TOOLS FOR BIBLE STUDY

I. BIBLE DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS

One-Volume

• Butler, T. C., ed., Holman Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1991.
• Marshall, I. H. et al., eds., New Bible Dictionary, 3^rd ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996.

Multi-Volume

• Bromiley, G. W., ed. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Rev. ed. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979-88.
• Douglas, J. D., ed. Illustrated Bible Dictionary. 3 vols. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1980.
• Freedman, D. N. ed. Anchor Bible Dictionary. 6 vols. Garden City: Doubleday, 1992.
• Tenney, M. C., ed. Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.
  

Evangelical

• Tyndale Old/New Testament Commentaries (InterVarsity/Eerdmans)
• Expositor's Bible Commentary (Zondervan)
• NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan)
• New American Commentary (Broadman & Holman)
• New International Commentary on the Old/New Testament (Eerdmans)
• Word Biblical Commentary (Word)
• Keil-Delitzsch (Eerdmans: Old Testament only)

Non-Evangelical

• Interpretation (Abingdon)
• Old Testament Library (Westminster/John Knox)
• New Century Bible Commentary (Eerdmans)
• Berit Olam (Liturgical Press)
• Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Smyth & Helwys)
• Anchor Bible (Doubleday)
• International Critical Commentary (T&T Clark)
• Hermeneia (Fortress)

III. BIBLE HISTORIES

• Merrill, E. H. Kingdom of Priests. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.
• Kaiser, W. C., Jr. A History of Israel. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998.
• Bright, J. A History of Israel. 3^rd ed. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981.
• Wood, L. J. A Survey of Israel's History. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.

IV. BIBLE ATLASES

• Aharoni, Y. et al., The MacMillan Bible Atlas. 3^rd ed. New York: MacMillan, 1993.
• Beitzel, Barry J. The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands. Chicago: Moody, 1985.
• Brisco, T. V. Holman Bible Atlas. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1999.
• Rasmussen, Carl G. NIV Atlas of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989.

V. BIBLE BACKGROUNDS

Ancient Near Eastern Texts: Primary Sources

• Coogan, M. D., ed. and trans. Stories from Ancient Canaan. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978.
• Erman, A., ed. The Ancient Egyptians: A Sourcebook of Their Writings. New York: Harper & Row, 1966 reprint.
• Hallo, W. W. and Younger, K. L., Jr., eds. The Context of Scripture. Vol. 1: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World. Leiden, New York: E. J. Brill, 1997; vol. 2: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World. Leiden, New York: E. J. Brill, 2000.
• Lichtheim, M.
• Pritchard, J. B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University, 1969.
• Pritchard, J. B., ed. The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton: Princeton University, 1958.
• Simpson, W. K., ed. The Literature of Ancient Egypt. New Haven: Yale University, 1973.
• Thomas, D. W., ed. Documents from Old Testament Times. New York: Harper and Row, 1958.

Peoples, Manners, and Customs

• de Vaux, R. Ancient Israel. Vol. 1: Social Institutions. Vol. 2: Religious Institutions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.
• Hoerth, A. E., et al., eds. Peoples of the Old Testament World. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994.
• Matthews, Victor H. Manners and Customs in the Bible. Rev. ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991.
• Miller, M. S. and J. L. Harper's Encyclopedia of Bible Life. 3^rd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1978.
• Pritchard, J. B., ed. The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton: Princeton University, 1954.
• Wiseman, D. J., ed. Peoples of Old Testament Times. Oxford: Clarendon, 1973.

Ancient Near Eastern History

• The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Vol. II.1: History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region c. 1800-1380 B.C. 3rd ed. Edited by I. E. S. Edwards et al. 1973.
  • Vol. II.2: History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region c. 1380-1000 B.C. 3rd ed. Edited by I. E. S. Edwards et al. 1975.
  • Vol. III.1: The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C. 2nd ed. Edited by John Boardman et al. 1982.
  • Vol. III.2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries B.C. 2nd ed. Edited by John Boardman et al. 1991.
  • Vol. IV: Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525 to 479 B.C. 2nd ed. Edited by John Boardman et al. 1988.
• Hallo, W. W. and Simpson, W. K. The Ancient Near East: A History. Rev. ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1997.

