New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. Edited by Willem A. VanGemeren. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997. 5 volumes. Cloth. $199.99.

This dictionary consists of three parts: a guide to Old Testament theology and exegesis, three thousand lexical and topical entries, and a thorough cross-reference system and series of indexes. This set complements a similar series on the New Testament that was published in 1975. The editor expresses the hope that this work will encourage the study of the OT and that the OT will maintain its place as a vital part of the Christian canon and that the churches throughout the world will experience renewal through the faithful use of the OT. The list of contributors from around the world covers fourteen pages, many well known, including professors from Cambridge and Oxford and many from evangelical circles, but by no means limited to them. The only Lutheran I noticed was Terence Fretheim (23 word studies and the article on Yahweh).

The first two hundred pages of Volume 1 contain eleven substantial essays dealing with methodology and hermeneutics (textual criticism, history, literary approaches, the flowering and floundering of OT theology, canonical concerns). The last essay illustrates how the resources of the dictionary can be put to work in interpreting the biblical text.

The rest of Volume 1, all of Volumes 2 and 3, and more than three hundred pages of Volume 4 contain articles on the important theological words of the OT, with attention and cross references to semantic fields (synonyms), and copious, up-to-date bibliography. A clever numbering system allows even those with very modest knowledge of Hebrew to find their way around. The articles pay attention to the word's meaning in the Ancient Near East, in the OT itself, and in post biblical writings. The writers avoid verbosity, but significant words, such as "covenant," are treated in longer, ten page articles.

The rest of Volume 4, almost seven hundred pages, is devoted to "topics": proper names, the theology of each book, historical epochs, peoples of the OT, and concepts. Cross-references are made back to the theological word book. While the article on Isaiah ascribes the whole book to the prophet, the positions of biblical criticism are either acknowledged (e.g. Deuteronomistic History), or tolerated (Daniel).

Volume 5 is all indexes--of the semantic fields, of Hebrew words, of Bible passages, and subjects--plus a conversion table that converts their numbers to those used in Strong's concordance and vice versa.

This is a first-class reference work!

Ralph W. Klein

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago