Bible Odyssey – Online Bible Encyclopedia from SBL

Bible Odyssey is the Society of Biblical Literature’s online biblical studies resource, featuring articles on key subjects and passages in the Bible.

The Bible is a revered text for many and holds an iconic status in American and even global culture. And yet, studies show that people are unfamiliar with its key themes or stories—and who can blame them? The Bible is not one book, but many: a compilation of poetry, law codes, novellas, proverbs, gospels, and letters that were pulled together over the centuries. Being literate about the Bible is a tall order—but an important one. Given the Bible’s immense impact, our civic conversations and cultural awareness can only improve when we are able to recognize key people, places, and passages of the Bible.

In addition, readers are also unfamiliar with critical approaches to the text. There is a big difference between Bible study, which happens in a religious setting, and study of the Bible, which happens in an academic one.  Bible Odyssey addresses not only the literacy gap but also the gap between the academy and the “street.” Why should Bible scholars have all the fun? Wouldn’t you like to know about the Synoptic Question, or about J, E, P, and D?

Articles are written by biblical scholars and members of the Society of Biblical Literature. The site is an ongoing project, and has introductory articles on, for example:

David and Goliath (1 Sam 17), by Keith Bodner
The Nativity of Jesus, by Helen Bond
Mary Magdalene in Popular Culture, by Dan Clanton

 

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Payne Smith, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary

J. Payne Smith (ed.), A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith (Oxford: Clarendon 1903) is available online through Tyndale Archive of Biblical Studies (Tyndale House).

The Tyndale Archive also includes Gesenius’ 1906 Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Wilson’s 1850 Hebrew dictionary, Lane’s 1860 Arabic lexicon, Crum’s Coptic dictionary, and Jastrow’s rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary.

Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic Literature (1926)

A complete 1926 edition of Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic Literature is available online through Tyndale Archive of Biblical Studies (Tyndale House).

The Tyndale Archive also includes Gesenius’ 1906 Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Wilson’s 1850 Hebrew dictionary, Lane’s 1860 Arabic lexicon, Payne Smith’s Syriac dictionary, and Crum’s Coptic dictionary.

W.E. Crum, A Coptic Dictionary

W.E. Crum et al, A Coptic Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1939), is available online through Tyndale Archive of Biblical Studies (Tyndale House).

The Tyndale Archive also includes Gesenius’ 1906 Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Wilson’s 1850 Hebrew dictionary, Lane’s 1860 Arabic lexicon, Payne Smith’s Syriac dictionary, and Jastrow’s rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary.

4 Enoch: The Online Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins

4 Enoch is an open-access, online encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins. The editor-in-chief is renowned scholar of Enochic literature and early Judaism, Gabriele Boccaccini. Contributions are provided by a range of specialists, as well as graduate students.

4 Enoch includes scholarly and fictional works authored from the mid-15th century to the present, all around the world, with biographies of Scholars and Authors and a Dictionary of People, Places, Topics, etc. of Second Temple Judaism & Christian Origins.

4 Enoch boasts 15,000 pages, and is an ongoing project which is continually being updated.