Daily Archives: September 1, 2016

On-Line Bible Study Sites

Though some Bible study programs are relatively inexpensive, not everyone can afford them. But if you have access to the internet, and you can probably get it through your public library if no where else, you can still access valuable Bible study tools. The following list provides links to some online Bible study resources that can be helpful. As with Bible computer programs or any hard copy volume, there is always a need to be careful. Some sites, volumes, and webmasters have certain denominational biases that will sometimes show through and, unless you become aware of these, you might fall prey to false teaching. So be cautious.

The first online Bible study source that I would suggest is called Studylight.org. It is described as the “largest collection of online Bible study tools and resources.” From my count, it has forty-four different versions of the Bible, including modern and historical Bibles. This does not take into account the original language versions nor the versions in other modern, non-English translations. StudyLight “has more Bible commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, lexicons and original language tools than any other website on the internet!” Under it’s Bible studies tab, it has a total of 107 commentaries, 6 concordances, 27 dictionaries and 8 encyclopedias. It has tabs for “Original Language Tools,” “Historical Writings,” and resources for preachers which they erroneously style “Pastoral Resources.”

Many of the volumes are the same ones you would find in free programs like e-Sword and other for-profit software packages. It’s language works are meager, though it does have a helpful selection of Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin translations for more serious study. It’s historical writings consist mostly of Edersheim and Josephus which, while essential, could be padded with other works. It’s “Pastoral Resources” have verbal illustrations and quotations for those preparing sermons and Bible lessons. These are useful for the preacher, but not exactly helpful to the Bible student, per se.

Another very helpful Bible study site is called Biblehub.com. This site provides 25 different versions of the Bible and multiple commentaries and other helps. What I especially like about this site is that it offers all these resources at one time virtually on the same page. For instance, when I search for Matthew 24:1, a page comes up with all the translations of this verse, some commentary with a link to a page with more commentaries, and some other links related to this verse.

There are icons at the top of the page which will take you directly to different, helpful pages. When I click on the icon for Strong’s, for instance, it takes me to a page with several Bibles linked to Strong’s Dictionary so that when I mouse over a word, it provides another link to a page with the definition of that word. It also contains relevant maps which links to a page with additional entries from Bible encyclopedias concerning that subject. Biblehub.com is very helpful and would serve as a nice stand alone software package.

Another online Bible study resource is a site called Preceptaustin.org. The statement of faith on this site shows that it is clearly Calvinistic, advocating eternal security and the direct operartion of the Holy Spirit. So one must be careful as to the conclusions that are made by the webmaster. With this in mind, however, the site is very useful for Bible study because it contains a wealth of information from various commentaries and language works.

The site allows you to search a verse from over 20,000 journal articles. You can search for a verse by commentaries and a very comprehensive listing of commentaries will be provided. Again, some of the analysis must be sifted carefully because of the denominational bias, but the resources are there to be gleaned.

Another very good site is called Deeperstudy.com. This excellent but simple site is merely a compilation of links to many different resources. There are a host of links to classic commentaries. It has great links to works on original languages and to the writings of the church fathers as well as maps of Bible lands derived from satellite imagery. It has many other resources which I will mention next week. It would take much precious time to try to find these links yourself, but they are compiled here for you in one very helpful site.

Another site I would suggest is Biblestudytools.com. It really does not provide anything the other sites do not, but it is in a little different format and may be better suited to some than the others are.

There are many other sites that are designed for Bible study but I have found these to be helpful. Next week I would like to suggest some sites than provide additional aids to Bible study.

Eric L. Padgett