Dr. Norman Prinsky
Humn. 2001; Engl. 2950/4950: Reading Biblical Literature - Augusta State University

Section 7: Prinsky's Short Annotated Bibliography of Essential Bible Study Books

[Every person or family genuinely interested in the Bible should have (a) a good study Bible, (b) a good Bible dictionary-encyclopedia, (c) a more comprehensive Bible atlas than found in the one-volume study Bibles or Bible dictionaries, and, eventually, a multi-volume commentary. Books are listed alphabetically by title, under each category.]

B1. The Best Modern-Translation One-Volume Study Bibles (listed alphabetically by title)

THE BEST

[The] ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Gen. Eds. Lane Dennis, Wayne Grudem, J.I. Packer, C. John Collins, Thomas Schreiner. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008. [2751 pp.; includes color atlas and concordance; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book; annotation by first-rate scholars; doesn't include the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books.]

The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. Gen. Ed. Wayne Meeks. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. [2398 pp.; includes color atlas and index; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book; annotation by first-rate scholars from the Society of Biblical Literature; occasionally flawed by NRSV translation itself; has the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books, always included in the first editions of the King James Bible and in Catholic Bibles, and containing some of the best literature in the Bible, including Susana and the Elders, Judith, Tobit, and 1-2 Maccabbees, the primary source of Chanukkah; not included in the NIV Study Bible or The Nelson Study Bible.]

The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Gen. Ed. Earl Radmacher. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997. [ 2222 pp., plus 195-page concordance; introductions to each Biblical book, interspersed color charts and diagrams, boxed word studies, color atlas, and index. Lacks the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books.]

[The] NET Bible: New English Translation. Second Beta Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2003; available in CD from netbible.com. [2364 pp., plus color topographical photos of the lands referred to in the Bible. Attempts to balance dynamic and literal translation, favoring the latter; has "60,237 notes by the translators and editors." India paper edition with very thin pages, which, with the gilt-edges, make handling the book somewhat difficult.]

The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Gen. Ed. Walter Harrelson. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2003. [2298 + xxxi; introductions to each Biblical book, boxed word or concept studies, color atlas; unfortunately lacks an index to the annotations]

The New Jerusalem Bible. Gen. Ed. Henry Wansbrough. New York: Doubleday, 1985. [Also available in the unannotated Reader's Edition, which is not a true study Bible; the hardcover study edition is excellent; 2108 pp.; a collaboration of English scholars and French scholars, based on a French edition and consultation with the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek originals; has supplements, color maps, and index; lacks separate introductions to some individual books, but rather group introductions to several books; the single-column format makes for more comprehensible typography for the poetic books; has the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books--see comment on these in the preceding entry on the HarperCollins Study Bible.]

The NIV Study Bible. Gen. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985. [2033 pp.; available in a "personal edition," which is less expensive than the preceding two study Bibles, but lacking, in all editions, the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books, which some other recommended study Bibles have; see entry on HarperCollins Study Bible for explanation of the apocrypha; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book, the introductions often keenly sensitive to the literary elements of the Bible; excellent annotations; drawings, color maps, index; supplements, including brief concordance; NIV translation sometimes superior to NRSV translation]

The NLT Study Bible. Tyndale, 2008. [2542 pp.; claims 25,000 notes; plus book introductions, concordance, maps, and illustrations.]

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version [ESV]. Gen. Ed. R.C. Sproul. Orlando, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005. [1948 pp.; has some spot black-and-white maps, plus good annotations and a concordance. The ESV attempts to favor literal translation as much as possible, though some dynamic-equivalent translation is inevitable .  As the title suggests, a Reformation -- "Reformed [Protestant] church" viewpoint in the notes.]

Zondervan NASB Study Bible. Gen. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Zondervan Publishing House, 1999. [2039 pp., plus color maps and Preface; also includes the excellent NIV Study Bible Bible book introductions and notes, partially but not fully adapted for this more literal translation than the NIV. Also includes a concordance. Unfortunately, prints prose fragmented into individual verses, rather than paragraphs, thus fragmenting the reading and thought.]

