Is the "Hard Sayings of the Bible" in this collection the one that has contributions by Kaiser, Bruce, Brauch, and Davis?
yes.
Okay, thanks.
How "worth it" would you say this product is? In my opinion, the pocket dictionaries are throw away (I have some hard copies and I never use them), I don't need another Atlas and everyone already has KJV and I have a hard copy of the Hard Sayings. That leaves the dictionaries and Background commentaries. I already have other dictionaries and Background commentaries... Are these the best dictionaries and commentaries?
How "worth it" would you say this product is? In my opinion, the pocket dictionaries are throw away (I have some hard copies and I never use them), I don't need another Atlas and everyone already has KJV and a hard copy of the Hard Sayings. That leaves the dictionaries and Background commentaries. I already have other dictionaries and Background commentaries... Are these the best dictionaries and commentaries?
You will find that the IVP dictionaries are extremely helpful. The genius of them is that they limit themselves to specific portions of the text. Preaching/studying in the gospels? Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels will have helpful information pertinent to just that field and you won't have to sort through extra stuff. Also, this format allows the dictionary entries to go more in depth and/or include information that would normally be excluded in other dictionaries because of space concerns.
The background commentaries have probably been surpassed by Zondervan's Illustrated commentaries, however, these are very good and A LOT cheaper.
I use the Dictionaries all the time. The Background commentaries are pretty good as well as I will often use them for quick reference when I am just reading the Bible. At least for my use, I consider the IVP stuff an essential upgrade to a base collection. Others would probably disagree based on their needs.
<rant>I agreee... I really like the Zondervan stuff, but it is pricey!!! </rant> I am watching and waiting for a sale or some special deal.
I thoroughly enjoy the Dictionaries and Background Commentaries. They are concise, yet provide a nice amount of information that is scholarly and biblical. The price during the 12days sale is amazing... Simply for the Dictionaries and Commentaries alone in physical copy would be well over $100 themselves. I have used both for seminary studies and for my pastoral ministry in preparing sermons and bible studies. I would highly recommend [Y]
The background commentaries have probably been surpassed by Zondervan's Illustrated commentaries, however, these are very good and A LOT cheaper. <rant>I agreee... I really like the Zondervan stuff, but it is pricey!!! </rant> I am watching and waiting for a sale or some special deal.
Agreed and Amen!
Thanks for the input.
The IVP Reference Collection is the BEST deal going in Logos and has been from version 1.0. At this price it really should be almost a no-brainer for those who have the money and do serious study. If other publishers gave the kind of deals that IVP gives in this collection, Portfolio would be about $1,500 for everyone. (I exaggerate, of course, but not by much.)
In this case the adjective "Essential" is apt for this collection - I go to these resources all the time, particularly the NT dictionaries and the background commentaries; Keener's NT background commentary is a must-have. This collection helped me out on many of my NT exegesis papers in seminary. I have found the pocket dictionaries to be helpful at times as well - it is amazing how Logos can make "throw-away" resources more usable.
I must also add that I do not refer to Hard Sayings that often, though I think it is a good resource to have as a reference. It would be exponentially more useful if Logos re-typed it as a commentary instead of a monograph so that it could scroll along with you as you read the Bible. I guess they didn't format it this way because it doesn't cover every passage in the Bible, but neither does the IVP Commentary on the NT Use of the OT.
btw, I have the two IVP OT Dictionaries on prepub and look forward to the Wisdom and Poetry dictionary coming out in Logos format. I can imagine that the 4.0 version of this collection will be an amazing value if they were to add all of the OT dictionaries.
Correction - the Commentary on the NT Use of the OT is from Baker, not IVP. Another excellent resource I highly recommend.
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