Bible commentaries
Commentaries contain background information, information about variant readings from different manuscripts, and lots of interesting viewpoints.
- The Oxford Bible Commentary
- John Gill’s Exposition (1763)
- Commentaries on Archive.org
- Commentaries on StudyLight.org
Bible translations
A particular Bible translator may have found something that other translators have missed. They also may supply important notes.
- Bible Hub
- Bible Gateway
- Dukhrana (New Testament Aramaic Peshitta)
- NET Bible (based on Hebrew Masoretic and Greek)
- NETS (Greek Septuagint)
- Dead Sea Scrolls Bible translated into English
Critical editions
These are academic versions of manuscripts that have been checked and researched for variants to produce a high-quality source text.
- The Apostolic Bible
- The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies
- Henry Barclay Swete’s edition of the Septuagint (1930) – our original primary source text for the Septuagint
- Tischendorf’s critical edition (1881) – with input from Wescott and Hort, our original source for the Christian Era books
Bible software
This software is helpful for searching for verses with particular words or expressions.
Bible codexes and manuscripts
The codexes are the oldest compilations of Bible books. Sometimes it’s necessary to consult individual manuscripts to detect errors and corruptions, although critical editions (see above) are usually more practical.
- The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts
- Codex Vaticanus (Greek, c. 300-325)
- Codex Sinaiticus (Greek, c. 330-360)
- Codex Alexandrinus (Greek, c. 400-440)
- Codex Ephraemi (Greek, c. 450)
- Codex Bezae (Greek, c. 400)
- Crawford Codex (Aramaic)
- Khabouris Codex (Aramaic)
- Aleppo Codex (Hebrew)
- Wikipedia’s list of NT manuscripts
- Wikipedia’s list of OT manuscripts
Early Christian writings
Many early writers wrote about Christianity. Sometimes they quoted the Bible, but also they show how verses were understood in the past.
- EarlyChristianWritings.com
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- Catena Bible (links to early commentaries by Bible verse)
- Church Fathers Scripture Search Engine
Other ancient writings
Ancient non-Christian writings tell us more about the situation back then, what people did, and what they believed.
- The Works of Josephus:
- The Internet Classics Archive
- Early Jewish Writings
- Sefaria: a Living Library of Jewish Texts
Ancient Hebrew
Although our OT is based on the Greek Septuagint, our NT on the Greek and Aramaic texts, sometimes it is useful to consult the Hebrew.
Ancient Aramaic
Large parts of the NT may have been originally penned in Aramaic. Even if not, the Aramaic texts would represent a very early translation.
Ancient Greek
Our Old Testament is primarily based on the Greek Septuagint. Our New Testament is based on both the Greek and Aramaic texts.
Lexicons
These document the occurrences of ancient words in all ancient writings. You can see how the words were originally used.
- The Online Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon
- The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon
- Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible
Written works about Bible translation
Helpful books and courses.
Know a useful link? Please tell us!