The product descriptions are accurate. I have ordered a pre-publication copy. My five-star rating reflects the "hard copy," which I have used on occasion. Why would anyone who does not read Latin want to buy this product, especially when the English Payne-Smith Compendious Syriac Dictionary is already available through Logos? My answer: The Latin edition contains many more words than the English edition of Payne-Smith. Many of these additional words are PROPER NOUNS, names of people and places. Often these are similar enough in Latin, that they are not a problem for the English-only reader. Many other words not included in the English edition are transliterated from Greek, or closely related to Greek. Those who read Greek will probably be able to follow the "gist" of the Latin article on the word. My concern for the Logos version is how accurate the transcription is going to be. If the same process is followed which produced the English Compendious Syriac Dictionary, the result will be more "typos" than I would care to count. Of course, "hard copy" and pdf copies are available. The main value of the Logos product will be twofold: 1) the extremely reasonable price; 2) the ability to connect immediately to the lexicon from within Logos -- this will make it exceptionally convenient to use. The less convenient formats could then serve as "backup" for those doing serious study -- a way to check when something looks "fishy." And typos can always be reported -- and users who would report such typos would be contributing to the advance of scholarship.

I own "hard copy" of all of these works, and the Logos version of the great majority of them. Ph.D.'s like myself are a dime a dozen. Raymond Brown became the president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. Fewer than 1% of us have such an honor. In addition to this, Raymond E. Brown was the first Catholic ever to be elected as president of the Society of Biblical Literature. You can count the number of Catholics who have held this position and still have fingers left over. In addition to these great honors, Raymond E. Brown served as a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, one of 24 scholars (12 NT, 12 OT) appointed to advise the pope on biblical matters. Brown has been criticized by some ultra-conservative Catholics, but one does not get appointed to the PBC by being a "loose cannon." I heartily recommend the works of Raymond E. Brown to anyone who wishes to learn more about how the 20th-century renewal of biblical studies in the Catholic Church continues to affect Catholic participation in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.

In the interest of full disclosure, since 1974 I have been a Catholic priest. I went through the same degree program as Barbara Reid -- the Biblical Studies Degree at the Catholic University of America. She went through a few years before I received my degree in 1995. Doctor Reid is as a highly respected biblical scholar. She has served as president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA), an honor that only few Catholic biblical scholars can claim. Several years ago she led a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the CBA on the Wisdom Commentary series. It was well received by the membership. While there have been several one-volume commentaries on the Bible from a feminist perspective, the Wisdom Commentary is the FIRST "full-length" (i.e., multi-volume) commentary on the Bible from that perspective. Such a commentary would have been impossible as recently as 25 or 30 years ago. The fact that this commentary is now being published is evidence of the progress that feminists (including men! -- not all feminists are women) have made in recent decades. I own "hard copy" of some of these volumes, and am extremely pleased to see that electronic editions are now coming out in Logos. I highly recommend this commentary. (Rev.) Patrick J. Madden, Ph.D.