Reference library
Old reference works that Ask quotes for background: what a word meant, where a place was, what a custom was. They’re in the public domain, and they’re old: some of what they say is out of date, and they speak for their writers, not for this site. The Bible itself always comes first.
On the shelf
- Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897). A short dictionary of the Bible’s people, places and words, by a Scottish minister. 3,961 entries. The text
- Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884). William Smith’s English dictionary of the Bible, in the shorter American edition by F. N. and M. A. Peloubet. 4,639 entries. The text
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915). A long encyclopedia of the Bible by scholars of several Protestant churches. 9,349 entries. The text
- The Works of Flavius Josephus (1737), translated by William Whiston. The Jewish historian of the first century: the history of his people from the beginning to the war with Rome. 2,298 entries. The text
- Nave's Topical Bible (1896). An index of the Bible by subject, compiled by an army chaplain: where the Bible speaks of each one, verse by verse. 5,322 entries. The text
Entries that demean people for their race, people, faith or sex have been left out or trimmed, each noted in the site’s records.