Lesson #4

What are Commentaries, Concordances, Bible Dictionaries, New Testament Interlinears?

While there is no substitute for reading the words of the Bible itself, there are many different books to help you in your study of the Bible.

Commentaries

These are books which give systematic comments, observations, and sometimes personal application notes, on different passages of the Bible.

• There are some excellent one-volume Bible commentaries which look at each book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

• There are commentaries on individual books of the Bible, examining each verse in detail.

Concordances

These are books which enable you to look up almost any word found in the Bible.

• If you were studying the Holy Spirit, you would find dozens of references if you looked up the words “Spirit” and “Holy” in a Bible concordance.

• If you wanted to find a passage in the Bible about the Good Samaritan, you would look up “Samaritan” and find: “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where.” Luke 10:33

• You could see how words are linked together in the Bible. By looking up the occurrence of the word “grace” in the New Testament, you would discover that it was most often linked with “peace.” (See Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2 ; Galatians 1:3 ; Ephesians 1:2 ; Philippians 1:2 ; Colossians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; Titus 1:4 ; Philemon 3; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2 and Revelation 1:4 .) “Grace and peace to you” was the normal way of starting a letter!

• Other information may be gleaned from the references. For example, you could find out who gives grace, and what the purpose of receiving grace is.

• Bible concordances are linked to a particular translation of the Bible. So if you buy one, make sure that it is based on the Bible version you like using.

Bible Dictionaries

Bible dictionaries are ideal books for looking up individual Bible words, Bible people and Bible themes.

• Samaria and the Samaritans
For example, if you look up the entry under “Samaria,” it will not only tell you about the origin of the country of Samaria (the northern kingdom of Israel), but also about Samaritans. In Jesus’ time, Samaritans were people of mixed race who were despised by the Jews. When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, he asked his listeners who, in the story, had acted as a neighbor? The man who answered could not even bring himself to say the word “Samaritan,” so replied, “The one who had mercy.”

New Testament Interlinears

You need to know just a little Greek to benefit from an interlinear Bible. New Testament interlinears set the complete New Testament in Greek, with the literal English translation for each word underneath each line of Greek text. This means that you can see which Greek word is used in a particular verse.

Bible Handbooks

These books are excellent for giving you background information about the Bible, along with a summary of each Bible book. They cover such topics as archeology, minerals, animals and insects, plants and herbs, trades, travel, warfare, money, marriage, childhood, disease and music.

Bible Atlases

Bible atlases are ideal for increasing our understanding of the Bible.

• From Dan to Beersheba
This phrase means from the north to the south. “Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba came.” Judges 20:1. An atlas shows that Dan was the northernmost city in Israel, while Beersheba was the southernmost city in Israel.

• Jonah fled to Tarshish
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but he headed for Tarshish. Jonah 1:1–3. A Bible atlas reveals Jonah’s great disobedience, as Tarshish was hundreds of miles from Nineveh and in the opposite direction.

              Source: Water, M. (1998). Bible Study made easy . The Made Easy Series (12–13). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.