of a work originally published in French, Paris (1722), by Augustin Calmet (1672-1757). In 1732 a great Bible dictionary appeared, though it was the tr. for the benefit of all that would soon Reade and understand the Scriptures of Truth, in their Originall Tongues, especially Hebrew these Names containe all, or most of the Primitives in Hebrew, which all being known, with their significations, make a firmer impression of them in the Memory, than anyway else I know, all Names being reduced to their Primitives, which in a Moneth one unlettered in the Hebrew, may doe, by a few directions, with much ease, profit, and delight.”Ī volume more truly of a dictionary nature was published in 1730 by Ferdinando Shaw, A Summary of the Bible or the Principal Heads of Natural and Revealed Religion alphabetically disposed in the Words of Scripture only. In 1660 a volume was published that carried one of the most comprehensive titles ever given to this kind of a dictionary: “SCRIPTURE-NAMES EXPOUNDED, in this right profitable, fruitfall, large, and ample, Alphabeticall Table: Containing the Interpretation of about foure thousand Proper Names (but halfe a dayes reading in Newcastle, July 16, 1649), in the Hebrew, Caldean, Greeke, and Latine Tongues, dispersed throughout the whole Bible. is known.įrancis Roberts, the author of a number of apologetic works, issued in 1648 his Clavis Bibliorum: The Key to the Bible, which was printed in at least four edd.
Two years later in 1642 Richard Bernard (1568-1641) published a small work of less than 200 pages, more theological than Biblical, The Bibles Abstract and Epitome, The Capitale Heads, Examples, Sentences and Precepts of all the Principall Matters in Theologie, Collected Together for the Most part Alphabetically.taken out the best Modern Divines. Thomas Wayne, a schoolmaster (1582-1645) wrote The General View of the Holy Scriptures or, the Times, Places, and Persons of the Holy Scriptures, rev. language, but for the sake of completeness, the following are listed: which contains articles written not only around individual words, but around phrases.įor the next hundred years no important volumes of this character appeared in the Eng. (1622) contains 948 unnumbered pages, including a unique dictionary for the Book of Revelation of 131 pages, and a dictionary of the Song of Solomon of 49 pages. It appeared first in 1612, and passed through several edd., of which the fifth (1667) was somewhat enlarged. was the Complete Christian Dictionary of Thomas Wilson, a minister of St. that might be classified as a Bible dictionary was a volume of 200 pages, published in London by William Patten in 1575, entitled: The Calendars of Scripture, whearin the Hebru, Chaldean, Arabian, Phenician, Syrian, Persian, Greek and Latin names of Contreys, Men, Women, Idols, Cities, Hills, Rivers, and of Other Places in the Holly Byble Mentioned by Order of Letters is Set and Turned into Our English Toung. This article will not include concordances ( see Concordance), lexicons, indexes to the Bible, theological and denominational encyclopedias, or any of the smaller works since 1900. In this way he might arrange in their several classes and given an account of the unknown places and animals and plants and trees and stones and metals and other species of things that are mentioned in Scripture, taking up these only, and committing his account to writing.” ( On Christian Doctrine, Book II, Ch. “What then some men have done in regard to all words and names found in Scripture in the Hebrew and Syriac and Egyptian and other tongues.and what Eusebius has done in regard to the history of the past., the same I think might be done in regard to other matters, if any competent man were willing in a spirit of benevolence to undertake the labor for the advantage of his brother. 367, Augustine expressed what must have been the general desire of many serious students of Scripture when he wrote in his Rules for the Interpretation of Scripture: of this work has ever appeared in the Eng. it into Lat., correcting some of its errors and adding some important material.
It is a geographical dictionary, listing and describing about 600 names of towns, rivers, etc., in the OT and in the gospels. 326), who wrote a four-volume encyclopedia of which only one part is extant, known as the Onomasticon. Probably the first to undertake such a work was Eusebius of Caesarea (c. BIBLE DICTIONARIES, works that treat topically the places, persons, history, doctrines, and objects of the Bible.