Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels, Second Edition

I can still remember getting my hardback copy of IVP’s Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels in the mid-90s. I was fascinated by the narrowed, very specific scope of the dictionary. There was literally nothing else like it on the market. I remember wishing IVP would release similar volumes on the rest of the Bible. And, of course, they did.

Today, IVP has made available eight focused dictionaries, covering the entire Bible, in what is informally known as the “Black” dictionary series, so named for the color of the volumes’ hardback covers. And now, almost a quarter century after the release of the inaugural volume, IVP has released a completely revised edition of Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels. Edited by Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown and Nicholas Perrin, the new work is officially called a “Second Edition,” but upon examination, it seems to be much more than that.

If anything, the second edition of Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels is practically an entirely new volume. In the preface the editors state that nearly 90% of the volume is different from the first edition. Articles have been updated, re-written, and new entries have been added. What has changed so much about the New Testament documents, not quite two millennia old, that would justify such a major revision? Well, it’s not that the documents have changed as much as our understanding of them has. The editors have attempted to answer this question in the preface:

In recent decades some traditional viewpoints have been transformed, some overturned, others confirmed. New methodologies and approaches have been championed, some becoming commonplace. New studies have helped us to appreciate better the perspectives of the Gospel writers, and they have brought into sharper relief the challenge of Jesus’ life and message. Those studies have also grown more numerous and, in many cases, more technical.

[Note: For analysis of the different articles in the two editions of the dictionaries, I recommend this review.]

Above: a chart from the article “Rabbinic Traditions and Writings” by David Instone-Brewer.

The differences in the second edition are so significant, many Accordance users who have purchased the original edition of Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels will probably want to keep both in their Accordance Library to have two complete treatments of the same subjects. This can be done because we are not replacing the original title in your library, but creating a new file with the designation of “2nd Ed” instead.

The Accordance edition of the revised Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels has been tagged with the following fields: Titles, English Content, Scripture, Hebrew Content, Greek Content, Transliteration, Manuscripts, Bibliography, Authors, Captions, Table Titles and Page Numbers. This tagged content allows you to make very specific searches in the title itself or with other titles in the Research window.

Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels, Second Edition, is available for $47.90. Accordance users who have already purchased a copy of the first edition (in the IVP Essential Reference Library) can get the second edition for $20.

Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels
(Second Edition) only $47.90

Update to Second Edition from First Edition only $20