The Layman's Bible Dictionary was written with the lay Bible students and other general, nonspecialist users in mind. It is compact, authoritative, and easy to understand. In contrast to the exhaustive approach taken by many dictionaries of the day, The Layman's Bible Dictionary contains about 2,500 articles that are carefully selected because of their biblical significance. The articles have been written in a terse, no-nonsense style, including only the most vital and essential information. The result--a conveniently-sized dictionary that allows a student of the Bible to quickly and easily find the most important information about key biblical topics.

The articles in this dictionary also include thousands of Scripture references to document the biblical subjects under discussion, and to help Bible students to dig deeper in their study of God's Word. The key words and subject headings in this text are based on the King James Version of the Bible.

Rayburn W. Ray, a retired minister and active photojournalist is the author of five books and many articles for national publications. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Rayburn has served as pastor and communications specialist for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County.

George W. Knight is the owner and operator of Knight Media, a consulting business in Smyrna, Tennessee. George was also a former managing editor of biblical reference books for Thomas Nelson Publishers.