Religion Courses & Research

Concordances, Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and atlases

These reference source types are particular to the study of the Christian Bible and require a little practice to use.

RE 102 students and religion majors will find the descriptions and videos below useful.

Bible Concordance

What does it provide?

• A list of EVERY SINGLE TIME a word is used in the Bible

Where to find?   

• Bible Gateway website (free online) is the easiest to use
• BibleWorks program on the library's stand-up computers
• Print concordances in Reference or the 1st floor stacks - look for "exhaustive" not "abridged"

How to use?   

• Keyword search Bible Gateway; look up alphabetically in print texts

Bible Dictionary

What does it provide?

• the MEANING behind a word, phrase, or concept
• the BIOGRAPHIES of people (brief)
• the HISTORICAL CONTEXT of a passage, perhaps also the themes
• May be a single sentence or several paragraphs

Where to find?

• Reference section (at the front of the 1st floor) in the 220.3 section.
• Online access--see link below

How to use?

• Look up your word, person, concept, etc, ALPHABETICALLY
• If the word has a more commonly-used related term, you may be directed to find that instead:
  • For the above, you would then look for "Mediterranean Sea" and there would be an entry there that would mention the Great Sea.
  • 
  • Same for "greaves"--look up "Arms and Armor" instead.

Bible Commentary

What does it provide?

• an INTERPRETATION of the spiritual, historical, and literary meaning of the text (verse, passage, chapter, etc)
• it may COMPARE the text to similar passages, similar uses of a word, or the meaning of different translations or editions this explanation will be in-depth

Where to find?

• Reference or 1st floor stacks (search or browse 222-228 section)
• One set of New Interpreter's is on Reserve
• Online access--see below

How to use?

• Look up your passage in the ORDER it appears in the Bible
  • If your passage is in Mark, find a commentary that includes Mark (it will be all about Mark, all about the Gospels, or all about the New Testament)
  • Locate the book of Mark in the commentary (it will be in the same order as in the Bible)
  • Locate the passage (again, it will be in the same order as in the Bible)

Bible Atlas

What does it provide?   

• Maps of the lands mentioned in the Bible
• Usually, the atlas provides both historically accurate (from all time periods relevant) and present-day maps

Where to find?   

• Reference (1st floor as you walk in)
• General Stacks (rest of 1st floor; search OneSearch)Search for Bible Atlas in OneSearch to know where to look

How to use?

• Figure out how the atlas is ordered (it may be alphabetical, geographical, or historical) and find the map you need. You may need to use the index.