Miscellaneous Background Studies

• Aharoni, Y. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, revised ed., trans. and ed. A. Rainey (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979).
• Aharoni, Yohanan. The Archaeology of the Land of Israel. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982.
• Aling, C. F. Egypt and Bible History: From Earliest Times to 1000 B.C. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.
• Craigie, P. C. Ugarit and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.
• Currid, J. D. Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997.
• Finegan, J. Myth and Mystery: An Introduction to the Pagan Religions of the Ancient World. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989.
• Fiore, S. Voices From the Clay: The Development of Assyro-Babylonian Literature. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1965.
• Frankfort, H. The Birth of Civilization in the Near East. Garden City: Doubleday, 1956.
• Kitchen, K. A. Ancient Orient and Old Testament. Chicago: InterVarsity, 1966.
• ----------------. The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archaeology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1977.
• Kramer, S. N. History Begins at Sumer. Garden City: Doubleday, 1959.
• Matthiae, P. Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered. Garden City: Doubleday, 1980.
• Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia. Rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1977.
• Pettinato, G. The Archives of Ebla: An Empire Inscribed in Clay. Garden City: Doubleday, 1981.
• Saggs, H. W. F. The Greatness That Was Babylon. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1964.
• Saggs, H. W. F. The Might That Was Assyria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1985.
• Sasson, J. M. et al., eds. Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995.
• Steindorff, G., and Seele, K. C. When Egypt Ruled the East. Rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1957.
• von Soden, W. The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994.
• Walton, John H. Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989.
• Walton, John A., Victor H. Mathews, & Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000.
• Wilson, John A. The Culture of Ancient Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1951.
• Yamauchi, E. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990.

TOOLS FOR BIBLE STUDY: WORD STUDIES

Bible Concordances

Concordances are the backbone of any word study. These will show how many times a word occurs in the Bible, how often in certain books, and much more. The English concordances will all have a means of identifying which Hebrew words lie behind the English words. Hebrew concordances allow more direct access to words under study. Electronic concordances render the task of searching for words much faster and more convenient.

English Concordances (Exhaustive)

The standard, most popular older concordance is Strong's, based on the King James Version, which has a numbering system that lets users access Hebrew words without knowing any Hebrew. Many Bible study tools are keyed to the Strong's numbering system. Another popular concordance based on the KJV is Young's, but it has not had many tools keyed to it.

The best concordance, based on the Hebrew text but keyed so that English-only readers can use it is The Hebrew English Concordance to the Old Testament (see below).

Many good English concordances now exist for all the major Bible versions, as well, and they are filled with helpful features for Bible study, including pointing users into the original languages.

Electronic concordances have become very popular in the last decade, and open vast new possibilities for Bible study. One can search phrases as well as words, and search for combinations of words, something that cannot be done using the standard paper concordances.

Hebrew Concordances

Electronic Concordances

Many exist today. Logos, Hermeneutika, Gramcord, and Bible Windows are among the best available. Students should consult magazines such as Christian Computing for reviews, and almost any Christian publication (e.g., Christianity Today, the Christian Book Distributors catalogue) for advertisements and listings.

Hebrew Lexicons and Theological Wordbooks

• Botterweck, G. J., Ringgren, H., Fabry, H.-J., eds., Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 12 vols. scheduled (Eerdmans, 1977-present).
• Brown, F., Driver, S. R., Briggs, C. A., eds., Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford, 1907).
• Clines, David J. A., ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, 8 vols. scheduled (Sheffield Academic Press, 1993-present).
• Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., Waltke, B. K., eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Moody, 1980).
• Jenni, E. and Westermann, C., eds., Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, 3 vols. (Hendrickson, 1997).
• Koehler, L., et al., eds., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 5 vols. scheduled (E. J. Brill, 1994-present).
• VanGemeren, W., ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, 5 vols. (Zondervan, 1997).

Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

These are good sources for reading extended discussions of the results of others' word studies. These should not substitute for one's own use of concordances in most cases, but they can function as a useful complement to one's own study.

David M. Howard, Jr.
Bethel Seminary
01/01