Anchor Bible Dictionary

The Anchor Bible project, consisting of a commentary series, Bible dictionary, and reference library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production. Having initiated a new era of cooperation among scholars in biblical research, over 1,000 scholars—representing Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, secular, and other traditions—have now contributed to the project. Their works offer discussions that reflect a range of viewpoints across a wide theological spectrum. The Anchor Bible project continues to produce volumes that keep readers current on recent scholarship and are grounded in analysis. The works bring advances in science and technology to bear on biblical materials, making historical and linguistic knowledge related to the interpretation of the biblical record available to experts and students alike. As of 2005, more than 120 volumes had been published, each edited by David Noel Freedman, General Editor and published by Doubleday (part of Random House, Inc.), Freedman died in 2008. Since then John J. Collins has served as the General Editor. In 2007, Yale University Press purchased the Anchor Bible Series. Yale now publishes backlist titles and new titles as the Anchor Yale Bible Series.

The Anchor Bible Commentary Series, created under the guidance of William Foxwell Albright (1891–1971), comprises a translation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Intertestamental Books (the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Deuterocanon/the Protestant Apocrypha; not the books called by Catholics and Orthodox "Apocrypha", which are widely called by Protestants "Pseudepigrapha"). For each biblical book, the series includes an original translation (with annotations, including alternative translations) of ancient texts, using modern knowledge of the ancient languages; overviews of the historical, critical, and literary evolution of the text; an outline of major themes and topics; a verse-by-verse commentary; treatment of competing scholarly theories; historical background; and photographs, illustrations, and maps of artifacts and places associated with biblical figures and sites. Lengthy or complex biblical books are covered in more than one volume.

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