St. Olaf College Libraries | Northfield, Minnesota, USA

Great Con 113 : Greeks and Hebrews
A Guide to Library Resources

Fall 2007

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

It is a good idea to read your biblical passage in several different translations, starting with The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This will assist you in discovering significant passages, words, ideas, etc., and provide a way to discern nuances. The easiest way to do this is to use:

The Complete Parallel Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. [R.R. BS125 .B5 1993] Four translations are printed side-by-side in this volume, allowing you to compare translations using a single book.

CONCORDANCES

A concordance is simply an alphabetized index of all words in the Bible. You can use a concordance to locate every occurrence of a word throughout the Bible - this includes proper names such as names of people and places.

Note: Make sure the concordance you consult matches the translation you are using. A standard concordance that will be helpful for the NRSV is:

The NRSV Concordance Unabridged: Including the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books [R.R. BS425 .K645 1991]

Concordances to other translations can be found in the reference room under the call number BS425.

BIBLE DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, and GUIDES
(for entries on biblical events, geographical places, people, and theological concepts)

Brief Entries:

The HarperCollins' Bible Dictionary [R.R. BS440 .H237 1996]
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible [R.R. BS440 .D495 2005]
Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible [R.R. BS440 .I42 1986]
Oxford Companion to the Bible [R.R. BS440 .M434 1993]
Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible [R.R. BS440 .E44 2000]

Lengthy Entries:

Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 v.) [R.R. BS440 .A54 1992]
The ABD is one of the standard multi-volume Bible dictionaries. It contains entries on the history, religion, and culture of the entire Ancient Near Eastern world.
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible [R.R. BS440 .I7 1962] + (Supplemental vol.)
This is an older set but still contains good articles on nearly every biblical topic. The IDB has asterisks (*) next to articles in the main set (v1-4), indicating that these articles have been updated in the supplemental volume.

Ancient Near East and Jewish Resources:

Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (4 v.) [R.R. DS57 .C55 1995] <Sasson>
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament [R.R. BS1180 .P96 1969] <Pritchard>
Encyclopedia Judaica, 2nd Edition (22 v.) [R.R. DS102.8 .E52 2007]
Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period (2 v.) [R.R. BM50 .D525 1996]

ATLAS

The Sacred Bridge: Carta's Atlas of the Biblical World [R.R. Atlas BS630 .R356 2006]

COMMENTARIES
(for overviews and passage-by-passage examinations of the biblical texts)

Single Volume Commentaries:

HarperCollins Bible Commentary [R.R. BS491.2 .H37 2000] - cross-referenced with the HC Bible Dictionary.
Oxford Bible Commentary [R.R. BS491.3 .O94 2001]
New Jerome Biblical Commentary [R.R. BS491.2 .J4 1990]
Women's Bible Commentary [R.R. BS491.2 .W66 1998]

Multi-Volume Series:

New Interpreter's Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes [R.R. BS491.2 .N484 1994]
Anchor Bible [special section on level 5 - BS192.2 .A1]
Old Testament Message [interfiled in commentary section]
New Testament Message [interfiled in commentary section]
Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament [interfiled in commentary section]

Other commentaries can be found by doing a KEYWORD search in BRIDGE. For example, if you want commentaries on the Book of Genesis, you would type "Genesis commentaries"

Contact Information:	Page Information:
Ken Johnson Rolvaag Library 305 507-646-3793 johnsonk@stolaf.edu	Created by: Ken Johnson \| 9/2006 Created for: Marsalek, Harper and Casson Updated by: KJ \| 10/2007