Barry J. Beitzel

Barry J. Beitzel (born August 6, 1942, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) is an Old Testament scholar, geographer, cartographer, and translator of the Bible. He currently resides in Mundelein, Illinois.

Barry J. Beitzel has been a member of the Department of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois) since 1976, as Assistant Professor (1976-1980), Associate Professor (1980-1985; tenured 1983), Professor (1985–2016), and Professor Emeritus (2016 to the present). He served as Executive Vice-President/Provost between the years 1997—2004.

Beitzel holds a PhD degree in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from The Dropsie University (Philadelphia, 1976); his dissertation is titled "The Place Names in the Mari Texts: An Onomastic and Toponymic Study." He obtained a post-doctorate in Ancient Near Eastern Geography at L’Université de Liège (Belgium, 1981). His professional work has taken him to Western Asia and/or the greater Mediterranean world on some 45 occasions. He has also lectured in various countries, including Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, South Korea, Philippines, and Syria. Beitzel has contributed to such serial publications as Archaeology in the Biblical World; Bible Review; Biblical Archaeology Review; Biblical Archaeologist; Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research; Iraq, the British Schools of Archaeology in Iraq; Journal of the American Oriental Society; Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; and the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

Monographs

Barry J. Beitzel. The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands. Chicago: Moody Press, 1985. ISBN 9780802404381. [ACSM Map Design Competition winner]

Barry J. Beitzel. Chief Consultant and Author, Biblica, the Bible Atlas: A Social and Historical Journey Through the Lands of the Bible. London: Viking/Penguin Press, 2006. ISBN 9780764160851.

• Translated into 15 foreign language editions.
• Also published as Biblica, the Bible Atlas: The Story of the Greatest Story Ever Told. Sydney: Global Publishing, 2006; ISBN 9781740480093. Also published as Bible Atlas: The events, people, and places of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Auckland: David Bateman, 2013; ISBN 9781869538491, and also published as The SPCK Bible Atlas: The events, people, and places of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. London: SPCK, 2013; ISBN 9780281068517.

Barry J. Beitzel, Associate Editor and Author, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988. ISBN 9780801034473.

Barry J. Beitzel, Member of the Board of Advisers and Chief Map Consultant, The Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas. (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2007). ISBN 978-1426201387

Barry J. Beitzel. The New Moody Atlas of the Bible. Chicago: Moody; Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2009. ISBN 9780802404411.

• Translated into six foreign language editions.
• Winner 2010 ECPA Medallion of Excellence for the "Bible Reference and Study" category.
• "2010 winner" in the Book/Atlas category at the 37th Annual Map Design Competition sponsored by the Cartographic and Geographic Information Systems [CaGIS] of the Association of American Geographers.

Barry J. Beitzel, General Editor and Author, Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016. (LexhamPress.com)

Maps

Maps created and/or supervised by Beitzel appear in Bibles published by:

• Moody Press (including the Ryrie Study Bible)
• Zondervan (including the NIV Study Bible)
• Kirkbride (Thompson Chain Reference Bible)
• Tyndale (including the NLT Study Bible)
• Crossway (including the ESV Study Bible)
• Thomas Nelson (Nelson Study Bible)
• J. N. Darby Bibles
• Schuyler Bibles

He has also supervised the production of maps for the Holman Bible Atlas(Broadman & Holman, 1998); Logos Electronic Atlas of the Bible (Logos/FaithLife, 2005); and the ESV Bible Atlas (Crossway, 2010). Some of his maps appear in the Atlas of the Ancient World (National Geographic, 2016) Over the years, he has executed about a dozen maps to appear in National Geographic, most recently in the December 2008, December 2010, and March 2012 issues.