Are you looking for a resource to add some real spice to your Bible study? You need to check out Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity edited by Edwin M. Yamauchi and Marvin R. Wilson and published by Hendrickson. This first release of a planned three-volume set covers A-Da.

This attractive volume has two special features. It focuses more on subjects that might occur to you and I rather than just Bible terms. Things like “Barbers and Beards” and “Bellows and Furnaces” would be a little harder to track down in a typical Bible encyclopedia set. The other distinction is price. Many Bible students never get down to purchasing Bible encyclopedia sets because of the full-frontal assault upon their wallets. This volume is more within financial reach.

Besides being enlightening, and a real aid in sermon or lesson preparation, these articles are fun. They at times tell about things you want to know but whose information you never quite came across. Subjects like abortion, animal husbandry, bathing, and clothing are just a few of those that make fascinating reading.

As with any such work, you may wonder how the choice of entries was arrived at, and at times you may not buy into the evidence presented, but overall the work is outstanding. Looking at every subject in the chronological order of OT, NT, the Near Eastern World, the Greco-Roman, the Jewish World, and the Christian World is especially ideal.

I recommend this volume and eagerly await the other two volumes to complete the set.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.