Dictionary of New Testament Background

Dictionary of New Testament Background. Edited by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000, xxxiv + 1328 pp., $39.95.

Released in the fall of 2000, the Dictionary of New Testament Background (hereafter "the Dictionary") is the fourth in the IVP dictionary series, preceded by the three dictionaries on Jesus and the Gospels (DJG), Paul and His Letters (DPL), and the Later New Testament and its Developments (DLNTD). Although the other volumes give considerable attention to NT "backgrounds," this volume is entirely devoted to background study. It is concerned with the background of the NT in the broadest sense, including the whole range of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman literary, social, and political activity as well as the archaeological data.

According to the editors in their introduction, the volume contains approximately 300 articles, with around 200 contributors. The list of contributors is actually closer to 150. It represents a wide range of scholarship, mainly from North America and the British Commonwealth. Several Europeans also contributed articles. A number of entries are by female scholars, and Jewish and Roman Catholic scholars are represented as well. Many contributors are well known and widely published. A great number are less familiar, especially recent Ph.D.s who have established themselves by their published dissertations. A quick glance at the bibliography to a given article generally reveals a work by the author, thus indicating expertise in that area. The editors have themselves published extensively in the area of backgrounds and have contributed a number of articles, comprising some of the very best work in the volume.

The dictionary follows the format of the previous three in the series. Each entry generally begins with a helpful outline and concludes with a list of related articles found elsewhere in the Dictionary. This is followed by an extensive and helpful bibliography. In the case of some short articles, they are nearly as long as the article itself. Some cross-referencing of articles to entries in the other three dictionaries is often provided within an article, but this is limited. It would be helpful in future editions if such crossreferencing were provided on a regular basis in the list of related articles that precedes the bibliography.

Articles vary considerably in length. In general, the more specific the topic the shorter the article. For example, the article on "Seneca" is one column long, whereas that on "Scholarship, Greek and Roman" is twenty-one pages in length. One of the strong points of the Dictionary is that it has a number of overview articles like the one above in addition to the usual more narrowly focused treatments.

The Dictionary contains three separate indexes (pp. 1304-28), for Scripture references, subjects, and a listing of the individual articles. The subject index is particularly useful, since many background topics do not have a separate article but are discussed within more general treatments. The Dictionary could be improved by the addition of more illustrations. I found only two, one of the Jerusalem temple and one of the monastery at Qumran. Articles such as "Art and Architecture" would be much easier to follow if a few drawings were provided.

The breadth of topics covered is considerable. Most writings of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha have separate articles. The major cities mentioned in the NT have entries, such as the two Antiochs, Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Rome. Major Greco-Roman writers are introduced, such as Cicero, Lucian, Suetonius, and the two Plinys. Articles are devoted to the Greco-Roman philosophers and philosophical movements as well as the major movements within Judaism. The different genres of Greco-Roman and Jewish literature are covered, as well as specific Jewish writings. In addition, there are a number of articles on the biblical languages, such as Aramaic and Hellenistic Greek, and related areas such as NT textual criticism.

A number of articles treat first-century social life, including family and household, characteristics of an honor and shame society, and the role and status of women. These are usually divided into two sections, one dealing with Greco-Roman, the other with Jewish society. Likewise, a number of entries deal with the various political structures in the Greek, Roman, and Jewish societies. One could quibble about some of the choices of topics. One gets the impression that a number of subjects were selected because a significant monograph had been recently produced on that particular topic, in which case the writer was invited to give a summary of his or her work.

Probably the most significant contribution of the Dictionary is its extensive treatment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many of the contributors have been active participants in Scrolls research. A large number of articles discuss the individual scrolls, many of which have only become available to general scholarship in the last decade. The Dictionary makes the wide range of these findings accessible.