For background information and proper names. See also BYU New Testament 211 and 212 manuals.
Achtemeier, Paul J., ed. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. (San Francisco: Harper, 1996.) The best and most thorough one-volume dictionary of Biblical scholarship and also the least sectarian in interpretation.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 440 .H235
Cornfield, Gaalyah. Archaeology of the Bible: Book by Book. (New York: Harper & Row, 1976.) Following the order of the Bible, this dictionary has useful charts and illustrations. Index of scriptures.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 621 .C6415
Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.) Topical approach to scriptural study. Thorough.
Rel/Fam Ref BR 95 .E87
Freedman, David Noel, ed. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. (New York: Doubleday, 1992.) The best and most thorough Bible dictionary: six volumes. Signed articles and scholarly bibliographies. Very few illustrations.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 440 .A54
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale Press, 1980.) Three volumes; color illustrations, maps, charts. Use the index in volume 3.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 440 .I63
This is a list of indexes and abstracts for periodical articles.
ATLA Religion Database. Go to the Religion subject page and look under "Recommended." This database has 430,000 article citations from 1500 journals.
The library has the paper copy (Religion Index) from 1955 to the present at
Rel/Fam Ref BL 48 .X1 A53
New Testament Abstracts. The library has 1957 to the present. Use the table of contents in each vol. Scholarly.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 410 .N35
New Testament Gateway, a portal site listing hundreds of Websites on the New Testament, from NT translations to maps of Paul�s journeys, and from Paul and Women to Jesus in Film.
Only a few of many are listed below. Viewpoints vary from conservative reformed and fundamentalist to liberal mainstream Protestantism.
The Anchor Bible. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964- .) 82 volumes. Probably the most exhaustive commentary of all, but not yet complete. Includes Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha. Scholarly and balanced.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 192.2 .B7
Brown, Raymond E., ed. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990.) The best one-volume commentary.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 491.2 .B7
Bruce, F.F., ed. The New International Bible Commentary with the New International Version of the Holy Bible. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.) One of the best one volume commentaries available, mostly because of the great reputation of its editor.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 491.2 .I53
The New Interpreter's Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994-.) 12 volumes.
Based on the older Interpreter's Bible, which is also still a good source.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 491.2 .N484
Pinegar, Ed. J., et al., comp. Latter-day Commentary on the New Testament: The Four Gospels (American Fork: Covenant, 2002).
Rel/Fam Ref BS 8621.504 .P653l
Arnold, Clinton E., ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.) Profusely illustrated in four volumes.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 2341.52 .Z66 2002
The New Jerome Bible Handbook. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992.) The best one-volume handbook.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 417 .N49
Van der Woude, A.S., ed. The World of the Bible. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.)
Contains six sections, each with bibliographies: Geography, Archaeology, Writing and Languages, Textual History, History of the Ancient Near East, and Biblical Institutions.)
Rel/Fam Ref BS 475.2 .W4713
Rogerson, John. Atlas of the Bible. (NY: Facts on File, 1985.) The maps, diagrams, and photographs are among the finest. A gazetteer and subject index at the back.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 630 .R6
Example: Finding the various Greek words for Love and their meanings.
Strong, James R., ed. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986.) After looking under Love, for example, the entry directs you to the appropriate numbers in the Greek dictionary portion. From here you may go to the sources below for further illumination.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 425 .S8
Brown, Colin, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.) 4 volumes. An abbreviated English version of Kittel below.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 2397 .N48
The CBD Parallel Bible. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003.) Four versions: King James, New King James, NIV, and New Living Translation.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 125 .B5 2003
Green, Jay P., Sr. The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew, Greek, English. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1982.) Transliteration and translation into English; King James Version. Hebrew and English in the Old Testament; Greek and English in the New Testament.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 3.5
Kittel, Gerhard, ed.. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.) 10 volumes. Discusses in full the meaning of each Greek word used in the New Testament. The best source of NT exegesis.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 2312 .K58x
The Precise Parallel New Testament. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). Eight versions of the NT: Greek, KJV, Rheims, Amplified, NIV, New RSV, New American, and New American Standard.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 2025 1995 .P743x
Stegenga, J., comp. The Greek-English Analytical Concordance of the Greek-English New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963.) Alphabetical listing of each Greek word with grammatical analysis, followed by a systematic listing of every chapter and verse where the words are found.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 2302 .S7
Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode, eds. The Literary Guide to the Bible. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978.) The finest literary study of the Bible.
Rel/Fam Ref BS 511.2 .L58
The Oxford English Dictionary. (Oxford University Press, 1933, 1961.) Indispensable for find King James English language word definitions and etymologies. Find the etymology closest to the year 1611 for the most accurate King James English usage.
Rel/Fam Ref PE 1625 .M7
Please ask at the Religion/Family History Reference desk for further sources and information, or e-mail the Religion Librarian, Ryan Combs at: ryan_combs@byu.edu