Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets

October 1, 2012

This volume completes the publisher's series of highly acclaimed, moderate-evangelical Bible dictionaries, familiarly called the Black series. Lengthy articles (115 in all) cover the significant prophetic books, but also concepts (evil, honor and shame, justice, exile, social-scientific approaches, women, editorial/redaction criticism, Israelite history, etc.). Of particular interest might be articles on "Conversation Analysis" and "Intertextuality," examples of old and new-form criticism of Micah (unfortunately not cross-referenced after the "Book of Micah" article), sections on discernment in "Hermeneutics" and the "True and False Prophecy" articles; and the "Ways Forward" or trends in scholarship sections that follow some articles. Entries on the historical interpretation of five major books illuminate the changing theological landscape. The writing is generally clear, if dense, and sensitive to translation issues, and cross-references and extensive bibliographies follow each article. Although some introductory material is provided, in-depth entries assume that readers are knowledgeable, and the indexes, that they are experts. There is no article or subject-index entry for Deborah, Huldah, or Miriam, for example: users need to know which chapter of which book in the scripture-index will reference that person. Also, the overall set-organization can be a bit confusing; despite their distinctive prophetic roles, Samuel and Elijah, for instance, do not figure prominently in this but in a previous historical volume, and this work lacks an entry on the political tension between prophets and kings. VERDICT Libraries with a significant clientele interested in theological studies will definitely want this work; the previous volumes are highly regarded among scholars in the relevant disciplines. General libraries have far less need of it, as the articles address a specialized audience.--Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI

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