If you’ve ever searched for Bible study resources and felt completely overwhelmed, you’re not imagining the mountain of materials available, and you’re not alone. The sheer number of resources and tools geared toward Bible study today can make it difficult to know where to begin and how to determine what will be most useful and beneficial for deepening Bible study in your context.

That is why we at Building Faith have curated a list of resources and tools that can be helpful for Bible study groups and leaders. This list encompasses various translations of the Bible, commentaries, digital tools, biblical manuscripts, and resources for prayer and worship. Among the materials in the list, you will find essays, maps, dictionaries, daily Bible reading plans, and more. If you are interested in Bible study curricula, you can follow this link to our Top Picks for Adult Bible Study Curriculum.

We hope these resources will enrich your community’s study and exploration of the scriptures. As always, we encourage you to take into account the theology, biblical interpretation, context, materials, and representation of human identities and experiences in the resources below as you discern which might be fruitful for your context.

Bibles

Reading different versions of the same passage can be an edifying practice in Bible study. Comparing different translations can illuminate a range of meanings that a word or phrase may have. It can also bring to light more perspectives on a passage and thus deepen participants’ understanding and engagement with the text. Below are a few Bible translations to check out. For more info on popular English translations, see “What’s the Difference between English Bible Translations?: A Quick Guide.”

1. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

By Robert Alter, 3 volumes (W. W. Norton & Company, 2018)

This English translation of the Hebrew Bible, as Hebrew and comparative literature scholar Robert Alter says in the introduction, is designed to “[convey] with some precision the semantic nuances and the lively orchestration of literary effects of the Hebrew and at the same time [have] stylistic and rhythmic integrity as literary English.” Genesis, for example, begins like this: “When God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light” (Gen 1:1 – 3). The translation consists of three volumes and includes critical notes about the text.

2. The Jewish Study Bible

Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2014)

This edition of the Hebrew Bible offers the TANAKH (a Hebrew acronym that stands for Law, Prophets, and Writings) translation by the Jewish Publication Society and includes notes and commentary, essays on Jewish biblical interpretations, maps, and more. As the editors say in the introduction, “We hope that Jewish readers will use this book as a resource to better understand the multiple traditions that have informed, and continue to inform, their tradition. We also hope that The Jewish Study Bible will serve as a compelling introduction for students of the Bible from other backgrounds and traditions, who are curious about contemporary academic Jewish biblical interpretation.”

3. The Peoples’ Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha

Edited by George E. Tinker, Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Wilda C. Gafney, Leticia Guardiola-Saenz, and Frank Yamada (Fortress, 2008)

This edition of the New Revised Standard Version includes accompanying essays and notes that not only help readers better understand scriptures’ ancient cultural contexts, but also illuminate interpretations of scripture rooted in African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American cultures. As the publisher’s website says, “The Peoples’ Bible highlights the role of cultures in shaping the Bible and the way people read the Bible today.”

Commentaries

Commentaries typically offer detailed discussion of biblical texts. They often cover the historical and literary dimensions of passages and present interpretations of the text. Because commentaries can involve a lot of technical scholarly exposition, we have chosen for this list commentaries and anthologies that are more accessible for lay audiences. The resources below shed light on historical and literary layers as well, and they also bring theological and social concerns to their engagement with the texts.

1. The Africana Bible: Reading Israel’s Scriptures from Africa and the African Diaspora

Edited by Hugh R. Page, Jr. (Fortress, 2009; 2nd edition forthcoming in 2024)

This book is an anthology of essays that engage the Hebrew Bible, or First Testament, to use the book’s term, from African and African Diaspora perspectives. While it is not a detailed commentary on biblical books, we have included this resource here because it explores key historical, theological, social, and cultural dimensions of the scriptures in discussing their meanings in communities of African descent.

2. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible Series

Edited by Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher (Westminster John Knox, 2010 – 2022)

This series of commentaries on various books of Christian scriptures is designed to offer theological reflections and interpretations on biblical texts. According to the publisher’s website, the volumes in this series aim for “a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the texts.” Twenty-one volumes are currently available, and more are forthcoming.

3. Fortress Commentary on the Bible

Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., and Matthew J. M. Coomber (Fortress, 2014); Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The New Testament, edited by Margaret Aymer, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and David A. Sánchez (Fortress, 2014); study editions for both volumes are also available

These commentaries engage books of the Bible contextually in three ways. They shed light on “the text in its ancient context,” “the text in the interpretive tradition,” and “the text in contemporary discussion.” This format enables readers not only to consider various ways of approaching scripture today, but also to grapple with the history of how scriptures has been interpreted and used.

4. The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible

Edited by Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Wilda C. Gafney, Leticia Guardiola-Saenz, George E. Tinker, and Frank Yamada (Fortress, 2010)

This anthology of essays on the scriptures seeks “to shatter the misperception that the Bible is somehow ‘color-‘ and ‘culture-blind,'” as the preface says, “to draw the reader into a new encounter with the Bible as a product of many ancient cultures, at home in many contemporary cultures, and to show that the Bible really is a peoples’ Bible.” It is an accompaniment to The Peoples’ Bible (linked above), and it also includes maps and a student guide.

