Bible Study Tools

Just what is a Bible Encyclopedia?  A Bible Encyclopedia is much the same as a traditional encyclopedia -- just in this case the entries deal with Biblical persons, places, doctrines and events.  The entries in a Bible Encyclopedia are arranged alphabetically and these encyclopedias vary in how much detail they present, depending on the overall size of the encyclopedia.  Some Bible encyclopedias are one or two volumes in length, while others are big enough to fit on an entire bookshelf!  What are some of the better-quality Bible encyclopedias being published today?  Let me mention just a few of them --

First of all I would recommend a great resource: The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times by Ralph Gower.  Very reasonably priced at just under $30, this is a hardcover book published by Moody Press.  It contains over 90 color photos and paintings as well as many black-and-white illustrations -- it provides all kinds of insights into the manners, ways of living, and cultural customs of ancient societies in the Near East.  If you have a question about various archaeological discoveries, crafts, occupations, important Biblical persons -- this is one resource you will find yourself turning to again and again.

Another great resource -- and a standard among Bible encyclopedias -- is The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.  This is a standard reference, edited by well-known scholar Geoffrey W. Bromiley.  The set is in four volumes and normally retails for $280 -- yet you get a tremendous amount of material here: 1500 photographs, 342 maps -- over 4000 pages of information!  The revised edition takes advantage of the most recent discoveries in Biblical scholarship. This one is my favorite, folks!

Here's a third set of Bible encyclopedias: The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.  It, too, is a multi-volume set (five volumes) and was edited by Merrill C. Tenney.  According to the publisher more than 200 Biblical scholars contributed content for this Bible Encyclopedia, and it contains 1500 photographs and illustrations, as well as hundreds of Bible maps -- using this set of Bible encyclopedias you will have vast resources of biblical scholarship at your fingertips.

Finally, I would remind you that many Bible study software applications have Bible encyclopedias included within their package in a digital form -- this makes searching for the information that you need very easy and quick.  Type in a search term, click a button and you will be instantly taken to the appropriate location in your Bible Encyclopedia -- and if you have several different sets installed, you can quickly compare and contrast the information that they provide.  If you need more information about Bible study software, please check our website page dealing with that subject.

Our Privacy Policy