Offering a wealth of reliable information, The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible provides more than 300 articles that cover everyone from Adam and Eve to Jesus Christ and everywhere from the Garden of Eden to Golgotha and Gethsemane.

Readers will find fascinating, informative entries on virtually every major figure who walked across the biblical stage. Here are Hebrew Bible figures such as Cain and Abel, Noah and Methuselah, Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, Solomon and Sheba, Moses and Aaron, Naomi and Ruth, and Samson and Delilah. The New Testament is likewise well covered, with pieces on Peter and Paul, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, the apostles (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot, and of course Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Articles also define groups of people who figure in the Bible, such as Angels, Archangels, and Demons, the Magi, the Tribes of Israel, and Women. Entries on the significant places of the Bible, both ancient and modern, include kingdoms and countries (Egypt, Assyria, Mesopotamia) and cities (Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Sodom and Gomorrah), as well as geographical features such as the Sea of Galilee and Mount Hebron. The guide includes a detailed index for ease of use, and 14 pages of color maps, providing an accurate, detailed portrait of the biblical world.

Here then is the first place to turn to find factual information on the people and places of Holy Scripture. Written by an international team of noted biblical experts, it is an essential addition to any family library as well as a useful, reliable resource for scholars and students.

"The entries on "Literature and the Bible" are particularly worthwhile. An excellent gift."

"Eminent biblical scholars Metzger and Coogan present a thick volume of Bible-related ideas, themes, and imagery that pull from history, geography, literature, art, and philosophy....The work truly excels. Recommended for serious Bible collections."

"Makes for a wonderful synthesis of contemporary reviews on the subject."

Bruce M. Metzger: is Collard Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. A recognized authority on the text of the New Testament, he was chairperson of the NRSV Bible Committee, which produced the New Revised Standard Version.

Michael D. Coogan: is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. A widely regarded interpreter of the biblical world, he is the editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of the Biblical World and co-editor (with Bruce Metzger) of The Oxford Companion to the Bible.