I responded to Mitch on the Milton list, but to add some useful reference works:
The Catholic Encyclopedia -- now available online and extremely useful on all sorts of matter, with the caveat that the perspective is the obvious one (though not so much as you might think)
The Encyclopedia Judaica (not the Jewish Encyclopedia) -- not, alas, online, but extremely erudite articles on all sorts of things (Hebrew Poetry, for instance), though, again, focused on the obvious perspective
Robert Alter's various translations -- The Pentateuch, 1 and 2 Samuel, Psalms, and now the Wisdom Books -- are extremely useful, especially the notes which illuminate all sorts of crucial matters in the Hebrew text, with implications for any translation
I also tend to use lots of images when I teach the English Bible, since they provide an immediately accessible artistic interpretation that makes a good springboard for discussion (whether orthodox or zany). An outstanding resource for such images is
www.biblical-art.com.
Hannibal
On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Lee Piepho
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Well, probably The Oxford Companion to the Bible should be mentioned. I also find useful The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. I've often found it instructive to set the commentary in the Douay-Rheims Bible against the Geneva Bible in the EEBO editions.
Best wishes,
Lee Piepho
On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Mitchell M. Harris
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My apologies for cross-listing. Yesterday, a conversation developed on the Milton list-serve that I'd be interested to continue here. I raised a question about trustworthy, scholarly editions of Bibles. I'm particularly interested in learning about the KJV, Bishops', Geneva, Tyndale, Wycliffe, Vulgate, and Duoay-Rheims versions that people use for research and teaching. I'd also be interested in learning more about secondary sources you work with in Bible as Literature/Bible and Literature classes as well.
I'm compiling a Microsoft Word document with all of this information and am certainly willing to share it. Please contact me off-list if you'd like a copy.
All the best,
Mitch Harris
Mitchell M. Harris
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Augustana College
2001 S. Summit Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57197
(605) 274-5297
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"To stand inquiring right, is not to stray;
To sleep, or run wrong, is."
- John Donne
--
Hannibal Hamlin
Associate Professor of English
Editor, Reformation
Organizer, The King James Bible and its Cultural Afterlife
http://kingjamesbible.osu.edu/
The Ohio State University
164 West 17th Ave., 421 Denney Hall
Columbus, OH 43210-1340
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