Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible was a five-volume Biblical encyclopaedia published 1898–1904.
The full title wasA Dictionary of the Bible, dealing with the Language, Literature and Contents, including the Biblical Theology. It was edited byJames Hastings, with the assistance ofJohn A. Selbie. Additional assistance with revision of the proofs was provided byA. B. Davidson,S. R. Driver andH. B. Swete. Four volumes (1898—1902) divided up the alphabetic entries, with a fifth volume (1904) devoted to some extra articles, indexes and maps. Publication was byT. & T. Clark in Edinburgh andCharles Scribner's Sons in New York.
Although described as a "dictionary", the work is better described as an encyclopaedia, with signed articles sometimes several pages in length. It is a substantial work, with fivequarto volumes each of about 900 pages. The 194 authors of articles were established scholars of the day, generally Protestant Christians, from many countries, but mostly from the UK and the USA in that order.
The subject matter was "the Old and New Testaments, together with the Old Testament Apocrypha, according to theAuthorized andRevised English Versions." Articles were written "on names of all Persons and Places, on the Antiquities and Archaeology of the Bible, on its Ethnology, Geology and Natural History, on Biblical Theology and Ethic ...".
It remains a good source of Biblical information as understood around 1900.
A one-volume dictionary with the same name was issued by the same publishers in 1909. It was described as "not a condensation of the five-volume set, but new and independent work". The editor was James Hastings, with the co-operation of John A. Selbie, and with the assistance ofJohn C. Lambert andShailer Mathews.992 pages + xvi + 4 maps.
A completely up-dated and revised one-volume edition was written by 148 scholars, edited byFrederick C. Grant andH. H. Rowley and issued by the same publishers in 1963. 1059 pages + maps.
First edition
1909 edition
1912 extra volume
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