GOOD, BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE ABOVE

Several study Bibles are in the second rank, below the five listed above, and are listed in alphabetical order by title. (1) The Jewish Study Bible. Eds. Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler. Oxford UP, 2004. [2181 + xxiii + 14; color atlas; Tanakh (OT) only; has the defects of all the Oxford UP study Bibles, so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.] (2) The New American Bible [Catholic Study Edition]. Catholic Bible Press - Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987. [1487 pp.; the page count is an indication of the thinness of the apparatus.] (3) The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books [New Revised Standard Version]. 3^rd ed. Ed. Michael Coogan. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. [Improved over the first and second editions; xxv + 1374 + 383 + 572 pp.; commendable introductions by reputable Bible scholars to each Biblical book and to groups of books; plus lengthy separate essays, tables, and bibliography at the back of the book; plus 63-page concordance, and color atlas, and index; has the defects of all the Oxford UP study Bibles, so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.] (4) The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds. M. Jack Suggs, Katharine Sakenfeld, James Mueller. Oxford UP, 1992. [1597 + xxviii. Same flaw as all the Oxford UP study Bibles so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.]

B2A. One- to Two-Volume Dictionary/Encyclopedia of the Bible

[Such works, although called dictionaries, are actually encyclopedias, like their multi-volume counterparts. None of the one to two-volume dictionary/encyclopedias is entirely satisfactory, but they are all meritorious. Generally, the more pages, the better, for better coverage of possible questions that arise about the Bible.]

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Gen. Ed. Walter Elwell. 2 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988. [2210 pages; black and white illustration; no pronunciation guides; only average in coverage of etymologies of words and names; articles by evangelical Bible scholars]

[Hastings] Dictionary of the Bible. Rev. Ed. Eds. James Hastings, Frederick Grant, H.H. Rowley. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963. [1059 pages; has atlas; no pronunciation guides to entries; only average coverage of etymologies; no illustrations; articles by acknowledged Bible scholars]

Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. and Compiler, John L. McKenzie, S.J. New York: Macmillan, 1965. [954 pages; paperback; photo illustrations; no pronunciation guides to entries; good etymologies; Roman Catholic orientation]

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Revised Ed. Allen C. Myers. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987. [1094 pages; paperback as well as hardcover; has atlas; has pronunciation guides to entries; good etymologies; photo black and white illustrations; has atlas; based on work by Dutch Bible scholars, and revised]

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. David Noel Freedman. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000. [1417 pages. A revision of the 1987 edition into a new reference work; black and white photos; bibliographies; color atlas; articles by recognized Bible scholars.]

Harper's Bible Dictionary. Comps. Madeleine Miller and J. Lane Miller. 8th ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1973. [853 pages; black and white photo illustrations; pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; has atlas; superseded by the later Bible dictionary of the same name, immediately following in this section of Prinsky's Short Bibliography]

Harper's Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed. Paul Achtemeier. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1985. [1178 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; only average coverage of etymology; has atlas; black and white photo illustrations; done by members of the prestigious Society of Biblical Literature]

Holman Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed. Trent Butler. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991. [1450 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; has atlas; photo illustrations in color as well as black and white; articles by evangelical scholars]

Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible. Gen. Ed. Herbert Lockyer. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Pblishers, 1996. [Formerly, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary; 1132 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; many color as well as black and white photos and illustrations; has atlas.]

Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Gen. Ed. Watson Mills. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1990. [1023 pages; black and white photo illustrations; has atlas.]

Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Eds. R. Youngblood, F.F. Bruce, and R.K. Harrison. Nashveille, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. [1346 pages; color photos and illustrations, pronunciation guides, etymologies, charts.]

New Bible Dictionary. 2nd ed. Gen. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Leicester, Eng./Wheaton, IL: Inter-Varsity Press/Tyndale House, 1984. [1326 pages; no pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; black and white photo illustrations; now in a 3rd edition, 1996, 1326 pages. Also published in three-volume version, with much more illustration, including color, as Illustrated Bible Dictionary.]

