 1895), the set is still a fundamental tool for the scholar. The Interpreter’s Bible, edited by G. A. Buttrick and others (Abingdon, twelve volumes), is still popular with preachers and contains some useful information, but is too full of wasted space (the whole text of the KJV and the RSV is included—in very large print) and homiletical chaff to be recommended as an economical investment. The Westminster Commentaries (Methuen) are useful, intermediate commentaries, reflecting a generally Anglo-Catholic point of view; and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, an older and more elementary work, remains useful. The Anchor Bible, under the editorship of W. F. Albright and David Noel Freedman (Doubleday), is certainly one of the most interesting of recent commentary ventures; it represents some of the best of modern Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant biblical scholarship, and places a strong emphasis on historical and linguistic matters. The New International Commentary (Eerdmans) is mostly complete in the New Testament (edited by F. F. Bruce) but only just begun in the Old (edited by R. K. Harrison). It is probably the best multi-volume commentary series written from the evangelical point of view. Theologically, it is moderately Reformed. The Tyndale Commentaries (Eerdmans) are less technical in nature and also represent an evangelical perspective, as one would expect from their sponsorship by British Inter-Varsity. The New Testament (edited by R. V. G. Tasker) is nearly complete, but less than half a dozen volumes on the Old Testament (edited by D. J. Wiseman) are available as yet. Two recently completed sets in the evangelical Wesleyan tradition are the Beacon Bible Commentary, edited by A. F. Harper and others (Beacon Hill, ten volumes) and the Wesleyan Bible Commentary, edited by Charles W. Carter (Eerdmans, seven volumes). Two recently begun sets by large, conservative, denominations are the Southern Baptists’ Broadman Bible Commentary and the Missouri Lutherans’ Concordia Commentary Series.

JOURNALS Several hundred theological journals are being published at the present time, and at least half of them have articles of significance to the biblical scholar. Any good theological library will subscribe to fifty or more of these. In a brief survey like this, there would be no room even to list all those that the student might find helpful. What follows serves simply as a check-list of a small number of the most important ones.

Three important journals for scholars are the Journals of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Quarterly and the Journal of Theological Studies. JBL contains essays on the Bible and related Jewish literature that are normally very technical; approximately half of each issue is given over to book reviews, which are often very helpful. CBQ is sponsored by the Catholic Biblical Association of America but includes articles and reviews by scholars of other persuasions; it is similar to JBL and is also noted for its good book reviews. JTS is more comprehensive and even more erudite than JBL or CBQ; its reviews are, on the whole, the best examples of scholarly reviewing to be found in any journal. The Tyndale Bulletin, published by the British Tyndale Fellowship (the academic theological arm of Inter-Varsity), is on a smaller scale (published annually); it contains the published forms of the annual Tyndale lectures in Old Testament, New Testament, and biblical theology given at Cambridge each year, in addition to other articles of significance. It is the only journal sponsored by evangelicals that consistently meets the high standard of scholarship represented by the three mentioned previously.

Less technical journals—designed for the scholarly pastor and theological student, as well as for the scholar—include Interpretation, Expository Times, the Evangelical Quarterly, the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, TSF Bulletin, and the Westminster Journal of Theology. Interpretation is probably the best all-round American journal of this level; most of the contributors are Protestant, and all theological points of view are represented (though the evangelical view is not seen in its pages as often as it used to be). Expository Times is a British journal that has been around for many years; some of its articles are quite technical, but most of them are written with the scholarly pastor in mind. The TSF Bulletin, a journal for theological students published by the British Inter-Varsity Fellowship, has always been good but has been greatly improved under the editorship of I. H. Marshall; it contains good book reviews and surveys of biblical research, and and at less than fifty cents an issue is certainly the best buy on the theological journal market. The Westminster Journal of Theology includes all the theological disciplines and is well known as the best of the academic journals produced by American evangelicals. And, naturally, the Bible student would not want to overlook the many helpful essays on biblical subjects and book reviews that appear in the pages of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES A good place for the student to begin gathering bibliographical information for Bible study is his Bible dictionary (provided he has a good one). The bibliographies appended to each article of The New Bible Dictionary and The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible are superb. The Jerome Biblical Commentary is also an excellent source of bibliography.

F. W. Danker’s Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study (Concordia, revised 1970) is unique. The author not only lists the important tools for biblical study—such as concordances, Greek and Hebrew texts, grammars and lexicons, Bible dictionaries, translations, books on Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, studies in biblical archaeology, and commentaries—but also attempts to teach the student how to use them.

More advanced students will not want to overlook the bibliographies of Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart or Elenchus Bibliographicus (formerly a part of the journal Biblica). All will find the annual book surveys that appear in CHRISTIANITY TODAY each February of value.

The authors are assistant professors at the new Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dr. Armerding in Old Testament and Dr. Gasque in New Testament.

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