Dictionary of Bible Themes

Do you want to know your Bible better? This innovative dictionary of the Bible will guide you through its central themes, such as God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, sin and salvation, the church, suffering, hope, and eternal life. You will gain a full and fresh appreciation of the richness of the Bible.

This unique and comprehensive topical dictionary covers over 2,000 themes, giving explanations, key Bible references, and cross-references to related themes.

Produced by the highly respected editorial team of Martin H. Manser, Alister E. McGrath, J. I. Packer, Donald J. Wiseman, J. Gordon McConville, and Stephen H. Travis.

The study of the Bible lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It is therefore important that readers of the Bible are given every means of help so that they may get as much benefit and enjoyment as possible out of reading the Bible. The Dictionary of Bible Themes is designed to allow its users to appreciate to the full the unfolding of the unity and richness of the Bible by studying its central themes.

What is the Bible all about?

The Dictionary of Bible Themes was planned to allow its users to identify and explore the leading themes of Scripture – themes such as God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the human race, sin and salvation, the Christian life, the church and the hope of glory.

This Dictionary identifies these, and many other key themes, and traces them throughout the course of Scripture. The Bible is here allowed to speak for itself, with a minimum of comment and explanation. The approach adopted in this volume allows its users to come into contact directly with Scripture, rather than having to approach it through the views of commentators. The main themes of Scripture are identified, key biblical references are provided and the mutual relationship of themes is set out clearly. Over 2,000 themes detailed in this work cover doctrinal, ethical, historical and cultural subjects. In addition to dealing with the great themes of the Christian message of salvation, the themes thus also deal with practical issues of Christian living. This approach allows a unifying of Christian wisdom, both theological and practical, for the edification of God’s people.

The thematic approach

The approach adopted in this work differs significantly from a more lexical approach found in some older reference works. A thematic approach is based on related ideas; a lexical approach is based on individual words. The difference between them can easily be appreciated by considering the theme of “assurance”. A word-based approach would be limited to identifying biblical passages in which words such as “assure” or “assurance” appear. A thematic approach, however, goes far beyond this and explores all the basic elements of the theme. It identifies its basic ideas, its presuppositions and its consequences, in order that the theme in all its fullness can be unfolded to the reader. Thus the material that deals with assurance covers the grounds of assurance (e.g., the knowledge of God, the certainty of his word, the work of the Holy Spirit), the nature of assurance (of a relationship with God, of salvation, of eternal life and a future hope) and the relationship between assurance and the life of faith. An extensive system of indexing and cross-referencing allows the dynamic relationship of the many biblical themes to be understood and further explored.

A further advantage of the thematic approach of the Dictionary of Bible Themes is that it can be used with any Bible translation. Although the verse references provided are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive, the reader will nevertheless find a wealth of biblical material arranged thematically.

The thematic approach will be particularly welcomed by those who are preparing studies or talks on biblical themes and wish to ensure that they have included or referred to the central passages within Scripture. It will enable them to gain an understanding of the overall place of this theme within Scripture and to explore the way in which it relates to other themes. It will also be valued by readers of Scripture who become interested in a biblical passage or theme and wish to follow it through. The Scripture Index which allows readers to see immediately which themes are associated with the passage under study will allow its users to turn to the Bible Themes section and discover other passages of relevance, as well as other biblical themes that cast light on the particular importance of the passage or theme being studied.

The thematic study of Scripture is also important in another respect. Tracing the great biblical themes throughout Scripture allows us to appreciate the essential unity of Scripture. As we trace the unfolding of God’s purposes of redemption throughout the pages of the Bible, we come to appreciate more fully how Scripture bears witness to the same God and his same purposes throughout the great themes that bind it together.

Application of God’s word

The editors hope that this new work will bring a fresh quality and depth to readers’ understanding and grasp of the riches of Scripture. It is a work that has been designed to meet the many needs of God’s people in today’s world, whether they are individual believers, or a Christian family studying Scripture in the quietness of the home, or preachers preparing to thrill and challenge a congregation with a fresh appreciation of the wonders of God’s word.

Structure of the Dictionary of Bible Themes

The heart of the Dictionary of Bible Themes is the section on Bible Themes: over 2,000 themes covering the key themes of Scripture. Two ways of helping readers find their way into this section are provided:

• the Alphabetical List of Themes. This provides a complete listing in one single alphabetical order of all the theme titles. Selective cross-references are also provided for ease of use, e.g., at “anxiety” the reader is directed to “worry” and at “Cephas” to “Peter”.

• the Scripture Index of Themes. Verses of the Bible are listed and appearing alongside each verse are the themes associated with that particular passage.

In each case, the theme name and theme number should be noted and readers should use the theme number to locate the theme in the Thematic Section.

Using the Bible Themes section

This section contains over 2,000 themes, covering the key themes of Scripture. Themes cross-refer you to the various parts of Scripture at which each theme occurs and are organised under descriptive headings. You can use the resources of the Bible Themes section in a variety of ways to support your Bible study.

