A 2003 LOGOS Book Award Winner! An ECPA 2003 Gold Medallion Finalist! The first five books of the Old Testament lay the foundation on which the rest... of Scripture stands. Its great themes, epochal events and towering figures set down vectors on which the biblical story is played out. The very shape of the rest of the Old Testament would collapse were the Penteteuch to be removed. The structure of New Testament thought would be barely intelligible without it. Here we meet the great ancestral figures of Israel--Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and the towering figure of Moses, whose presence dominates four of these five books. The creative act of God, the paradisal garden, the exile of Adam and Eve, the judgment of the great flood, the call of Abraham from among the nations, the covenant of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, the plan of the tabernacle, the varied experiences of Israel in the wilderness, and the announcement of the covenant blessings and curses--all of these and more contribute to a work of world-formative power. This dictionary explores the major themes and contours of the Pentateuch. Behind and beneath the grandeur of the Pentateuch, issues of historicity have both puzzled and beckoned. But whereas in the mid-twentieth century many English-speaking scholars were confident of archaeological support for the patriarchal accounts, the climate has now changed. In the most extreme cases, some contemporary scholars have radically challenged the antiquity of the ancestral stories, arguing for their final composition even as late as the Hellenistic era. This dictionary examines and weighs the historical issues and poses possible solutions. The documentary hypothesis, the former reigning critical consensus, is now widely rumored to be on life support with no heir apparent. Meanwhile, conservative scholars reconsider what indeed a claim to Mosaic authorship should entail. This dictionary offers an assessment of the array of questions surrounding these issues and considers some possible ways forward for evangelical scholarship. At the same time, there has been a fruitful turning to the nature, message and art of the received text of the Pentateuch. Literary studies of brief episodes, sprawling sagas, complex narrative and even the fivefold composition of the Pentateuch itself have delivered promising and exciting results. This dictionary offers both appreciative panoramas and close-up assessments of these developments and their methods. The is the first in a four-volume series covering the text of the Old Testament. Following in the tradition of the four award-winning IVP dictionaries focused on the New Testament and its background, this encyclopedic work is characterized by close attention to the text of the Old Testament and the ongoing conversation of contemporary scholarship. In exploring the major themes and issues of the Pentateuch, editors T. Desmond Alexander and David W.Baker, with an international and expert group of scholars, inform and challenge through authoritative overviews, detailed examinations and new insights from the world of the ancient Near East. The is designed to be your first stop in the study and research of the Pentateuch, on which the rest of the Bible is built.

2009 Merit Award winner! 2009 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Christian Book Award winner! The Old Testament books of wisdom and... poetry carry themselves differently from those of the Pentateuch, the histories or the prophets. The divine voice does not peal from Sinai, there are no narratives carried along by prophetic interpretation nor are oracles declaimed by a prophet. Here Scripture often speaks in the words of human response to God and God's world. The hymns, laments and thanksgivings of Israel, the dirge of Lamentations, the questionings of Qohelet, the love poetry of the Song of Songs, the bold drama of Job and the proverbial wisdom of Israel all offer their textures to this great body of biblical literature. Then too there are the finely crafted stories of Ruth and Esther that narrate the silent providence of God in the course of Israelite and Jewish lives. This third Old Testament volume in InterVarsity Press's celebrated "Black Dictionary" series offers nearly 150 articles covering all the important aspects of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther. Over ninety contributors, many of them experts in this literature, have contributed to the This volume maintains the quality of scholarship that students, scholars and pastors have come to expect from this series. Coverage of each biblical book includes an introduction to the book itself as well as separate articles on its ancient Near Eastern background and its history of interpretation. Additional articles amply explore the literary dimensions of Hebrew poetry and prose, including acrostic, ellipsis, inclusio, intertextuality, parallelism and rhyme. And there are well-rounded treatments of Israelite wisdom and wisdom literature, including wisdom poems, sources and theology. In addition, a wide range of interpretive approaches is canvassed in articles on hermeneutics, feminist interpretation, form criticism, historical criticism, rhetorical criticism and social-scientific approaches. The is sure to command shelf space within arm's reach of any student, teacher or preacher working in this portion of biblical literature. Tremper Longman III and Peter E. Enns edit this collection of 148 articles by 90 contributors on Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther.

