General Resources for Remote Access (students and faculty)
eBook FAQ
Can more than one person use an eBook at the same time?
Many, though not all, of our eBooks are licensed for unlimited use. If an eBook is licensed for unlimited use, this means that all UMO users can access the book at the same time without limitations.
Do I have to check out and return an eBook?
You can "check out" an ebook by creating a (free) account in the database that holds the ebook and then choosing to download the book. If you choose to download an eBook, you can return the eBook digitally if you finish it early, but you do not have to do this. When your checkout period is over, your access to the book will end. You can always check the book out again, if needed.
Most students find it easier and faster to simply read the book online.
Is an eBook an online source?
It's an online resource, but not in the way Wikipedia or a website are online sources. An eBook is still a book, it is just in a digital format. The format and content is the same as the print version. There may be some slight formatting variations depending on your device.
Can I print or download an eBook as a PDF?
No. Some eBooks will allow you to print or download a certain number of pages, usually about one chapter of content. Most eBooks do not allow for printing of the entire book due to copyright protections placed by the vendor.
Reference Materials (encyclopedias, dictionaries, commentaries, etc.)
Useful for:
- Getting started with your research
- Learning more about a topic
- Narrowing a broad topic into a smaller, more manageable topic
- Finding definitions and keywords
- Specific assignments that require bible commentaries, dictionaries, tracing the origin of a word, etc.
Some general reference databases are included below. Additionally, general reference eBooks specific to biblical history and interpretation, bible commentaries, and bible dictionaries are included further down on this page.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowOffers over 3,000,000 reference entries from all the major academic subject areas serving as a great starting point for your research. Includes tons of images, audio files, videos and full-text articles on any topic you can think of with full citations.
- ABC-CLIO eBook Collection This link opens in a new windowThis database contains reference eBooks that give a general overview of key topics. Topics include science and technology, military history, cultural studies, women's studies, world cultures, history and literature. This collection includes the series Daily Life, Critical Companions, Literature in Context, as well as American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography.
Bible Dictionaries
Below is a selection of online bible dictionaries from our digital collections. You may also search the library catalog for alternative options with approval from your professor.
- List of Selected eBook Bible Dictionariesa list of eBook bible dictionaries currently available via Moye Libray
This list contains some traditional bible dictionaries and some subject-specific dictionaries
Approved Bible Commentaries Available Online
- The Oxford Bible Commentary(includes all books of the bible)
eBooks
Our eBook collections are accessible 24/7 from anywhere with an internet connection. They contain the same material in the same format as a print book.
Some eBook formats will adjust the page numbering to match the size of the eBook display. Since eBooks allow you to search for specific quotes and words within a text, this should not keep you from being able to cite your source. When an eBook does not have page numbers, see the following link from Purdue OWL to cite the information properly.
Many of our eBooks also have the added benefit of searching within the full text of books for specific words, links in the Table of Contents, and the ability to highlight and make notes in the eBook.
Our eBooks usually offer two access options:
- Read online: Does not require you to create an account in the database, will not save highlights and notes, eBook is available immediately to read on the screen you are using
- Download: Requires you to create an account in the database or login to an existing account (both options are free), allows you to keep the eBook and any highlights or notes on your device for the length of the checkout period, compatible with different eReaders (Our eBooks do not often support a Kindle format. They can usually be read as a PDF on most eReaders.)
Bibles in eBook Format
Various electronic verisons of the bible are available online. Please check with your professor to ensure that the version you are using is suitable if you choose to use an online version. A selection of biblical research material in eBook format is provided below from Moye Library
The Bible by ISBN: 9780191739606Publication Date: 1997-01-01The Bible is the most important book in the history of Western civilization, and also the most difficult to interpret. It has been the vehicle of continual conflict, with every interpretation reflecting passionately-held views that have affected not merely religion, but politics, art, and even science.This unique edition offers an exciting new approach to the most influential of all English biblical texts - the Authorized King James Version, complete with the Apocrypha. Its wide-ranging Introduction and the substantial notes to each book of the Bible guide the reader through the labyrinth of literary, textual, and theological issues, using the most up-to-date scholarship to demonstrate how and why the Bible has affected the literature, art and general culture of the English-speaking world.
Looking at Scripture in Context: Supporting Texts
A History of the English Bible as Literature by ISBN: 9780521771405Publication Date: 2000-06-08Revised and condensed from David Norton's acclaimed A History of the Bible as Literature, this book, first published in 2000, tells the story of English literary attitudes to the Bible. At first jeered at and mocked as English writing, then denigrated as having 'all the disadvantages of an old prose translation', the King James Bible somehow became 'unsurpassed in the entire range of literature'. How so startling a change happened and how it affected the making of modern translations such as the Revised Version and the New English Bible is at the heart of this exploration of a vast range of religious, literary and cultural ideas. Translators, writers such as Donne, Milton, Bunyan and the Romantics, reactionary Bishops and radical students all help to show the changes in religious ideas and in standards of language and literature that created our sense of the most important book in English.