New International Dictionary of the Bible: Pictorial Edition. Eds. J.D. Douglas and Merrill Tenney. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987. [1181 pages; has pronunciation guides in entries; good etymologies; black and white photo illustrations; has atlas]

The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. Henry Gehman. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1970. [1027 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; black and white photo illustrations; has atlas]

The [New] Unger's Bible Dictionary. Ed. and Comp. Merrill Unger, R.K. Harrison, Howard Vos, and Cyril Barber. Chicago: Moody Press, 1988. [1415 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; color as well as black and white photo illustrations; has atlas; original Unger's Bible Dictionary, based on Davis Bible Dictionary (1926) was published in its third edition in 1966]

Revell Bible Dictionary. Ed. Lawrence Richards. Fleming H. Revell Publishers, 1990. [1156 pages; many color photos, illustrations, anc charts; etymologies; pronunciation guides; separate sections for biographies and places; atlas.]

Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. Eds. Charles Pfeiffer, Howard Vos, and John Rea. Chicago: Moody Press, 1975; paperback edition, 1983. [1870 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; average coverage of etymology; black and white photo illustrations; has atlas; a best buy in the paperback edition in the "Moody Affordables" series]

B2B. Multi-Volume Bible Dictionary-Encyclopedias

[Eventually, every home should have one, or more of these; as with the one-volume Bible dictionary-encyclopedias, none of these is without its omissions or partial coverage on some items, but as a whole, these are even more satisfactory than the one or two-volume Bible dictionary-encyclopedias.]

Anchor Bible Dictionary. 6 vols. Gen. Ed. David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday-Anchor, 1992. [7200 pages; black and white photos and illustrations; the most comprehensive Bible dictionary-encyclopedia yet.]

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Revised Edition. 4 vols. Gen. Ed. Geoffrey Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988. [4452 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; black and white photo illustrations; has atlas]

Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Gen. Ed. George Buttrick. 5 vols. [Vols. 1-4 and 1-vol. Supplement.] Nashville, TN: Abingdon Publishers, 1962. [4835 pages; black and white photo illustrations; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; has atlas.]

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Gen. Ed. Merrill Tenney. 5 vols. [4962 pages; has pronunciation guide in entries; good etymologies; black and white photos and illustrations; has atlas; a best buy from Christian Book Distributors, a mail-order and internet bookseller, the address and telephone number for which are listed at the end of Prinsky's Short Annotated Bible Study Bibliography.]

B3. Bible Atlas

[More maps indicating where and how things happened--routes of travels, journeys, battles--in the Bible text are needed than are found in the study Bibles or Bible dictionaries, though the atlases found in categories 1-2, above, are a good start. But one of the items below is also a foundation for Bible study. There are more atlases than listed below, but while these non-listed items are profusely illustrated with photos and drawings of cultural artifacts, they are, ironically and unfortunately, short on important maps.]

The Harper Atlas of the Bible. Ed. James B. Pritchard. New York: Harper and Row, 1987. [254 over-sized pages.]

The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Eds. and compilers Yohana Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah. New York: Macmillan, 1968. [184 pages; now in the third edition.]

The Moody Bible Atlas. Ed. and compiled by Barry J. Beitzel. Chicago: Moody Press, 1985. [234 pages.]

New Bible Atlas. Eds. J.Bimson, J. Kane, J.Paterson, D.J. Wiseman. Leicester, Eng./Wheaton, IL: Inter-Varsity Press/Tyndale House Publishers, 1985. [128 pages.]

Oxford Bible Atlas. Ed. and compiled by Herbert May and John Day. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. [144 pages.]

Zondervan NIV Atlas. Ed. and compiled by Carl Rasmussen. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishers, 1989. [256 pages.]

B4A. One to Two-Volume Bible Commentaries

[None of these is completely satisfactory, and one of the one-volume study Bibles listed above will supply much to be found in these books. All the items in section 4A, have some sharp insights on each book of the Bible and specific passages. The more pages, the better in the books below, with a better chance of finding the answer to something puzzling in the text. Eventually, one of the sets in category 4B, 4C, 4D, or 4E, below, completes the foundation of a Bible study library.]

The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Eds. John Walvoord and Roy Zuck. 2 vols. n.p.: Victor Books, 1985. [Vol. 1 (Old Testament) has 1588 pages; Vol. 2 (New Testament) has 991 pages; total 2578 pages. Has bibliographies; written by faculty of the Dallas Theological seminary.]

