Recommended Bible Study Resources

Bible study resources

Want to go a bit deeper in your Bible study? The list below includes trusted Bible study resources from 7 different categories. Even one or two from each category will be a great start to your Bible study library. Of course some resources, like Bible translations, can be accessed online.

  1. Several recent translations of the Bible – Read your passage of study in more than one translation and compare them for greater understanding. Some good ones to try:
    1. New International Version
    2. New American Standard Bible
    3. Amplified Bible
    4. English Standard Version
    5. New Living Translation
  2. Exhaustive Concordance – If you don’t have any other tool, you need to have this index of every word in the Bible. Get one that corresponds to your primary translation. Recommended:
    1. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance
  3. Bible Dictionary – Explains many of the words, topics, customs and traditions in the Bible. It also includes historical, geographical, cultural, and archeological information. A few to try:
    1. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
    2. Illustrated Bible Dictionary
    3. Tyndale Bible Dictionary
    4. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
    5. New International Bible Dictionary
  4. Topical Bible – Similar to a concordance but organizes by topic rather than words. A couple to try:
    1. Nave’s Topical Bible
    2. Zondervan NIV Nave’s Topical Bible
  5. Bible Handbook – Combination of an encyclopedia and commentary in a concise form. It is arranged by Bible book and includes background notes, brief commentary, maps, charts, and more. Look for one of these:
    1. Halley’s Bible Handbook
    2. Holman Bible Handbook
    3. The New Unger’s Bible Handbook
  6. Word Studies – Look up the original words and their meanings without knowing Greek or Hebrew. Here are a few resources to try:
    1. Mounce’s Compete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words
    2. The Complete Word Study New Testament, by Spiros Zodhiates, AMG Publishers
    3. The Complete Word Study Old Testament, by Spiros Zodhiates, AMG Publishers
  7. Commentaries – biblical scholars interpret and explain a particular text of the Bible based on their study of the background, language, etc. Keep in mind these are written by humans and are not infallible. But here are some good ones to try:
    1. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, Robert B. Hughes and J. Carl Laney, Tyndale. Provides biblical scholarship and commentary on every passage of the Bible in a user-friendly format (One volume)
    2. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Craig S. Keener, Intervarsity Press
    3. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, Walton, Matthews & Chavalas, Intervarsity Press
    4. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan,Set of 12 volumes covers the whole Bible

 

 

Titus Bible Study

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