Some Guides of Tools and Ancient Versions for the Study of the Biblical Text

I often encounter comments here at DC based more on the texts and notes of either the Schofield Reference Bible or the Thompson Chain Reference Bible than from tools which would require an objective study of the Biblical text.

In particular, I find that one of the main deficiencies of conservative Biblical colleges and universities are their tight limitations to only the canonized Christian text as based usually on a Protestant perspective. To put this in a mathematical sense; the conservative mind set to the Biblical text and its theology is directly inversely proportional to the tools used in and the ability of the person studying the text.

The following references are very useful exegetical guides to tools for those doing studies on the Biblical text and its associated languages and versions as related to both its setting in the ancient Near East and Hellenistic worlds.

An older guide which includes tools on the Hebrew text and its versions, Intertestamental Literature and the New Testament is:

An Introductory Bibliography for the Study of Scripture
by Joseph Fitzmyer (Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 3 ed. 1990). Although dated, its guide to basic established texts and Biblical tools is still valuable.

For an up dated guide in book and CD form on the entire Biblical text as a whole, I would recommend:

Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study
By Frederick W. Danker (Augsburg Fortress Publishers; 4 ed., 2003)

Its Amazon description reads:
Danker’s indispensable volume, available since 1993 in a revised and expanded edition, has served for 40 years as the reliable guide for students and scholars to the foundational texts of biblical study: concordances, primary Hebrew and Greek texts, grammars and lexicons, Bible dictionaries and versions, commentaries, and a host of contextual tools for studying the world of the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now the volume will also include a CD-ROM, powered by the Libronix Digital Library System, making this work more convenient to use, easily searchable, and ready for notetaking, highlighting, bookmarking, and use with a word processor. The CD-ROM will also include some updated bibliography and Weblinks to related material.

For those on a tight budget who could use a free on line reference to tools and versions to the Hebrew text, I strongly recommend:

GUIDE TO BIBLICAL RESEARCH
William H.C. Propp (Revised by Jeffrey H. Tigay, 1997; updated November, 2005)
William Propp is a noted scholar of the Hebrew Bible and edited the two major volumes on Exdous in The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries, plus the guide has been up dated and revised by Jeffrey Tigay (A.M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures; University of Pennsylvania).

While this free online guide has its texts referenced to the library at the University of Pennsylvania, this guide is excellent because of the short and very useful comments by its two seasoned Biblical scholars.


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