Skip to Main Content

Style Guide for Research Papers: Citing Lexicons

This is the style guide for assignments in courses offered by the departments of Bible & Theology, Practical Theology, and Intercultural Studies

Article in a Lexicon

The examples below provide guidance for how to cite sources in footnotes (N), in shortened footnotes (SN), and in the bibliography (B). If you are using a program to help format your citations, set it to "Turabian" or "Chicago," "notes-bibliography," and then correct the result so that it follows the requirements in this guide.

A lexicon is a dictionary of words and their meaning, arranged alphabetically. In our discipline, lexicons are word-dictionaries that often give brief translations of words from one language to another. The distinction between lexicons and dictionaries can be blurry, so it is recommended that when citing an article from a lexicon or word-dictionary that helps with translation or a word study, use the format indicated here.

Lexicons with Unsigned Articlesa

N:                    1. BDAG, “θαυμάζω.”

SN:                  3. BDAG, “θαυμάζω.”

B:        Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Edited and revised by F.W. Danker. Translated and adapted by W.F. Arndt, F.T. Gingrich, and F.W. Danker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

 

N:                    1. EDNT, “θαῦμα.”

SN:                  3. EDNT, “θαῦμα.”

B:        Balz, Horst and Gerhard Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990–93.

Lexicons with Signed Articles

N:                      1. Wilhelm Mundle, Colin Brown, and Otfried Hofius, “Miracle, Wonder, Sign,” NIDNTT 2:634.

SN:                  3. Mundle, Brown, Hofius, “Miracle,” NIDNTT 2:634.

B:        Brown, Colin, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975-85.

Moisés Silva’s revision to Colin Brown’s NIDNTT is so thorough that the original article authors’ names were removed. Though the articles are now unsigned, it makes Silva the author and therefore treats his articles as if they were signed articles.

N:                    1. Moisés Silva, “λῃστής,” NIDNTTE 3:114-116.

SN:                  3. Moisés Silva, “λῃστής,” NIDNTTE 3:114-116.

B:        Silva, Moisés, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
and Exegesis. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.