Looking up a passage or topic in a bible encyclopedia, dictionary or scholarly commentary will introduce you to key issues, context and varying interpretations as well as guide you to further reading. The reference collection is one of the best places to start your research.
Bible Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Complete list of Bible Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
Examples of this type of resource include:
- Anchor Bible Dictionary
- New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
- Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (ed. Allen C. Myers)
- IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament (series)
- Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation (ed. Stanley Porter)
- Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (ed. Kevin Vanhoozer)
- HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (ed. Paul Achtemeier)
Commentaries
Here is a list of some of the best biblical commentaries available through the library system.
- Anchor Bible Commentary
- Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
- Apollos Old Testament Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Cambridge Bible Commentary
- Commentary on the Whole Bible (Matthew Henry)
- Expositor's Bible Commentary (Longman & Garland, eds.)
- Forms of the Old Testament Literature
- Hermeneia
- International Critical Commentary
- Interpretation
- IVP Women’s Bible Commentary (Kroeger & Evans, eds.)
- JPS Torah Commentary
- New Century Bible Commentary
- New International Biblical Commentary
- New International Commentary on the New Testament
- New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT)
- New International Greek Testament Commentary
- New International Version Application Commentary (NIVAC)
- New Interpreter's Bible
- New Testament Commentary (Hendricksen & Kistemaker)
- Old Testament Commentaries (Keil & Delitzsch)
- Old Testament Library
- The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Walvoord & Zuck)
- The Expositor's Bible Commentary (Gaebelein)
- Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
- Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries
- Word Biblical Commentary
- Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Walton & Arnold, eds.)