Church, Community, Web Tools
5 Online Commentaries and Resources To Help You Study
Occasionally, you might get a call to the “big leagues.”
No I am not talking about baseball, I am talking about the opportunity to preach or teach at church, camp, or a small group. Getting the call can be very exciting and at the same time overwhelming. Exciting because you get to share with others what God has been teaching you and overwhelming because you have no clue where to turn for help.
So we look toward the experts and commentaries.
Commentaries are a great way to study passages of scripture (exegesis or exegete) and gain understanding of the original text of the passage (Hebrew for OT and Greek for NT). Having the chance to learn from scholars who have poured thousands of hours into studying the scripture that you are studying is a great resource and help.
Commentaries can be a great resource, but can also be pricey. Thank God for the internet! There are several sites that have commentaries and word studies available for you to learn from.
Here are 5 commentary resource sites that will help you in your study of scripture…
1. Best Commentaries
If you are going to start anywhere, you might as well start with the best. BestCommentaries.com does exactly what it says, it provides you with the best commentaries available for the scripture or specific word you are studying.
Providing you with the ability to search the site and then read reviews and rankings on each commentary makes the process of finding the best commentaries much easier. As well, it gives you the best use of your money. Taking out the guess work of wondering if a commentary is worth the price and will be the best available help to your study.
2. Precept Austin
Precept Austin is my favorite resource.
They have taken tons of commentaries, word studies, and bible studies and put them into one place. By selecting a book that you are studying you will then be directed to all the available commentaries and resources that they have provided.
Often, they take a verse from a passage and then break down each word for you as well as provide you information from scholars on the word or passage.
3. Blue Letter Bible
Blue Letter Bible is your one stop shop for any word study that you are in need of conducting. Providing you with a very easy way to search for words in scripture. Once you have found your word that you are searching for, blue letter bible provides you with the places that this word is mentioned in scripture, the root word, and even a definition and way of pronunciation. Great resource for understanding Greek and Hebrew a little bit better.
4. DesiringGod.org
A great resource is to be able to find out what others have said about scripture and even being able to hear how they structured their message. Not saying you should plagiarize a message, but being able to hear someone speak on a topic that you are studying proves to be a valuable resource.
Desiring God has provided you a place to search topics and scripture to read, listen, and study messages and resources available.
5) Follow The Rabbi
Follow the Rabbi provides you a place to cross reference passages, study maps, examine Hebrew, and faith lessons that tell the stories of the ancient world, and share why they are still important for us today. As well, you get to learn from guys like Ray Vander Laan, who is the man.
The best part about all of these resources is that they are free.
These resources are a great way to study scripture, gain understanding, and be inspired by the Word of God.
Got any others that you use?
Buzz it!
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26 Responses to “5 Online Commentaries and Resources To Help You Study”
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I’ve used blue letter bible and follow the rabbi almost every time I’ve given messages. Great tools! I’ll be sure to check out the others as well. I’ve only briefly perused desiring God.
Blue letter Bible has been good. But I think Precept Austin has been my biggest resource in the past.
Have you come across,
Religion-Online – http://religion-online.org/
Deinde.org – http://www.deinde.org/
Christian Classics Ethereal Library – http://www.ccel.org/
Monergism – http://www.monergism.com/
NT Gateway – http://www.ntgateway.com/
nope, but i have now. Thanks
I really like to use the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at http://www.ccel.org. It’s also free as long as you’re online. They offer downloadable resources too.
Lots of resources from old dead guys such as A.W. Pink and John Calvin.
I agree. http://www.ccel.org is a great resource.
Awesome. That is a new one for me. So I will definitely be checking that out. Thanks
Don’t forget the originators of the only open source translation of the Bible, http://www.bible.org. The NET Version is free to use and free to get in many formats. Plus, the website is chalked full of Bible studies and reference material.
If you do not mind laying down some cash, go to http://www.reclaimingthemind.org. They have a set of courses that might make you feel like you are going to seminary.
Trevor, are you a Logos man? I have always wanted to purchase that but have not had the money. These free resource have helped me out, but I would like to dive into that program.
Honestly, I have not heard of bible.org, so that will be another one to add to the list. Thanks
I salivate over the Logos software. I have my own little Logos savings bucket in my den. Its not cheap, but I know Logos is worth every cent. I am saving for one of the larger packages.
me too. When I was in college they would have special deals going. I was so tempted to purchase it and worry about the details later. I like that idea of putting money aside to save up for it. I would love to have the masters version.
I cannot justify borrowing for it. First off, I am no church leader. Just a dude. Secondly, I already have plenty of books to use and study in my den. That along with all the online resources, I will not be without while I save.
This list is great. Now I have more Bible study resource sites to add to my favorites! I run a Christian blog site called Say So! Magazine and I use a resource that wasn’t on your list…
http://www.youversion.com
I love this site. It has Bible and commentary search capabilities. And I really like their interface.
Well, we liked your list so much we featured it on our site. ( http://www.saysomagazine.com/component/content/article/2-default/68-online-resources-for-pastors-teacher-preachers ) I love your site.
thanks, appreciate that. Ya, youversion is great.
I want to sprint over to whomever posted this – kyle, i think… – and give him a big kiss on the cheek. Super helpful for me.
Also, ebible.com is pretty useful for cross referencing and whatnot. their UI is a bit sketchy, but still useful.
How about just a handshake
Glad to provide great resources.
I write for a blog called Heart of Campus Ministry. I was wondering if I could use this post for ResourceRoom we do. I will reference your blog in the post. Please let me know. Thanks! http://HeartofCampusMinistry.com
Ya no problem. Would love to be able to provide the link of this post to that. Go for it.
I used blue letter Bible and Desiring God, but thanks for the comments now I can check out more of these websites. Good review about the above mentioned sites.
No problem. These are great resources.
Hi guys–thanks for highlighting these!
One more to add to your list: I’ve helped start an open, wiki-style site called Commontary.com. We’re steadily adding content–check out the first half of Daniel for some examples.
It’s in Mediawiki–same software as Wikipedia–so anyone who’s used that is familiar with how it works.
We’re content partnering with the Emmaus School of Biblical Studies, and an iPhone app is just about finished. We’re looking for users and contributors!
Great idea. Will definitely check that out.
Thanks for the heads up.
I really like how Desiring God has most of John Piper’s books available for free download. So much fantastic stuff there. I’ve been using the GoodReader iPhone/iPod touch app to turn the pdf files into ebooks I can read on my iPod touch. That app is so useful (and only costs $1)
that is a great idea.
Biblical Studies Foundation (www.bible.org) is awesome!