Spirited, divisive, ardent, doubting, faithful, flawed, devout--who’s who in the Bible

The beautiful artwork on every page of this substantial, coffee table size book makes it a joy to pore over, and I’ve spent a lot of time just doing that, but even without all the breathtaking illustrations the text alone would make this book a pleasure to read. For anyone interested in the Bible it’s a wonderful, well organised reference with hundreds of entries that cover its key events and precepts by telling the stories of people from the Old Testament to the New Testament, treating each story with respect and noting historical evidence when there is some.

Who’s Who in the Bible has been divided into three Old Testament and two New Testament chapters that create the narrative flow and magnetic pull of a grand epic novel and can be read straight through, which is what I couldn’t resist doing though that’s not how I expected to use the book, but it would also be a simple thing to look up people individually by their entries if someone in particular interests you. Spirited, divisive, ardent, doubting, faithful, flawed, and devout, the people in these stories are captivating and fully human. Besides the artwork and the people entries there are descriptive chapter introductions, detailed maps, helpful family trees, and fascinating photographs of archaeological objects from biblical times. Can you tell I love the book? I do. ( )