by: Sandy Chery
We live in a time where we have more access than ever to supplemental Bible study tools to help us study the Bible. Now, these are not made to replace your time actually reading the Word of God for yourself, but you can use them alongside your reading to gain further clarity about what a passage is saying. Thanks to the help of bible scholars and theologians, resources such as Bible dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, study Bibles, and others are easily accessible to us.
Here’s a list of Bible study resources you can use to enhance your personal Bible study time..
Bible Dictionaries are used to find meaning to words of the Bible because passages of the bible were written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
1. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
2. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary
3. Baker Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
4. Lexham Bible Dictionary
5. Tyndale Bible Dictionary
Bible Concordances list every reference in the bible where a certain word is mentioned. For example, you can look up the word salvation, and it will list every scripture that mentions salvation.
1. Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
2. The Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament
3. Nave’s Topical Bible Concordance
Bible Commentaries are written by biblical scholars and theologians. They give insight into the meaning of the text by the book, by chapter, or by verse. It’s like doing a deep-dive study of the Bible.
1. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
2. The IVP Bible Background Commentary (Old and New Testament)
3. Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary Series
4. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching Series
5. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
6. Expositor’s Bible Commentary
7. Life Application New Testament Commentary Series
8. Tyndale Commentary Series
9. Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament Series
10. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
11. Smyth and Helwys Bible Commentary Series
12. Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary Series
Bible Encyclopedias contain articles about different biblical subjects that will also mention scripture references for where that subject could be found throughout the Bible.
1. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
2. Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible
3. New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters
4. The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words
5. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Study Bibles are similar to commentaries, but they come alongside an actual translation of the Bible, for example, NLT, ESV, NKJV, etc. You’ll find book introductions, outlines, maps, personal studies, and so much more in them. They are a convenient way to study the Bible.
1. ESV Study Bible
2. The Life Application Study Bible
3. Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible
4. The Open Bible
5. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible
6. Faithlife Study Bible
There are also other websites, study tools, and apps that can be used to study the Bible. Within them, they contain all of the other resources mentioned above.
1. BlueLetterBible.org
2. BibleGateway.com
3. BibleHub.com
4. GotQuestions.org
5. YouVersion Bible App
6. Logos Bible Software
7. Olive Tree Bible Software
Keep in mind that these resources can be used for both beginner bible study and extensive bible study.
My prayer for you is that you would allow the power of the Holy Spirit and the help of these resources to help you continue growing in faith.
