Tag Archives: Biblical Studies

Encyclopedia of Ancient History Online is now available

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Encyclopedia of Ancient HistoryThe Encyclopedia of Ancient History Online (Wiley Blackwell)  is now available  to University of Edinburgh users – find it on the library catalogue. If access isn’t clear, try clicking on Institutional Login and entering University of Edinburgh.

This comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship on the entire ancient Mediterranean world covers not only the Greek and Roman civilisations but also the ancient Near East. Over 5,000 original entries span the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE, from the Book of Daniel to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Bar Ilan Global Jewish Database now on trial

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logo_small_v1_en-USThe Bar Ilan Global Jewish Database is now on trial until 20 June. The Bar Ilan Responsa Project is the world’s largest electronic collection of Torah literature of its kind. The database includes the Bible and its principal commentaries, the Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi with commentaries, Midrash, Zohar, Halachic Law (Rambam, Shulchan Aruch with commentaries), a large Responsa collection of questions and answers and the Talmudic Encyclopedia.

Access to the database is via http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-trials. University of Edinburgh users have IP based access on campus, or off campus via the VPN, and clicking on search or browse should allow access to the content.

Studying Ancient Galilee – new online resources

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A postgraduate study day on current discoveries in Galilean Archaeology, given by Dr Ken Dark,  is being held today (Wed 29th May) in the Baillie Room, New College.  The University of Edinburgh has recently added Oxford Handbooks Online to its range of digital library resources,  giving access to scholarly research reviews in this successful and cited series. Included are the titles below, relevant to Galilean Archaeology. All titles can be accessed by University of Edinburgh users via the A-Z Databases list.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception

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EBAIRUniversity of Edinburgh users  now have trial access to Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter) – trial ends 8 March. Find the link at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-trials

The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on the origins and development of the Bible in its different canonic forms in Judaism and Christianity. At the same time, EBR also documents the history of the Bible’s reception in the Christian churches and the Jewish Diaspora; in Islam, in other religious traditions and current religious movements, Western and non-Western alike, as well as in literature, art, music, and film.

University of Edinburgh users still have Context of Scripture Online (Brill)  available on trial until 19 February. All your feedback is helpful, but if you are able to provide feedback which compares these two Biblical Studies resources that would be particularly welcome. Do you think one is more useful than the other, or are they complementary and we need both?

Context of Scripture Online on trial now

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Context of Scripture OnlineContext of Scripture Online is now available on trial access to University of Edinburgh Users. Access is available on campus and off campus via the VPN. The trial ends on 19 February. See the eresources trials web page for more information.

Context of Scripture Online is a reference work aiming to provide access to a broad, balanced, and representative collection of Ancient Near Eastern texts that have an impact on the interpretation of the Bible. These ancient Egyptian, Semitic, Akkadian and Sumerian writings form the rich background to the literature of the Hebrew Bible.

New books at New College Library – January

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New College Library has a regular display of new books at the far end of the Library Hall, close to the door to the stacks.

Disability Studies and Biblical LiteratureCurrently in the display is Disability studies and biblical literature  edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy Schipper. This was a recommendation from Biblical Studies at the School of Divinity, Edinburgh University.

Also new is Celluloid sermons : the emergence of the Christian film industry, 1930-1986 by Terry Lindvall, purchased to support courses in film, religion and ethics.

You can see an regularly updated list of new books for New College Library on the Library Catalogue – choose the New Books Search and limit your search to New College Library. Here’s a quick link to new books arriving in the last few weeks. A word of caution – some of the books listed here may still be in transit between the Main Library (where they are catalogued) and New College Library, so not on the shelf just yet.

Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology Online Archive

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SBET_28-1The Scottish Evangelical Theological Society have agreed to allow biblicalstudies.org.uk to host the on-line archive of the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (SBET). All issues of the journal, which began in 1983, will appear on the site ten years after publication.  A new volume will be uploaded each week until volume 20 is reached.

Volumes 1 – 9 are already available online and include articles by Nigel M. de S. Cameron, David F. Wright, Carl F.H. Henry, A.T.B. McGowan, Derek Kidner, Geoffrey Grogan, Alan Millard and Gerald Bray.

The Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology is also available in print at New College Library at Per S.

The Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology is edited by Dr. David Reimer, from the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, and published by the Scottish Evangelical Theology Society in association with Rutherford House.

The saint, the saltire and a Scottish legend

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The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments … Oxford : Printed by the University Printers, 1695. New College Library B.r.468

Today, November 30, is Saint Andrew’s day,  also celebrated as Scotland’s national day.

The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (available online to University of Edinburgh users)  notes that the cult of St Andrews was evident in England from Anglo-Saxon times, when the church in Rochester was the earliest of 637 medieval dedications to St Andrew.  His legend grew to include the translation of his relics from Patras to Scotland by St Rule or Regulus in the 8th century.  It is said that under angelic instruction, St Rule stopped at the place in Fife now known as  St Andrews and built a church there, which became a centre for Christian evangelization and learning.  St Andrew is commonly depicted with the saltire cross (X), which is used to represent Scotland on the Union Jack.

This image of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, comes from a seventeenth century English Bible which contains attractive illustrations of Bible scenes and pictures of the saints. It has bound with it metrical Psalms in the version of the Scottish Psalter, 1564. It is part of New College Library’s Early Bibles Collection, catalogued online as part of the Funk Cataloguing projects.

Manchester Contributes to the Friedberg Genizah Project

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A growing resource for Jewish / Ancient World Studies – I see that as well as the digitized images of Genizah collections at Cambridge and Birmingham there are links to related open access journals and pdfs of all the 8 volumes of “Ginzei Kedem” – a Journal devoted to Genizah research and published by the Ben-Zvi Institute.

New College Library’s earliest Bible

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Novum Testamentum Graece, Strassburg 1524. New College Library B.r.316.

This Greek New Testament Novum Testamentum Graece, is the earliest Bible held at New College Library.

It was printed in Strassburg in 1524, and in his preface the printer speaks of this edition as the first fruits of his Strassburg press. Combined with the same printer’s Greek Old Testament of 1526 it  forms a complete Bible, but this New Testament appears to have been first issued separately.

This New Testament was published in Strassburg during the period that Protestant reformer Martin Bucer was active there. Bucer was part of a significant group of reformers including Matthew Zell and Wolfgang Capito, and he corresponded with the theologians Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli. During his time in Strassburg he is known to have taught classes on books of the Bible so may have used a Greek Testament like this one.

This copy has a number of manuscript inscriptions testifying to its former ownership and a printed book plate from James Walker, Christ Church. It is likely to have been donated to New College Library in the early years of its foundation. Part of the Early Bibles Collection, it was catalogued as part of the Funk Cataloguing Projects here at New College Library.

With thanks to our Rare Books cataloguer Finlay West for supplying details of this item.