Biblical Studies

This subject guide provides resources related to research on the bible. Methodological approaches to the study of the bible can vary between literary studies, historical criticism, homiletical approaches, and postcolonial research. On the second tab, you'll find direct links to the library catalog on specific books of the bible.

Key eresources available to our students include:

• The abstracting services Old Testament Abstracts  and New Testament Abstracts
• The index and full text database ATLASerials Religion PLUS
• The online Encyclopedia of the history of interpretation of the Bible, Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception
• The online, polyglot bible tool and reference collection Oxford Biblical Studies Online
• The ebook versions of the Hermeneia Commentary Series
• The ebook versions of the Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries
• The online bibliography, Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies
• The online, polyglot bible tool The NET Bible
• The online concordance, the Blue Letter Bible

• BILDI -- Documentation for Biblical Literature, Innsbruck
  A bibliography of biblical and biblical-archaeological literature, covering articles, collected works, and monographs. Coverage for some of its 540 periodicals begins in 1985.
  Note: Open Access
• The Text This Week
  A webpage geared to pastors, with resources for the study of the lectionary, worship planning, and other worship-related materials. 
  Note: Open Access
• Oxford Bibliographies in Jewish Studies
  OBO offers over 150 bibliographies on topics in Jewish Studies, including historic figures, Jewish culture (US and Europe), the Shoah, and modern Jewish politics.
  Note: Access: current students, faculty, staff, on campus visitors
• Oxford Scholarship Online
  Access nearly 2,000 recent scholary books published by Oxford University Press at this link or through the library catalog. All areas of religious research are included.
  Note: Access: current students, faculty, staff, on campus guests
• Bible Basics Pronunciation Guide
  NET Ministries guide to pronouncing most words relevant to biblical and theological studies, from Aaron to Zuphite. Provides audio files as well as written phonetic notation. 

There are three different style guides available for students of the Bible. Listed below, in order of preference & accessibility, are your professors' preferred citation styles:

• SBL Handbook of Style
  The Student Supplement for the SBL Handbook of Style. This offers students resources on the basics of SBL Style as well as information on the many, many abbreviations that are used in Biblical studies. 
• Chicago Manual of Style Online
  Find it. Write it. Cite it. The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Turabian is a shortened version of The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Turabian -- A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is available in print at both libraries in the reference room at LB2369 .T8

Need help searching the catalog? Click here.

In the following two columns you will find a set of weblinks that will take you directly to the library's book catalog, ECCO. These searches are a little fuzzy (clicking on the link for the Gospel of John will also bring up books on the Epistles of John, etc.). Some of the books do not have weblinks, as we have no items in the collection that are specifically about that book. However, the majority of those texts are from the Apocrypha, which are oftentimes discussed together in one-volume commentaries, found via this link.

The library also owns several ebook commentaries. The two most useful sets are the Hermeneia series and the Wisdom Commentary series from Liturgical Press.

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• Samuel
• I & II Kings
• I & II Chronicles
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Tobit
• Judith
• Esther
• I & II Maccabees
• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Solomon / Song of Songs
• Wisdom
• Sirach / Ecclesiasticus
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Baruch
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi
• Letter of Jeremiah
• Apocrypha
• Azariah
• Susanna
• Bel and the Dragon
• Prayer of MAnasseh
• I & II Esdras
• III Maccabees
• IV Maccabees
• Enoch
• Jubilees
• Maccabees (Ethiopic)
• Letter of Baruch

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Acts
• Romans
• I & II Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• I & II Thessalonians
• I & II Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• James
• I & II Peter
• I, II, & III John
• Jude
• Revelation

• Oxford Very Short Introductions
  The ULS Library offers current students, faculty, and staff electronic access to 59 Very Short Introductions in religion, which offer concise introductions to important topics.
• Oxford Handbooks Online
  Oxford Handbooks offer introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in over 80 topical areas.
• Oxford Scholarship Online
  Access nearly 2,000 recent scholary books published by Oxford University Press at this link or through the library catalog. All areas of religious research are included.

• Bible Web App
  Developed by Digital Bible Society, the Bible Web App offers researchers the opportunity to view parallel versions of the Bible in English with  Greek  (Tisch) and Hebrew (WLC), including parsings, morphology, and lemma. While not nearly as powerful as desktop software for Greek study, this free tool can be useful.