Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

3291 Pages·1998·13.73 MB·English

by  Leland Ryken

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Dictionary of
BIBLICAL IMAGERY

An encyclopedic exploration of the images, symbols, motifs,
metaphors, figures of speech and literary patterns of the Bible
General Editors:

Leland Ryken
James C. Wilhoit
Tremper Longman III

Consulting Editors

Colin Duriez
Douglas Penney
Daniel G. Reid

InterVarsity Press, USA
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA
World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com
Email: [email protected]
InterVarsity Press, England
38 De Montfort Street, Leicester LE1 7GP, England
©1998 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
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permission of InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press®, U.S.A., is the bookpublishing division
of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a student
movement active on campus at hundreds of universities,
colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of
America, and a member movement of the International
Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about
local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept.,
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd.,
P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 537077895.
InterVarsity Press, England, is the bookpublishing division
of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship
(formerly the InterVarsity Fellowship), a student movement
linking Christian Unions in universities and colleges
throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland,
and a member movement of the International Fellowship of
Evangelical Students. For information about local and
national activities write to UCCF, 38 De Montfort Street,
Leicester LE1 7GP.
Scripture identified as NIV taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984
by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Publishing House. Distributed in the U.K. by
permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. All rights
reserved. Those identified RSV are from the Revised
Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright© 1946, 1952, 1971
by the Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by
permission. Those identified NRSV are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible. Copyright© 1989 by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by permission. Those
identified NASB are from the New American Standard Bible.
Copyright© 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972 by the
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Lockman Foundation, and used by permission. Those
identified NKJV are from the New King James Version of
the Bible. Copyright© 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc., and used by permission.
Interior Illustrations: Roberta Polfus
USA ISBN 0830814515
UK ISBN 0851117538
Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data
Dictionary of biblical imagery/general editors: Leland
Ryken, James
C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III; consulting editors: Colin
Duriez,
Douglas Penney, Daniel G. Reid.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0830814515 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Bible—Language, style—Dictionaries. 2. Symbolism in the
Bible—Dictionaries. I. Ryken, Leland. II. Wilhoit, Jim.
III. Longman, Tremper. IV. Duriez, Colin. V. Penney, Douglas,
1956– . VI. Reid, Daniel G., 1949– .
BS537.D48 1998
220.3—dc21 9816945
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Contents

Preface
How to Use This Dictionary
Abbreviations
Transliterations
Contributors
Introduction
Dictionary Articles

InterVarsity Press
Executive Director
Robert Fryling
——————

Editorial Staff
Editorial Director
Andrew T. Le Peau
Managing Editor
James Hoover
Reference Book Editor
Daniel G. Reid
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Copyeditors
Ruth Goring
Elizabeth G. Yoder
Proofreader
Drew Blankman
Editorial Assistants
Eric Romero
David Zimmerman
Editorial Interns
Anita Genzink
Kay Kleinjan
——————

Production Staff
Production Manager
Nancy Fox
Production Coordinator
James Erhart
Design
Kathy Lay Burrows
Design Assistant
Andrew Craft
Interior Illustrations
Roberta Polfus
Typesetters
Gail Munroe
Audrey I. Smith
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Programming Consultant
Andy Shermer
Preface

