Biblical Studies

What are commentaries?

Commentaries provides explanation and interpretation of the Bible, typically by book, chapter and verse. They may cover one book of the Bible, several books (e.g. gospels, prophets, epistles, etc.) or all books of the Bible in one volume or set. Zondervan Library has over 2,500 Bible commentaries.

In WorldCat Research Station you can enter the search: bible Genesis commentaries (or change Genesis to any book of the Bible) to find commentaries on the specific passage you have chosen.

Commentaries located on the Upper level are available for you to check out. 

Note that each book of the Bible has a unique number and most of them are generally arranged in the same order where found in the Bible. 

The readership level of commentaries varies from the very scholarly, well-researched ones to others that are designed for the lay person with non-academic language.

Some commentaries may cover the entire bible in one or two volumes. Some focus on one or two individual books of the Bible. Other key commentary sets have volumes covering each book individually. 

The multi-volume entire Bible commentary sets can be found in the call number area of 220.7 in the Main Collection (upstairs).

Bible Hub

Bible Hub

Bible Hub combines several kinds of sources for studying the Bible. The commentaries included in Bible Hub provide one searchable site for many resources, versions,and study guides. Note that many of the commentaries are several years old, out of copyright, and do not reflect current scholarship. For contemporary analysis of a passage or theme you should use other sources beyond this one.

Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway

Has a selection of Bible Commentaries.