The Spiritual Discipline of Bible Study

When you begin to dig deeper and want to see what others say about the scripture you need to invest in a couple of items. First would be just a bible dictionary. A dictionary will help you with tough words that are easy for interpreters to understand but normal humans need help with. It will also give you insight into traditions of the day so you can read in context with what was going on. On this same scale would be a bible handbook it will give you layout and overall themes for the section you are studying.

Next would be a commentary. The larger ones have at least one volume per book of the bible and some have two or three volumes for each book. You need to know what you are looking for when you get a commentary. I would put the Interpreters Commentary more to the left of center or more liberal in its view. The Expositors Commentary would be more center-right or conservative. I have both because I want to know what both sides say. Either way they will add to your learning experience.

Finally I would suggest a concordance. A concordance gives you the English word used in the sentence by the translators. It then gives you a reference number to look up the Greek or Hebrew word so you can see haw many English words that one word can be translated into. I put this lower on the scale because this is intense study. If you are not writing a sermon or paper on the text I don't think you need this. But if you really want to see where the translators were coming from this is the way to go.