Leviticus as Literature by ISBN: 9780191518386Publication Date: 2001-03-01This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world renowned anthropologist presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai. This completely new reading transforms the interpretation of the purity laws. The pig and other forbidden animals arenot abhorrent, they command the same respect due to all God's creatures. Boldly challenging several traditions of Bible criticism, Mary Douglas claims that Leviticus is not the narrow doctrine of a crabbed professional priesthood but a powerful intellectual statement about a religion whichemphasizes God's justice and compassion.
Narrative in the Hebrew Bible by ISBN: 9780191590979After almost two centuries of historical criticism, biblical scholarship has recently taken major shifts in direction, most notably toward literary study of the Bible. Much germinal criticism has taken as its primary focus narrative texts of the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament"). This study provides a lucid guide to the interpretive possibilities of this movement. Attempting to be both theoretical and practical, it combines discussion of methods and the business of reading in general with numerous illustrations through readings of particular texts. Gunn and Fewell discuss how literary criticism is related to other dominant ways of reading the text over the last two thousand years. In addition, they address characters, including the narrator and God; plot, modifying recent theory to accommodate the peculiar complexity of biblical narratives; and the play of language through repetition, ambiguity, multivalence, metaphor, and intertextuality. Finally, the authors discuss readers and responsibility, exploring the ideological dimension of narrative interpretation. An extensive bibliography completes the book, arranged by subject and biblical text.
Sacred Tropes by ISBN: 9789047430964Publication Date: 2009-01-01Sacred Tropes interweaves Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an essays which collectively and individually enlist literary approaches including environmental, cultural studies, gender, psychoanalytic, ideological, economic, historicism, law, and rhetorical criticisms. Sacred Tropes represents a pioneering, comparatist approach to Abrahamic studies.
Archaeology and the Bible by ISBN: 9780203015216Publication Date: 2002-01-04This book challenges readers to consider whether archaeology explains the Bible. Archaeology and the Bible examines new developments in archaeological finds in the Near East, particularly Palestine, that are related to the Bible. New methodologies, regional surveys and creative syntheses have all had an impact on traditional approaches to looking at these discoveries. John Laughlin examines these new developments and discusses what they imply for biblical studies.
Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and the Ancient near East by ISBN: 9789047432715Publication Date: 2008-01-01This book greatly enhances our knowledge of the interrelationship of Greek religion & culture and the Ancient Near East by offering important analyses of Greek myths, divinities and terms like 'magic' and 'paradise', but also of the Greek contribution to the Christian notion of atonement.
A Cultural Handbook of the Bible by ISBN: 9781467436663essays on cultural context in the Old and New Testaments
Experiencing Power, Generating Authority by ISBN: 9781934536650Publication Date: 2013-11-14For almost three thousand years, Egypt and Mesopotamia were each ruled by the single sacred office of kingship. Though geographically near, these ancient civilizations were culturally distinct, and scholars have historically contrasted their respective conceptualizations of the ultimate authority, imagining Egyptian kings as invested with cosmic power and Mesopotamian kings as primarily political leaders. In fact, both kingdoms depended on religious ideals and political resources to legitimate and exercise their authority. Cross-cultural comparison reveals the sophisticated and varied strategies that ancient kings used to unify and govern their growing kingdoms. Experiencing Power, Generating Authority draws on rich material records left behind by both kingdoms, from royal monuments and icons to the written deeds and commissions of kings. Thirteen essays provocatively juxtapose the relationships Egyptian and Mesopotamian kings had with their gods and religious mediators, as well as their subjects and court officials. They also explore the ideological significance of landscape in each kingdom, since the natural and built environment influenced the economy, security, and cosmology of these lands. The interplay of religion, politics, and territory is dramatized by the everyday details of economy, trade, and governance, as well as the social crises of war or the death of a king. Reexamining established notions of cosmic and political rule, Experiencing Power, Generating Authority challenges and deepens scholarly approaches to rulership in the ancient world. Contributors: Mehmet-Ali Ataç, Miroslav Bárta, Dominique Charpin, D. Bruce Dickson, Eckart Frahm, Alan B. Lloyd, Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia, Ludwig D. Morenz, Ellen Morris, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Michael Roaf, Walther Sallaberger, JoAnn Scurlock. PMIRC, volume 6
Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient near East by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780567620941Publication Date: 1998-06-01This striking new contribution to gender studies demonstrates the essential role of Israelite and Near East law in the historical analysis of gender. The theme of these studies of Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian, and Israelite law is this: What is the significance of gender in the formulation of ancient law and custom? Feminist scholarship is enriched by these studies in family history and the status of women in antiquity. At the same time, conventional legal history is repositioned, as new and classical texts are interpreted from the vantage point of feminist theory and social history. Papers from SBL Biblical Law Section form the core of this collection.
