Anchor bible dictionary 6-volume prepack (Yale University Press)

This is the most extensive Bible dictionary ever created. It is the first major Bible dictionary to be published in America in 30 years. It includes: 6 volumes of approximately 1,200 pages each; more than 6,000 entries; and, more than 7,000,000 words.

It features nearly 1,000 contributors - all the biggest names from around the world. It is multicultural and interdisciplinary in scope. It provides an unprecedented interfaith exploration of the Bible.

It is illustrated throughout with easy-to-find references. It includes endpaper maps of the Near Eastern world keyed to text for quick location of archaeological and biblical sites. It is extensively cross-referenced for comprehensive coverage of topics.

It offers easy-to-read article and chapter headings for speedy location of material. It provides full bibliographic references following all major entries.Inside you'll find: exciting articles on pseudepigraphic and apocryphal texts, Nag Hammadi tractates, and individual dead Sea Scrolls - including the very latest on the most recently published sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls; "Minor entries" on personal and place-names that go well beyond the one- or two-sentence descriptions found in other Bible dictionaries; outstanding summaries of the latest research on the historical Jesus; fascinating new articles discussing the growing reappraisal of early Christianity's relationship with Judaism (was Christianity an "offspring" or "sibling" of rabbinic Judaism?); many articles illustrating the literary artistry of the biblical text; intriguing discussions of everyday life in Bible lands - including articles that help us to understand health and disease, the role of animals and plants in the ancient ecosystem, and the demographics of human settlement in ancient Palestine; and, a richness of information unequaled in the history of biblical studies.