We live in an age where we do not lack resources. But how do you sort out the good from the bad? The fact is that almost anyone can upload a book to Amazon, but that doesn’t mean that it is worth reading or that it will be helpful. Below are some resources that I have found helpful and which have stood the test of time and critical review. If you are a new Christian or new to Bible study, you should start with one or two resources from the beginner level. (I have starred the resources that I have found to be the most helpful.) If you have been doing Bible study for a while, but perhaps you have gotten bored with it or you want to be challenged more, maybe it is time to up your game and dig into God’s word a bit deeper—the intermediate level resources would be appropriate for you. If you consider yourself to be at the advanced level, then you don’t need my help finding resources.
Beginner Level
*Howard G. Hendricks and William D. Hendricks, Living by the Book (Chicago: Moody, 1991).
*Walter Henrichsen and Gayle Jackson, Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990).
Gordon D. Fee and Douglass Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 4th edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014).
Robertson McQuilken, Understanding and Applying the Bible, 2nd edition (Chicago: Moody, 2009).
Max Anders, Thirty Days to Understanding the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2018).
Intermediate Level
*J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012).
William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 3rd edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017).
*Henry A. Virkler, Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981).
Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook of Hermeneutics, 3rd edition (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1970).
Andrew D. Naselli, How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2017).
Jason S. DeRouchie, How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2017).
Darrell L. Bock and Buist M. Fanning, Interpreting the New Testament Text: Introduction to the Art and Science of Exegesis (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006).
*Douglas Stuart, Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors, 4th edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009).
Gordon D. Fee, New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors, 3rd edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2002).
A Word on Commentaries
Commentaries should never replace your own personal study of Scripture. Instead, they should complement your study and help you to understand the text better. Consider them as conversation partners to what you are learning. There is no shame in using a commentary, even the most intelligent biblical scholars consult commentaries on a regular basis. Commentaries can help you make sense out of difficult passages and they provide a way of cross-checking your work to make sure you are on the right track. It is important to use commentaries that are appropriate to your goals and level of study. Some commentaries are very academic in nature and discuss the in’s and out’s of grammar, the original languages, and rhetoric. Other commentaries are more devotional in nature and focus on contemporary application and practical takeaways. And, of course, there are countless others that fall somewhere in between those two extremes. In addition, every commentary is written from some specific theological perspective: some are Lutheran, some are Reformed, some are Catholic, some are Pentecostal, etc. If you find yourself not understanding the commentary or not agreeing with it, it would be better to find another commentary that might suit your study better.
John F. Evans has written an excellent resource on commentaries. He has evaluated as many commentaries as he is aware of (which is thousands) and notes their strengths and weaknesses. Nearly every commentary currently (or recently) in print is considered. For every book of the Bible, he lists what he considers are the five best commentaries available today. The primary strength of this work is that it saves you the time of trying to figure out what is a good commentary worth spending your money on and what is not.
See: John F. Evans, A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works, 10th Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016).
For a free option, you might also visit the website Best Commentaries, https://www.bestcommentaries.com, for a similar review of many available commentaries from an Evangelical perspective.