A classic and still standard resource, Marcus Jastrow's monumental dictionary remains unique in that it covers both the Hebrew and Aramaic languages in... the literature of the rabbinic period. This indispensable dictionary of targumic and rabbinic literature includes thousands of entries in fully vocalized Hebrew and Aramaic, with references to the original texts, clear English definitions, and the full range of meanings and usages in the sources. It is organized alphabetically by actual form but includes also reference to a word's root, with abundant cross-references. Complete in one volume, in original largeprint format, sturdy binding, and with an index of Scriptural quotations, it is the most comprehensive single-volume dictionary available for reading early Jewish texts.

A classic and still standard resource, Marcus Jastrow's monumental dictionary remains unique in that it covers both the Hebrew and the Aramaic languages... used in the literature of the rabbinic period. This indispensable dictionary of targumic and rabbinic literature includes thousands of entries in fully vocalized Hebrew and Aramaic, with references to the original texts, clear English definitions, and the full range of meanings and usages in the sources. It is organized alphabetically by actual form but also includes references to the root of words and abundant cross-references. Complete in one volume, in a reader friendly format and page size, with a sturdy binding and an index of scriptural quotations, it is the most comprehensive single-volume dictionary available for reading early Jewish texts.

With over 8000 entries, and written for the general market, this volume uncovers the often surprising connections between words. Written in a clear and... informative style, the dictionary describes the Indo-European origins of English and includes many new words and coinages adopted each year.

For reference or for fun, here are the origins of thousands of English words. A mini OED!What is the link between map and apron, acrobat and oxygen,... zeal and jealousy, flour and pollen, secret and crime? Did you know that crimson originally comes from the name of tiny scale insects, the kermes, from whose dried bodies a red dyestuff is made? That Yankee began as a nickname for Dutchmen? That omelette evolved from amulette, “a thin sheet of metal,” and is a not-too- distant cousin of the word laminate? That jeans find their antecedent in jean fustian, meaning “a cotton fabric from Genoa”? The Dictionary of Word Origins uncovers the hidden and often surprising connection between words. Written in a clear and informative style, the more than 8,000 articles reveal the origins of and links between some of the most common English-language words. They also contain an extensive selection of words whose life histories are intrinsically fascinating or instructive. This dictionary shows how modern English has developed from its Indo-European roots and how the various influences on the language—from migration and invasion to exploration, trade, technology, and scholarship—have intermingled. It is an invaluable addition to any English or linguistics library.

One of the outstanding problems of the biologist, whether he be beginning student or specialists, is that of understanding technical terms. The best way... to understand and remember technical terms is to understand first their component parts, or roots. This dictionary has been designed primarily to meet the needs of the beginning student, the medical student, and the taxonomist, but it should be of value to all biologists.

Diction for Singers guides singers to the pronunciation of English, Italian, Latin, German, French, and Spanish. The easy navigation leads the reader... from the orthographic spelling to the sound, so she can see the general rules for spellings. Each language section includes quick reference tables showing all vowels and consonants with their common letter groups, and special pronunciations.

This is a series of paperback dictionaries one of each on the following themes: Thesaurus ("synonymes et nuances" 9782849022610); Difficulties with... French ("Difficultes du francais" 9782849022672); Expression and idioms ("Expressions et locutions" 9782849022665); French quotations (2 Volumes) ("Citations francaises tome 1" 9782849022641 and "tome 2" 9782849022658); Proverbs and sayings ("proverbes et dictons" 9782849023242); Quotations from the world ("citations du monde" 9782849024225); Spelling ("orthographe" 9782849022627); words together - thesaurus in context ("combinaisons de mots" 9782849024485); Etymology ("Etymologique" 9782849024249). Each book has between 800 and 1280 pages and is in Paperback (11 X 18 cms). There is also a larger flexi bound version of each title 'library edition' available.