Reference Works (Dictionaries, Lexicons, etc.)

The student must distinguish between two types of dictionaries and lexicons, each of which must be cited differently. 

Entries with Signed Articles

In the footnotes, include only the page numbers cited (not the full page range of the essay). In the bibliography, include the full page range of the essay (not the individual pages cited in the notes).

Footnote Format

1 Forename Surname, “Title of Entry,” in Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, ed. Forename Surname (City, ST: Publisher Name: Year of Publication), ##.

2 Surname, “Short Title,” ##.

Footnote Examples

Derek. J. Tidball, “Social Setting of Mission Churches,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 887.


Bibliography Format

Surname, Forename. “Title of Entry.” In Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Forename Surname, ##-##. City, ST: Publisher Name: Year of Publication.

Bibliography Examples

Tidball, Derek J. “Social Setting of Mission Churches.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin, 883-92. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Entries with Unsigned Articles

Footnote Format

1 Book Title, s.v. “entry title.”

Footnote Examples

1 BDAG, s.v. “πιστεύω.”

2 HALOT, s.v. “אמן.”


Bibliography Format

Follow the appropriate book format type.

Bibliography Examples

Danker, Frederick W., Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Koehler, Ludwig, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann J. Stamm. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated and edited under the supervision of Mervyn E. J. Richardson. 4 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1994–1999.