Bible Study Aids

     Here are some bible study aids that can help you in studying the bible:
-bible dictionary
-bible handbook
-bible concordance
-topical bible
-bible commentary

 


Bible Dictionary – definitions of words, subjects and names used in the bible. They usually have scriptural references. Everything is in alphabetical order.

            Examples are  Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary & Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary
Online examples are at studylight.org/dictionaries

Bible Handbook – Sections start out with an introduction to the bible. Then they have a brief explanation of all the books in the bible that point out main themes, outlines and background of each book.
Examples are Eerdman’s Handbook to the Bible &  Halley’s Bible Handbook
Online examples are at  eden.co.uk/blog/bible-handbooks-a-users-guide-p11327

Concordance – It lists all the words in the bible alphabetically. It gives you bible references for all these words. If you look up the word “humility”, it will say that it’s used in 2nd Samuel 16:4 and Micah 6:8. Every study bible usually has some type of concordance in the back of it.
The “gold standard” in concordances is Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. This gives all the places where a particular word is used in scripture. It also assigns every word a number. This number corresponds to the exact Hebrew or Greek word. If you look up the number, it will give a definition of that particular Hebrew/Greek word.

            Online examples are at biblehub.com/concordance

Topical Bible – This lets you find bible topics, like marriage or humility, and their associated bible verses. The topics are arranged in alphabetical order.
Examples are Nave’s Topical Bible & The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible
Online examples are at https://www.naves-topical-bible.com/
and biblehub.com/topical/

 

Commentaries – Written by respected theologians, they provide more detailed ideas on bible verses, including background, cultural information and themes. They are these theologians views on what the particular verse means. They come in all different types. Some are one volume whole bible commentaries, while others are just on one book of the bible. Some are very detailed while others are written for a general audience.
One volume commentaries are Baker Commentary on the Bible, Wycliffe Bible
Commentary, IVP Bible Background Commentary on the Old Testament and IVP
Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament


Commentaries on single or several books are The Expositor’s Bible Commentary,   

          Layman’s Bible Commentary, The Daily Study Bible Series by William Barclay and
the NIV Application Commentaries

Online examples are at   studylight.org/commentaries  and
biblestudytools.com/commentaries

 

Bible Encyclopedia – These contain articles and definitions on thousands of words, terms and subjects used in the bible. They are alphabetically listed and have historical references and cultural background information. They are cross-referenced (they show you other bible verses that talk about the subject you’re looking at) and linked to verses that help you understand the word, term or subject that you want to know about.



          Examples are Nelson’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Bible, Zondervan Encyclopedia
of the Bible, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) and the New Lion Bible
Encyclopedia

ISBE                                                                                                                  

     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

           Online examples are studylight.org/encyclopedias/and biblehub.com/encyclopedia/and biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/

Any of these bible study aids will help you in your study of God’s Word

 

For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://bsssb-llc.com