The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media - by Tom Thatcher & Chris Keith & Raymond F Person (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media (DBAM) is a convenient and authoritative reference tool which relates specific terms and concepts to the study of the Bible and related literature in ancient communications culture. Particularly since the early 1980s, scholars have begun to explore the potentials of interdisciplinary theories of oral tradition, oral performance, personal and collective memory, ancient literacy and scribality, visual culture, and ritual for considerations of critical and exegetical problems in the study of the Bible, the history of Israel, Christian origins, and rabbinics. DBAM responds to the rapid growth of the field by providing a reference tool that offers definitions and discussions of relevant terms and concepts and the relationships between them.

This volume begins with an overview of "ancient media studies" and a brief history of research to orient the novice reader to the field and the broader research context of the book. It features individual entries of 300-5000 words on terms and topics commonly encountered in studies of the Bible in ancient media culture. Each entry defines the term/concept under consideration, then offers more sustained discussion of the topic often with particular attention to its relevance to the study of the Bible and related literature. For convenience, individual entries are catalogued alphabetically and cross-referenced to indicate connections between the various topics; electronic versions of this resource are internally hyperlinked using the same reference system.

Review Quotes

"This title goes a long way toward filling a very specific gap in reference sources on the communication and theology disciplines-namely, the media by which the ancients communicated ... Summing up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." --CHOICE

"A handbook that is as useful as it is innovative, opening up unfamiliar perspectives and new insights with its specific focus." --Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (Bloomsbury Translation)

About the Author

Tom Thatcher is Professor of Biblical Studies at Cincinnati Christian University, USA. He has authored or edited numerous books and articles on the Johannine Literature and early Christian media culture.

Chris Keith is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, UK.

Raymond F. Person, Jr. is Professor of Religion at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, USA.

Elsie Stern is Vice President for Academic Affairs at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, USA.