The SBLHS 2 provides brief instructions about how to format bibliographic references when they appear more than once in a book or article (see p. 70). This post supplements those instructions with additional details. In traditional bibliographic format, complete publication data should be supplied in the first note referring to a given source: 4. Alexandra … Continue reading Subsequent Bibliographic References
Comprise
Believing that proper word usage is a significant part of good style, we wander slightly from our usual fare to discuss a construction frequently encountered in academic writing, the statement that “X is comprised of Y.” The meaning of the phrase is generally evident: X is made up of Y. Unfortunately, this is not the … Continue reading Comprise
Research Methods
SBL Press recommends that scholarly research methods be lowercased unless they are part of an academic department, bibliographic reference, or program unit name. archaeology canonical criticism feminist criticism form criticism ideological criticism rhetorical criticism reception history social-scientific criticism sociorhetorical interpretation source criticism womanist interpretation but Asian and Asian American Hermeneutics (program unit) Department of Reception … Continue reading Research Methods
Feasts, Holidays, and Other Observances
The SBLHS 2 follows CMS §8.88 in capitalizing officially designated, recurring days in secular and religious calendars. These include festivals, holy days, liturgical seasons, and similar observances. Below are a few examples: Akitu Al-Hijra Ascension Day (as a liturgical day) Ash Wednesday Ashura Beltane Christmas (Day, Eve) Day of Atonement Diwali Easter Eid al-Fitr Eid … Continue reading Feasts, Holidays, and Other Observances
Sifre Deuteronomy
As explained in a previous post (here) and in keeping with our earlier revision of SBLHS 2 §8.3.8, which specifies a single spelling for the titles of mishnaic, talmudic, and related works, one based on general-purpose transliteration (here), we are revising §8.3.10 to list only Sifre (Sipre is discouraged, as is Sifrei, which is also … Continue reading Sifre Deuteronomy
Herodian of Antioch
Herodian of Antioch is a lesser-known historian from the second–third centuries CE. His primary work is the History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus. It is common to encounter references with only Herodian’s name but not his work. However, to maintain consistency with other ancient references with an identifiable author, we recommend that … Continue reading Herodian of Antioch
Sifre Numbers
This post clarifies the preferred spelling and meaning of the general term Sipre/Sifre and elaborates on the proper citation style to be used with Sifre Numbers. In keeping with our earlier revision of SBLHS 2 §8.3.8, which specifies a single spelling for the titles of mishnaic, talmudic, and related works, one based on general-purpose transliteration … Continue reading Sifre Numbers
Polybius of Megalopolis
The Greek historian Polybius of Megalopolis (second century BCE) wrote a number of historical works, including his Histories, a Life of Philopoemen, A Treatise on Tactics, and a History of the Numantine War. Of these, only his Histories survives. To cite Polybius’s Histories, one should use the following abbreviation: Hist. Polybius, Historiae Note that, as … Continue reading Polybius of Megalopolis
Parts of a Book
The previous post (here) discussed the difference between the words forward (a directional term) and foreword (a part of a book). Careful readers may have noticed that we lowercased the word foreword in our example sentence: As the author mentioned in the foreword to her volume.… The lowercasing of the term is consistent with the … Continue reading Parts of a Book
Forward versus Foreword
Two commonly confused words are forward and foreword. Forward is a directional term meaning “near, being at” or “moving, tending, or leading toward a position” (Merriam Webster Online). Foreword is a section of a book for “prefatory comments … especially when written by someone other than the author” (Merriam Webster Online). For example: As we … Continue reading Forward versus Foreword
SBL Handbook of Style 