Classification of themes

The editors have given considerable thought to the arrangement and categorisation of themes. Each theme has been assigned a four-digit number, given with the aim of reflecting the theme’s core subject matter and allowing both ease of reference and an understanding of the overall place of the theme in Scripture. For example, one major group of themes focuses on “God”, another on “Jesus Christ” and another on “sin and salvation”.

The categorisation is not intended to force a straitjacket upon the biblical material by placing any kind of arbitrary restrictions on it. Indeed, in a number of instances, a theme could have been categorised differently. The classification is simply intended to make the identification and exploration of themes as simple as possible for the benefit of readers.

Each theme number consists of four digits. The first digit stands for one of nine main groups of themes:

1000 God

2000 Jesus Christ

3000 Holy Spirit

4000 Creation

5000 Humanity

6000 Sin and salvation

7000 God’s people

8000 The life of the believer

9000 Last things

Within each of the major groups of themes, themes have been arranged in subcategories. For example, under Jesus Christ 2000 come:

2003 Jesus Christ, qualities of

2200 Jesus Christ, titles and descriptions of

2300 Jesus Christ, ministry and work of

2400 Jesus Christ, gospel of

2500 Jesus Christ, history of

Within each subcategory, general themes are in many instances given first, followed by themes in alphabetical order.

For example, under the subcategory

2200 Jesus Christ, titles and names of

comes first the general theme

2203 Jesus Christ, titles and names of

followed in alphabetical order by specific names and titles, e.g.,

2206 Jesus, the Christ

2218 Jesus Christ, Son of God

2221 Jesus Christ, Son of Man

In many cases, themes are of such importance and complexity that they have been divided in logical order into more manageable sections. For example, the theme of “the church” has been divided as follows:

7020 church, the

7021 church, OT anticipations of

7022 church, and Jesus Christ

7023 church, and Holy Spirit

7024 church, nature and foundations of

7025 church, unity and fellowship of

7026 church, leadership of

7027 church, purpose and mission of

7028 church, life of

All the themes are listed in alphabetical order in the alphabetical index. Below is a list of the major groups of themes and subcategories:

1000 God

1010 God, nature and qualities of

1200 God, titles and descriptions of

1300 God, work of

1400 God, knowledge of

1500 God, the Trinity

1600 Scripture as the word of God

2000 Jesus Christ

2003 Jesus Christ, qualities of

2200 Jesus Christ, titles and descriptions of

2300 Jesus Christ, ministry and work of

2400 Jesus Christ, gospel of

2500 Jesus Christ, history of

3000 Holy Spirit

3005 Holy Spirit, qualities of

3100 Holy Spirit, titles and descriptions of

3200 Holy Spirit, ministry and work of

4000 Creation

4100 Supernatural beings

4200 Places

4300 Metals and minerals

4400 Vegetation and food

4600 Living beings

4800 Natural and supernatural phenomena

4900 Time

5000 Humanity

5070 Individuals in OT and NT

5125 Parts of the body and clothing

5200 Human civilisation

5650 Human relationships

5760 Human attitudes and behaviour

6000 Sin and salvation

6010 Sin

6100 Aspects of sin

6500 Salvation

6600 Aspects of salvation

7000 God’s people

7010 The church as the people of God

7100 Titles of the people of God

7200 History of God’s people in OT

7300 Institutions and culture of OT

7500 Jews and Gentiles

7600 History of God’s people in NT

7700 Leadership and the people of God

7900 The life of the church

8000 The life of the believer

8010 Faith

8100 The life of faith

8200 The character of the believer

8400 The tasks of the believer

8600 Prayer and worship of the believer

8700 Threats to the life of faith

9000 Last things

9010 Death

9100 Aspects of the last things

9200 Judgment

9300 Resurrection

9400 Heaven

9500 Hell

9600 Hope

Extract from alphabetical index of themes

Aaron 5071

-- as model priest 5073

-- spokesman for Moses 5072

abandonment 5770

Abba 1250

abiding in Christ 8102

ability See skill 5531

abolition 4906

abomination 6103

Abraham 5075

-- character of 5077

-- life of 5076

-- significance of 5078

Abram See Abraham 5075

abstinence 5771

-- as a discipline 5773

-- from drinking See drinking, abstention from 4436

abundance 4035

abuse 5775

Abyss, the 9520

acceptance 6602

-- divine 6603

-- human 6604

access to God 6606

accountability See responsibility 5051

accusation 5201

-- false 5202

achievement 5776

acquittal 5203

Adam 5080

-- and Jesus Christ 5083

-- creation and life of 5081

-- significance of 5082

addiction 6106

admonition 5777

adoption 6608

-- descriptions of 6610

-- nature of 6609

-- privileges and duties of 6611

-- responsibilities of See adoption, privileges and duties of 6611

adoration 8632

adorning 5778

adultery 6242

-- spiritual 6243

advice 5779

advisers 5780

affection 5781

affliction See suffering 5560

affluence 8701

after-life 9110

agape See love 8292

age 5204

ageing See old age 5725

agnosticism 8702

agony 5782

agreement 5783

agriculture 4406

alertness See watchfulness 8490