Collegeville Bible Commentary. Eds. Dianne Bergant and Robert Karris. Collegeville, MN: Collegeville Press, 1994. [1344 pages in one-volume hardback; also available as two-volume paperback; Roman Catholic orientation; has atlas]

Gaebelein's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Revised edition. Written by Arno C. Gaebelein. 1970; Neptune, NJ: Loiseaux Brothers, 1985. [1237 pages.]

Harper's Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed. James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988. [1326 pages; has brief bibliographies; has atlas; written by distinguished members of the prestigious Society of Biblical Literature.]

The International Bible Commentary [based on the New International Version]. Eds. F.F. Bruce, H.L. Ellison, G.C.D. Howley. 2nd ed. 1979; Basingstoke, Eng./Grand Rapids, MI: Marshall Pickering Publishers/Zondervan Publishers, 1986. [1629 pages; has bibliographies.]

The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Ed. Charles Laymon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1971. [1386 pages; has helpful general index.]

The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Eds. Raymond Brown, Josoeph Fitzmeyer, Roland Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968. [1526 pages; has bibliographies; has helpful general index; written by best Roman Catholic Bible scholars; now in second edition as the New Jerome Bible Commentary.]

Mercer Commentary on the Bible. Gen. Eds. Watson Mills and Richard Wilson. Macon, GA: Mercer University PRess, 1995. [1347 pages; based on NRSV; has bibliographies.]

Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Eds. E. Radmacher, R.B. Allen, and H.W. House. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Sons, 19uu. [1804 pages.]

The New Bible Commentary, Revised. Eds. D. Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, A.M. Stibbs, D.J. Wiseman. 1953, 1954; Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishers, 1970. [1310 pages; in new edition as New Bible Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 1994; 1456 pages.]

A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Eds. Reginald Fuller, Leonard Johnston, Conleth Kearns. 3rd ed. 1953, 1969; Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson PUblishers, 1975. [1363 pages; has bibliographies; has helpful general index; has atlas. Orientation indicated by the title.]

Peake's Commentary on the Bible. Eds. Mathew Black, H.H. Rowley. London, Eng.: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd, 1962. [1141 pages; has bibliographies; has general index; has atlas.]

The Teacher's Commentary. Written by Lawrence O. Richards. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987. [1110 pages; has general index; overall, not as helpful as other items in this section of Prinsky's bibliography.]

Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Eds. Charles Pfeiffer and Everett Harrison. Chicago: Moody Press, 1962. [1540 pages; has bibliographies.]

Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Eds. Kenneth Barker and John Kohlenberger. 2 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994. [Vol. 1 (Old Testament), 1558 pages; vol. 2 (New Testament), 1200 pages; total, 2758 pages.]

B4B. The Best Limited Multi-Volume (Twelve-Volume) Set

Expositor's Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed. Frank E. Gabelein. 12 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishers, 1979-1989. [Vol. 1 is Introductory Articles; vols. 2-7 are on the Old Testament; vols. 8-12 are on the New Testament.]

B4C. The Best Multi-Volume Commentaries on Both Old and New Testaments, One Volume to Each Book of Old or New Testament

[All the following are as yet incomplete, though each has coverage of several books of both the Old Testament and New Testament]

The Anchor Bible (Doubleday-Anchor Press)

Hermeneia Commentaries (Fortress Press)

International Critical Commentary (T. & T. Clark Publishers)

Interpretation Commentary (John Knox Press)

New International Biblical Commentary (Hendrickson Publishers)

Word Biblical Commentary (Word Publishers)

B4D. Multi-Volume Sets on Just the Old Testament

[Like the sets in 4C, these are not yet complete, though covering several books of the Old Testament]

New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Eerdmans)

Old Testament Library (Westminster Press)

B4E. Multi-Volume Sets on Just the New Testament

[Like the sets in 4C, these are not yet complete, though covering several books of the New Testament]

Black's New Testament Commentary (Harper and Row)

New International Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans)

New Testament Commentary (Baker Book House)

Pillar New Testament Commentaries (Eerdmans)