At times an author may wish to indicate that a term or concept appears multiple times in a pericope. When such a notation occurs in the main text, spell out the word times or use an equivalent phrase (e.g., twice). When the notation occurs in parentheses or a note, use an arabic numeral + “x” … Continue reading x Times: Indicating Multiple Occurrences
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a first-century BCE Greek historian. He is best known for his work Bibliotheca historica (Library of History). It is common to encounter references with only Diodorus Siculus’s name but not his work. However, to maintain consistency with other ancient references with an identifiable author, we recommend that authors list Diodorus Siculus’s name … Continue reading Diodorus Siculus
Conceptual Metaphor Theory
In 1980 George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published Metaphors We Live By, a short book that examined metaphors as fundamental units of human thought. The basic argument was that certain attributes associated with one conceptual domain “map” (or, in later theories, “blend”) with those of another, creating a “conceptual metaphor.” For instance, ideas associated with … Continue reading Conceptual Metaphor Theory
Le Monde de la Bible
The SBLHS 2 §§8.4.1 and 8.4.2 contains the following abbreviation: MdB Le Monde de la Bible Readers familiar with the Labor et Fides series will think the italics an error. There are, however, multiple publications with the title “Le Monde de la Bible,” including a journal and at least two independent volumes. We propose expanding … Continue reading Le Monde de la Bible
Epistle versus epistle
1. The Problem An earlier post addressed the question of when to write Gospel and when gospel; this post deals with a similar issue: when one should write Epistle and when epistle. The same principles discussed here will apply to the synonyms Letter and letter. SBLHS §4.3.6 offers seven examples of when Epistle or Epistles … Continue reading Epistle versus epistle
Gospel versus gospel
1. The Problem One of the more confusing issues that writers in New Testament studies face is when to write Gospel and when to use gospel instead. SBLHS explains the matter simply: “SBL Press capitalizes Gospel when it is part of the title of a work and lowercases the term when it refers generically to … Continue reading Gospel versus gospel
Mishnaic, Talmudic, and Related Literature Abbreviations
SBLHS 2 §8.3.8 provides two sets of spellings for tractates from the Mishnah, Talmud, and related rabbinic literature: one according to a technical transliteration style, the other following a general-purpose transliteration style. The same section provides a single set of abbreviations for these works based on the technical transliteration style. Needless to say, offering two … Continue reading Mishnaic, Talmudic, and Related Literature Abbreviations
Separating Author Names
A previous post explained how to separate distinct publication elements within a bibliographic reference. This post discusses how to separate the names of authors and editors at the beginning of bibliographic citations. 1. In Footnotes In footnotes, the first name of the author or editor comes before the last name. The name should be separated … Continue reading Separating Author Names
Ezra-Nehemiah and Luke-Acts
The SBLHS 2 (§2.1.3.4) uses en dashes to connect page ranges, verse ranges, and the like (see our post here). Ranges of biblical books should similarly be connected with an en dash: Joshua–Kings Job–Ecclesiastes But: from Joshua to Kings between Job and Ecclesiastes However, hyphens should be used to connect biblical books that are conceptualized … Continue reading Ezra-Nehemiah and Luke-Acts
Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes
As noted in SBLHS 2 §2.1.3.4, authors should distinguish between hyphens (-), en dashes (–), and em dashes (—). The CMS FAQ on the topic explains the differences between the three as follows: a hyphen connects “two things that are intimately connected”; an en dash connects “things that are related to each other by distance”; … Continue reading Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes
SBL Handbook of Style 