In fact, I can look up anything in the BEB and it immediately orients me with its ancient, theological, and spiritual significance.įor example, let’s say I wanted to write a piece on covenant in the Bible. I can look up any Bible character or book of the Bible and get a bunch of helpful information written in a very approachable way. They’re either mega academic articles or general here’s-some-info write-ups. I don’t find all that many that make it easy for non-academics like me to understand the big picture, and then dive into the details. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible is a phenomenal Bible dictionary.īible dictionaries tend to lean in one of two directions in terms of content.
You want to know the most-referenced book in my library (besides my NASB)? It’s this book. (And by “best,” I mean my favorites to use for both personal study, teaching, and building stuff for Bible geeks on this website, of course.) 1. Now, let’s get into the best Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, shall we? The best Bible dictionaries & encyclopedias That means if you buy them based on my recommendation, Amazon gives me a small kickback. This is NOT a list of Bible lexicons: books used to look up an English biblical word in its original language.įine print is no fun, so I’ll tell you up front: the links to buy these products on Amazon are affiliate links.
#Religious dictionaries full#
A few quick notes on this list of Bible dictionariesīut before I jump into the list of my favorite Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.Ī Bible dictionary is a reference book full of articles on the people, places, things, and concepts of the Bible. A good Bible dictionary will give you an idea of how these are addressed throughout Scripture, plus plenty of information on how ancient, medieval, and modern people think (or have thought) of them.
#Religious dictionaries free#
#4 Lexham Bible Dictionary Best price: Use this because it’s surprisingly both free and helpful. #3 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Conservative: Use this for a conservative evangelical perspective. Most scholarly: Use this for historical context from a critical, scholarly perspective (but not doctrine). Most balanced: Use this for approachable, highly relevant dives into any biblical subject. I’ve written more thoroughly on why and how I use them below. Here’s my quick list of the best Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, and a one-sentence reason I recommend them. Who wrote the book of Hebrews? (Well, I don’t get a solid answer on this, but I get a lot of historical theories.)īible dictionaries are insanely useful for digging into Scripture, and I wanted to share a few that I tend to reference more often than others.Why is Michael called an archangel, and are there any other archangels in the Bible?.Which Herod tried to kill baby Jesus-and which one killed John the Baptist?.That makes Bible dictionaries instrumental in answering questions like: They’re my go-to resources for when I want to get a full view of how a person, place, thing, or idea is treated across Scripture. Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias are my secret weapon when it comes to Bible study.