Material Culture of the Bible by ISBN: 9780567363404Publication Date: 2000-07-01Scholarly discussions of biblical interpretation often ignore the fact that language and literature form an integral part of a people's culture, that interpretation therefore implies the total cultural system of the relevant literature, and that biblical interpretation consequently implies inter-cultural communication. This book explores the theoretical and practical implications of this observation from a cultural anthropological perspective, looks at recent anthropological studies of ancient Israelite society, supplies practical examples of a cultural interpretation of ancient Hebrew narratives, and discusses the impact of the notions 'cultural relativity' and 'inter-cultural communication' for biblical interpretation.
The New Testament in Its Social Environment by ISBN: 9780664219062Publication Date: 1986-01-01This insightful volume in the Library of Early Christianity examines the social, political, and economic world of early Christianity.The Library of Early Christianity is a series of eight outstanding books exploring the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts in which the New Testament developed.
Find an eBook in our library catalog that you would like to see added here? Let us know! If we have eBook access and instructor approval, we will add a link.
Literary Interpretation and Symbolism
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780511481475Publication Date: 2014-06-10This is the first dictionary of symbols to be based on literature, rather than 'universal' psychological archetypes or myths. It explains and illustrates the literary symbols that we all frequently encounter (such as swan, rose, moon, gold), and gives hundreds of cross-references and quotations. The dictionary concentrates on English literature, but its entries range widely from the Bible and classical authors to the twentieth century, taking in American and European literatures. For this new edition, Michael Ferber has included over twenty completely new entries (including bear, holly, sunflower and tower), and has added to many of the existing entries. Enlarged and enriched from the first edition, its informed style and rich references make this book an essential tool not only for literary and classical scholars, but for all students of literature.
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780830867332Publication Date: 2010-06-11A Christianity Today 1999 Book of the Year! Every reader of the Bible has encountered the powerful, comforting and sometimes puzzling imagery of Scripture. These concrete pictures with their hidden force have struck sharp and lasting impressions on our minds. Their imprint has etched itself on the language and grammar of Christian faith and Western culture.Why then do traditional Bible dictionaries and reference works offer so little help to explorers of the Bible's galaxy of verbal pictures? They excel in describing the climate, borders and location of Galilee or Sinai. But they are often blind to the artistic expressions and deaf to the musical meanings that echo from within the world of the biblical text.The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is the first contemporary reference work dedicated to exploring the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors and literary patterns found in the Bible. More than that, it examines the Bible's universal archetypes or master images--including the plot motifs and character types that recur throughout life, literature and the Bible.This unique dictionary explores the dazzling variety in which the Word of God comes dressed in clothes of everyday life. It traces the trail of images from Eden to the New Jerusalem. It captures the plotted patterns of biblical narrative. It surveys the imaged texture of each book of the Bible. In short, The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is an inviting, enlightening and indispensable companion to the reading, study, contemplation and enjoyment of the Bible.
From Ancient Manuscripts to Modern Dictionaries by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781463237073Publication Date: 2017-04-06These articles on Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek lexicography have arisen from papers presented at the International Syriac Language Project's 14th International Conference in St. Petersburg in 2014.
Articles
Almost all of our articles are available in full-text with an internet connection and your UMO login. You can immediately access the full-text article by clicking the gold "View Full Text" button under the article in the library catalog or clicking "View PDF" in other databases. Suggested religion databases that can be used in addition to the online library catalog are listed below.
Tips for searching:
Do not put in every word that you want to find into your search.
Choose 2-3 keywords that describe the subject that you want to find information about.
When looking for information on a specific biblical figure or book of the bible, search by the name of the figure or the book of the bible.
If you are looking for a specific subject or attribute (example: compassion) also try searching for similar or related words if your initial search does not get any results. For example:
King David AND compassion could also be
- King David AND kindness
- biblical kings and compassion
Try different options and let us know if you need help with anything! We are available to help virtually in multiple ways, including phone, email, chat, and personalized research instruction via Zoom.
Religion Databases
- Religion Database This link opens in a new windowReligious news and information, informative details on doctrines and philosophies, and scholarly reports on religious history and related archaeology.
- Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new windowThis database features hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
