Anchor Bible Series

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The Anchor Bible Series, which consists of a commentary series, a Bible dictionary, and a reference library,[1] is a scholarly and commercial co-venture which was begun in 1956, with the publication of individual volumes in the commentary series. Over 1,000 scholars—representing Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, secular, and other traditions—have contributed to the project.[1] Their works offer discussions that reflect a range of viewpoints across a wide theological spectrum.

As of 2008, more than 120 volumes had been published, initially under oversight of the series' founding General Editor David Noel Freedman (1956–2008), and subsequently under John J. Collins (2008–present). Each volume was originally published by Doubleday (a division of Random House, Inc.), but in 2007, the series was acquired by Yale University Press. Yale now prints all new volumes as the Anchor Yale Bible Series, while continuing to offer all previously published Anchor Bible titles as well.[1][2]

Anchor Bible Commentary Series[edit]

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 translational and text-critical notes; 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. Depending on the size and complexity of the book, some are covered in more than one volume.

The series has produced over 100 titles since the release of the first volume in the early 1960's. Despite boasting at least one volume on every book of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Deuterocanon/Apocrypha, the series remains a work in progress. Revisions and replacements of earlier works continue to be released, and at least a half-dozen volumes are currently under contract or in production.

Anchor Bible Dictionary[edit]

The ABD

The Anchor Bible Dictionary contains more than 6,000 entries from 800 international scholars. It has illustrations and line-art throughout, and is also available for download from Logos Bible Software or Accordance Bible Software. The "Dictionary" includes articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls, early Jewish-Christian relations, the historical Jesus, sociological and literary methods of biblical criticism, feminist hermeneutics, and numerous entries on archaeological sites, as well as bibliographies with citations listed individually at the end of each article.

Anchor Bible Reference Library[edit]

The Anchor Bible Reference Library is an open-ended series composed of more than thirty separate volumes with information about anthropology, archaeology, ecology, geography, history, languages, literature, philosophy, religions, and theology, among others.

Works in the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary series[edit]

As of 2023, the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary series include the following volumes (arranged by their assigned series number, which differs at points from the standard canonical orders):

Hebrew Bible / Old Testament[edit]

New Testament[edit]

Apocrypha / Deuterocanon[edit]

Noncanonical[edit]

Works in the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library[edit]

Works in the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library include:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "The Anchor Yale Bible Series", Yale University Press, 2008.
  2. ^ "Yale University Press Acquires Anchor Bible Series from Doubleday" Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, Yale University Press, 2007

External links[edit]