School of Theology and Christian Ministries: Find a Bible Commentary

Introduction

Biblical commentaries explain the scripture of the Bible verse-by-verse or section-by-section in detail. Commentaries can consist of only one volume or multiple-volume sets. It is important to remember the authors'/publishers' affiliation when selecting a Biblical commentary. Much like other fields of scholarship, the author's background, theological orientation, denominational identities, and current place of employment, among other factors, influence their perspectives and analysis. Well-rounded exegetical research should include a multitude of the above perspectives.

Searching for a Known Commentary Title or Series 

Start by typing the title of the commentary and the title of the book of the Bible into the catalog search box. After completing your search on the top of the left-hand side, change the "sort" dropdown to "Best Match." You can see the access options on the right side of the record. 

Searching for a variety of commentaries about a book of the Bible

Searching for a commentary on the main search box on the library homepage may lead to irrelevant results because a book of the Bible, like "Matthew" might also be an author's/commentator's name. To get more relevant results, I recommend using the Advanced Search feature found by clicking "Advanced Search" on the library homepage. Change the box labeled Keyword to Subject, then type the following format into the box: Bible Matthew Commentaries. Change Matthew to any book of the Bible.

Finding print commentaries in the Nicholson Library

Commentaries are found in two distinct places in the library. Each location has a specific type of commentary with different restrictions on circulation or use outside of the library.

Scholarly commentaries, mostly written for university students, professors, and pastors, are found in the reference section. These commentaries are explicit about their methodology and points of view; they focus on the meaning of the text for the original historical audience. Commentaries in the reference section are grouped by commentary series, many sets in BS491 or following. Reference commentaries must be used in the library and cannot be checked out.

Application commentaries, mostly written for preachers, pastors, lay Bible study leaders, and other thoughtful Christians, are found in the stacks section. These commentaries focus on the current interpretation, primarily in the modern English text. The original languages are only mentioned occasionally. Commentaries in the stacks section are grouped by book of the Bible in the BS 1000's and 2,000's. Stacks commentaries can be checked out for a month and used outside of the library.

Accessing a commentary that the Nicholson Library doesn't own

While the Nicholson Library has a wide variety of commentaries, there are still lots of volumes that the library does not have access to. Through the interlibrary loan service, you can request sections from commentaries by submitting a book chapter request in ILLIAD. In the book box, be certain to include the full title of the commentary.  In the book chapter box, include a scripture citation such as Luke 1:9-20.