5. The Queer Bible Commentary

Edited by Mona West and Robert E. Shore-Goss, 2nd edition (SCM Press, 2022)

This book of essays engages scriptures through the lenses of LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences. It exhibits multiple creative ways of “queering the Bible,” as the preface to the second edition says, and through the essays, the authors “bring critical questions of our lives to the text.”

6. True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary

Edited by Brian K. Blount, Cain Hope Felder, Clarice J. Martin, and Emerson B. Powery (Fortress, 2007; 2nd edition forthcoming 2024)

This book of essays showcases African American interpretations of New Testament texts. Along with essays that explore each book of the New Testament, this volume addresses broader topics and issues for reading the New Testament in light of African American contexts and experiences, including ethnicity, class, slavery, gender, and art.

Digital Tools & Resources

If you want to do a keyword search, look up different Bible translations quickly, or access maps and other reference tools for free, these digital resources can be helpful places to begin.

1. Bible Gateway

By Zondervan

This website allows you to read and search the Bible online for free in numerous versions and translations in a wide array of languages. You can look up a specific chapter or chapter and verse in a book, or you can type in a keyword and search within a book or across multiple books. The site includes an “add parallel” feature for reading up to five versions of the text side by side. It also provides audio capabilities for listening to the text.

(Please note that the site contains additional content that we at Building Faith may not endorse and that may not align theologically with certain Christian contexts. To learn more, you can follow the link to view their statement of faith.)

2. Bible Hub

By Online Parallel Bible Project

This website offers a search feature to compare multiple versions of a verse or passage simultaneously. It also highlights cross references for verses that might have overlapping language or meaning. If you want to look up references for accounts of similar stories across the gospels, for example, you can type one reference into the search bar to obtain the others, or you can do a keyword search. The site also contains an interlinear feature, which displays the biblical text in Hebrew or Greek with an English translation line by line.

(Please note that the site contains additional content that we at Building Faith may not endorse and that may not align theologically with certain Christian contexts. To learn more, you can follow the link to access their statement of faith.)

3. Bible Odyssey

By the Society of Biblical Literature

This site contains maps, timelines, a Bible search function for the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, a Bible dictionary, and various articles and videos by scholars on a range of topics related to biblical history, texts, and interpretation. You can access many of its tools through the “reference tools” dropdown bar on the main menu, and you can search or browse for articles by topic.

Manuscripts

Several of the oldest manuscript copies of the scriptures are available to search and browse online for free. Here are a few sites worth checking out if you are curious about the texts that have been instrumental in the construction and formation of the scriptures you read and study today.

1. Codex Siniaticus

This website, a collaboration between the British Library, Leipzig University Library, St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, and the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg, features a digital version of one of the oldest manuscripts of the Bible in Greek, dating to the fourth century, and the oldest extant copy of the New Testament in full. The text is written in capital Greek letters with no spaces between words or chapter and verse numbers, and it is organized into columns that begin on the left and are read top to bottom, left to right. You can select specific books or passages and view the manuscript along with translations in English, German, Greek, or Russian.

2. The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library and the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls

These two websites, hosted by Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Museum, respectively, provide free digital access to portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from the third century B.C.E. to the first century C.E. and are mostly written in Hebrew. The Great Isaiah Scroll on the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls site allows you to select a verse in Hebrew and view an English translation.

3. Papyrus 46: Epistles of Paul

This website, hosted by the University of Michigan Library, exhibits a digital version of the oldest extant manuscript of the Apostle Paul’s letters, dating to around 200 C.E. It includes portions of Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews (which most scholars do not attribute to Paul), and Ephesians (which scholars debate regarding its true author). Like Codex Siniaticus, this text contains no spaces between words. Beside each manuscript page, you can view an English translation.

Meditative Reflection & Worship Resources

These resources offer ways of engaging scripture through daily or weekly devotion, prayer, and liturgy. They can be useful for groups that want to incorporate a meditative practice into their Bible study.

1. The Bible Challenge

By Marek P. Zabriskie (The Center for Biblical Studies)

The Bible Challenge is designed to help people read the Bible daily. The Center for Biblical Studies website provides a number of reading plans for individuals, churches, and dioceses, including this “Read the Bible in a Year” downloadable PDF. It offers tips for children and youth to read and explore the Bible as well. Books tailored to various Bible challenges with devotional readings are also available for purchase at Forward Movement, including The Bible Challenge: Read the Bible in a Year, A Journey with Matthew: The 50 Day Bible Challenge (plus similar books for the other gospels), The Social Justice Bible Challenge: A 40 Day Bible Challenge, and The Creation Care Bible Challenge: A 50 Day Bible Challenge.

2. Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is a meditative Bible reading practice that involves reading and reflecting on a passage of scripture to discern God’s presence and word to you through the scripture. The guide linked above from the Anglican Communion website offers information about the practice as well as instructions for using it with any passage of scripture you may choose.

3. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church

By Wilda C. Gafney, 3 volumes (Church Publishing, 2021 – 2023)

The books in this series feature compilations of weekly lectionary readings that center perspectives, voices, and stories of girls and women in scripture. The readings are selected and translated by Gafney and designed to be used in liturgy and worship. Three volumes for Year A (with readings from Matthew’s gospel), Year B (with readings from Mark’s gospel), and Year W (which includes readings from all four gospels) are available, and notes and preaching prompts also accompany the readings for each week.

What tools and resources have you found helpful for Bible study in your context? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Featured image is by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash