This is part 18 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

What tools can help you understand the bible better? Today we'll cover some recommended resources for you to deepen your study of the scriptures, including bible dictionaries, commentaries, bible software, AI, and more. Of course, it's impossible to cover everything in a reasonable time frame, so I'll just recommend two or three of each resource type, focusing primarily on tools that I personally have and use regularly.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJOFFIkNdUg&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=18

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—— Notes ——

18 Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible

Why do we need extra-biblical tools to help us understand the Bible?

• Different geography
• Different history
• Different cultures (ancient Near Eastern, first-century Jewish, Greco-Roman)
• Different economics
• Different literacy rates
• Different scientific and philosophical knowledge

Bible Dictionaries

• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
• Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)
• Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2015)
• The IVP Bible Dictionary Series
  • Dictionary of OT: Pentateuch (2002)
  • Dictionary of OT: Historical Books (2005)
  • Dictionary of OT: Wisdom, Poetry, & Writings (2008)
  • Dictionary of OT: Prophets (2012)
  • Dictionary of NT Background (2000)
  • Dictionary of Jesus & Gospels (2013)
  • Dictionary of Paul & Letters (2023)
  • Dictionary of the Later NT (1997)

Commentaries

• Fee & Stuart: “Jesus says, ‘…It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ You will sometimes hear it said that there was a gate in Jerusalem known as the “Needle’s Eye,” which camels could go through only by kneeling, and with great difficulty. The point of this “interpretation” is that a camel could in fact go through the “Needle’s Eye.” The trouble with this “exegesis,” however, is t