This Dictionary of Biblical Imagery was conceived as a
reference book that would assist readers, students and
communicators of the Bible in exploring the fascinating and
varied world of the imagery, metaphors and archetypes of
the Bible. It appeared that conventional Bible dictionaries and
encyclopedias provided little help in this area. For those
whose Bible’s were pencilmarked with crossreferences to
images, motifs and other literary features, the lack of such
a reference work seemed like a crime—or a publisher’s
opportunity!
From there the vision of the Dictionary grew to include
articles on character types, plot motifs, type scenes,
rhetorical devices, literary genres and the individual books
of the Bible. In the end, some articles have sprawled across
broad subject areas (such as “Animals” or “Legal Images”) and
others are tightly focused (such as “Harp” or “Mustard
Seed”). Many articles are innovative and clearly distinguish
this work from other Bible dictionaries (such as “Well,
Meeting at the” or “Cheat the Oracle”). And even where
articles entitled “Wall” or “Tower” arouse a rightbrained
reader’s distaste for archaeological description and detail, the
emphasis is decidedly on the evocative dimensions of these
subjects.
Despite approximately 850 articles, this Dictionary is not
comprehensive. This acknowledgment is a testimony to the
vast and varied sea of biblical imagery, and to the limited
time and energy of both editors and publisher. It is always a
challenge to create a reference work in a field where no
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predecessor has established a “canon” of entries. It can also
be a delightful adventure as the editors repeatedly encounter
new vistas and angles of vision along the way—and try to
help others see them too. But after seven years of planning
and labor—and a work much longer than originally
projected—the time has come to cease and desist and publish.
We console ourselves in the generous thought that future
revisers can learn from our efforts and build on this
foundation. We also believe that our readers, as they work
with this Dictionary, will see that they can launch out on
their own and explore other facets of biblical imagery.
From the first, the editors sought to bring together the
talents and perspectives of both literary and biblical scholars
in a complementary marriage of expertise. But it quickly
became apparent that in order to produce a satisfying
volume, the claims of individual authorship would need to be
subsumed under the editorial vision. So the decision was
made in favor of a policy that would allow a free editorial
hand in shaping, rewriting and augmenting the articles.
Experience in creating reference works of this type has
shown that as the work progresses, the editors themselves
gain an ever deeper and broader view of the subject. Lateral
connections and new insights flourish as articles and pages
compound. A policy was created to allow this editorial vision
to be fed back into the work. Thus the articles are unsigned
(a list of contributors may be found at the beginning of the
book). Although some articles appear much as they were
originally authored, the vast majority of them have been
worked over by several editorial hands, and they are
frequently lengthier than the originals. As a result, this
Dictionary has become a highly collaborative effort in which
individual claims to authorship (not least those of the
individual editors) have been set aside in the interest of what
we trust will be a valuable contribution to understanding
and enjoying the Bible. We offer our sincere thanks and
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appreciation to the approximately 150 contributors who have
labored to make this work a reality. But we also accept full
responsibility for any deficiencies in the final product.
The primary audience for this Dictionary is not scholars but
laypeople. We have tried to create a readable and interesting
work, one that will not only serve as an indispensable
reference tool that augments conventional Bible dictionaries
but will also open up new avenues of reading and
appreciating the Bible. This book, we hope, will unfold new
perspectives for all students of the Bible, new approaches
for communicators of the Bible—including those in the fine
arts—and heartwarming insights for devotional readers of
the Bible. If readers capture some measure of the joy we
have experienced even in the midst of our reading the
proofs of this emerging book, we will have achieved our
goal.
The Editors
How to Use this Dictionary

Abbreviations

Comprehensive tables of abbreviations for general matters as
well as for scholarly and biblical literature may found on
pages ixx.
Authorship of Articles

The articles are unsigned (see preface), but a full list of
contributors may be found on pages xixii, in alphabetical
order of their last name.
Bibliographies
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A bibliography has been appended to some articles. The
bibliographies include works cited in the articles and other
significant related works. Bibliographical entries are listed
in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, and where an
author has more than one work cited, they are listed
alphabetically by title. Abbreviations used in the
bibliographies appear in the tables of abbreviations.
Cross-references

The Dictionary has been extensively crossreferenced in order
to aid readers in making the most of material appearing
throughout the volume. Five types of crossreferencing will
be found:
1. Oneline entries appearing in alphabetical order throughout
the Dictionary direct readers to articles where a topic is
discussed:
Enameled Imagery. See Hard, Harden, Hardness; Jewels and
Precious Stones; Permanence.
2. In the printed version of this dictionary, an asterisk
adjacent to a single word in the body of an article indicates
that an article by that title appears in the dictionary.
However, in this electronic version the asterisk has been
replaced by a hypertext link (i.e., the word is underlined and
highlighted in red)
3. A crossreference appearing within parentheses in the
body of an article also directs the reader to an article by
that title. For example, (see Lightning) directs the reader to
an article entitled Lightning. Such crossreferences are most
frequently used either to direct the readers attention to an
article of related interest.
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4. Crossreferences have been appended to the end of articles,
immediately preceding the bibliography, to direct readers to
articles significantly related to the subject:
See also Banquet; Blessing, Blessedness; Fill, Fullness; Harvest;
Land Flowing with Milk and Honey; Paradise; Storehouse.
Indexes

A Scripture Index is provided to assist readers in gaining
access to information related to various biblical texts.
The Subject Index is intended to assist readers in finding
relevant information on topics that have not been assigned a
separate article or are taken up in more than one place.
Transliteration

Hebrew and Greek words have been transliterated according
to a system set out in the front matter. Greek verbs appear
in their lexical form (rather than infinitive) in order to
assist those with little or no knowledge of the language in
using other reference works.
Abbreviations

General Abbreviations

cf.
compare
v. or vv.
verse or verses
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