The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible’s interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.

The EBR is also available online.

Blogger’s Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)

Intertextuality VI. Literature (Seth Ehorn; Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
Ehorn articulates the usefulness of applying intertexual tools to an examination of Shakespeare’s and Milton’s use of the Bible.

Jacob’s Ladder III. Christianity C. Modern Europe and America (Tim Lorentzen; Munich, Germany)
Lorentzen guides readers through the intriguing landscape of the reception of the story of Jacob’s Ladder in modern Europe and America: particularly among the Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants.

Internet and the Bible, The III. Christianity (Kristin Merle; Tübingen, Germany)
Merle provides a brief overview of internet resources for Christians in terms of online Bibles, research databases, and something she calls ‘Bible and Practice of Piety 2.0’, and the authority of Scripture.

Jerusalem II. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Eckart Otto; Munich, Germany)
Otto brings readers a genuinely helpful overview of the history of Jerusalem during the period of occupation related in the era of the Hebrew Bible. Given his expertise on the topic it’s very difficult to imagine anyone better suited to write this particular entry.

Isaac (Patriarch) I Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; Jashar, Book of; Jephthah’s Daughter Hebrew Bible, Old Testament (Thomas Römer; Lausanne, Switzerland)
Each of the essays by Römer expertly assist readers to a greater understanding of their content. Especially is this true of his treatment of the Book of Jashar.

Isaiah (Book and Person) VI. Literature (John F. A. Sawyer; Durham, United Kingdom)
In his entry Sawyer describes and discusses the use to which Isaiah has been put in the history of literature. For instance, the use made of it in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and in the poetry of William Dunbar.

Interpretation, History of I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; Jemimah; Jeshua (Place) (Choon-Leong Seow; Nashville, Tenn., USA)
Seow’s contributions are excellent examples of the descriptive art and lend themselves to serve as models of contributions to the genre of biblical encyclopedia.

Jerusalem Bible (Olivier-Thomas Venard; Jerusalem, Israel)
Venard’s very useful entry describes the interesting history of one of the best modern translations of the Bible and he also notes that an electronic research edition is in the making.