Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Vol. 7 / Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Vol. 8

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Vol. 7 (...). Edited by G. J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren and H.-J. Fabry. Translated by D. E. Green. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995, xxv + 552 pp., $45.00; Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Vol. 8 (...) Edited by G. J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren and H.-J. Fabry. Translated by D. W. Stott. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997, xxiv + 560 pp., $45.00.

This standard reference tool (known as TDOT) continues to appear by fits and starts, following the German edition by several years. By now, readers of this Journal will be well acquainted with this series (see the reviews of vol. 1 in JETS 18.3 [19751 203-205 and of vol. 6 in JETS 38.2 [1995] 253-254), and vols. 7 and 8 bring no major surprises. The quality of the articles remains consistently high. The series also retains its non-evangelical stance on critical issues (although it appears that a few more evangelical works appear in the bibliographies-and even in the articles themselves-than previously). The editorial quality control is remarkably consistent for a series that first began appearing in English in 1974, although inevitably individual articles focus now on one aspect of a word (e.g. ancient Near Eastern backgrounds) and now on another (e.g. on semantic fields). The troublesome early transliteration system, whereby (...)was represented by "ts" (not s) and tt by "sh" (not s), etc., happily was dropped with the appearance of vol. 5 in 1986. Volume 7 has 75 articles by 43 different contributors, while vol. 8 has 76 articles by 44 contributors; 27 scholars have contributions in both volumes. By comparison, vols. 1-3 average 56 articles by 38 contributors. This difference is primarily because of the longer length of the later volumes; the selectivity has not changed appreciably.

As before, the articles here consider the etymology of words, but they do not lean overly much on etymology to ascertain meaning. Attention occasionally is paid to the LXX translations, and more attention is devoted to the usage of words in the Dead Sea Scrolls; however, pseudepigraphical and rabbinic literature is almost completely ignored (a notable exception is the article on "Leviathan").

Articles fall into three categories: (1) Those that are devoted to single words or lexemes (e.g. kaba"extinguish"; koah "strength, power"; khd "conceal, destroy"); (2) those treating groupings of words derived from the same lexeme (e.g. k'b, ke eb, mak'ob "suffering, pain"; kan, ken, makon, mekona, tekuna "prepare, establish, place"); and (3) those dealing with groupings of words that approximate a true semantic field conception, i.e. groupings of closely related (but different) words and lexemes (e.g. kebes, keseb, kibsa, kisba, seh "sheep"; kasap, kesep, kassap, assap, yidde`oni, lahas, lahas, nahas, nahas, `anan, sahar "magic"). This last type of entry, which best represents current linguistic theory, is relatively rare, however. Sometimes the semantic field is given within the article itself, but this is not regularly done. It should be noted that the German edition has running indexes to all the words treated, but the English edition does not. These are essential to an adequate study of true semantic fields, and the publisher would be remiss if it did not produce a comprehensive index at the end of the project. (It did so for TDNT, so there is no reason to expect otherwise for this companion series.)

A random sampling of vol. 7 yields the following highlights: Thorough treatments of important words such as kabed "be heavy, honor" and kabod "power, honor, glory" and their cognates; kohen "priest"; kisse' "throne"; kipper and its cognates "cover, forgive, atone" (although Milgrom's views are set aside with only a brief, dismissive comment; p. 294); and leb "heart." Also helpful are the in-depth treatments of seemingly insignificant particles k- "as, like" and its cognates and kol "all, every." Often, it is in careful attention to such small lexemes that significant bits of information are yielded. This is the standard reference tool in OT studies for in-depth word studies, and it undoubtedly will remain so for decades. It is well conceived and well executed in the main. A new work that will take its place alongside TDOT is the five-volume New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, edited by Willem VanGemeren (Zondervan, 1997). It is a slightly more ambitious counterpart to the four-volume New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, edited by Colin Brown. It will provide a more affordable-and more evangelical-alternative to TDOT. However, for its scope, depth and erudition, TDOT remains indispensable for any indepth study of Hebrew words and word fields.

David M. Howard, Jr. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Mar 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved