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OT Commentaries

Recommended OT Commentaries

Need to find a good Old Testament commentary? Click to see our list of recommended commentaries.

Online Commentaries

Check out the list of commentaries provided online.

Tips for Selecting Commentaries

  • Note the type - Many types of commentaries exist, e.g., expositional, devotional, technical, etc. Therefore, one does well to know what kind of commentary for which he or she is looking. This involves knowing basic information about the various commentary series (below).
  • Note the series - Knowing the series of which a commentary is a part can tell you a lot about what the commentary will be like, e.g., theological persausion, quality, emphases, format, etc.
  • Note the author - When presented with an array of commentaries, knowing something about the available authors provides one with a good place to start.
  • Note the date - By offering some historical perspective, older commentaries posses a unique value. On the other hand, contemporary commentaries often make a practice of engaging with previously proposed interpretations. Thus, the newer commentaries carry a unique value as well.

Resources for Selecting Commentaries

  • Rolfing’s recommended commentary lists - Old TestamentNew Testament.

  • Best Commentaries - A site dedicated to providing reviews and rankings for a variety of Biblical resources including commentaries. Offers basic information about each commentary, e.g., author, date, series, and type (technical, pastoral, devotional, Jewish, special).

  • Other seminaries' recommended commentary lists.
  • Ask professors.

Finding Commentaries in the Library

Rolfing Library collects commentaries both for the Main collection and for the Reference collection. Commentaries designated in the Main collection may be checked out; those in Reference are for in-library use only. Whether in Reference or Main, commentaries will be shelved in one of two ways, either in collected commentary sets or with other commentaries and works on the same book(s) of the Bible. Commentaries on Genesis–Malachi run from BS 1235 through BS 1675.

Searching for Old Testament Commentaries

To search for commentaries on individual OT books as, for example, Genesis, use Rolfing Search’s Simple Search screen according to this example:

  1. In the "Search Terms" field, type the following, including periods:

    Bible Genesis Commentaries

  2. In the "Search Type" pull-down menu, select "Subject"
  3. Click on the "Submit" button

Commentaries on other individual OT books can be searched according to the above example, using the appropriate name of the book for which you want to find a commentary.

To search for commentaries on books with 1st’s and 2nd’s, use the following examples:

  • Commentaries on 1st and 2nd Samuel:

    Bible Samuel Commentaries

  • Commentaries specific to 1st Samuel:

    Bible Samuel, 1st Commentaries

  • Commentaries specific to 2nd Samuel:

    Bible Samuel, 2nd Commentaries

To search for commentaries on collected books of the Old Testament, use these subject headings:

  • Bible Commentaries
  • Bible Pentateuch Commentaries
  • Bible Historical Books Commentaries
  • Bible Poetical Books Commentaries
  • Bible Prophets Commentaries
  • Bible Minor Prophets Commentaries

To search for commentaries on specific chapter(s) of O.T. books, use these examples with Roman numerals for chapters:

  • Bible Genesis I Commentaries
  • Bible Isaiah I-XXXIX Commentaries

Searching for Commentaries by Specific Authors

To find commentaries by specific authors, as for example, Gordon Wenham’s commentary on Genesis, choose Advanced Search in Rolfing Search.

  1. In the first "Search For" field, type the following including periods:

    Bible Genesis Commentaries

  2. In the "Search In" pull-down menu, select "Subject"
  3. Leave the default selection of the word "AND"
  4. In the second "Search For" field, type the following: Wenham
  5. In the "Search In" pull-down menu, select "Author"
  6. Click on the "Submit" button

Finding Articles

Most Helpful Databases

These databases will be most helpful for Old Testament research. Journal articles and essays (book chapters) can be found searching these.

Other Helpful Databases

These databases may be helpful for more specific topics in Old Testament research. For a complete list of our databases, click here.

Accessing databases from off-campus

From off-campus, log-in to the databases using your TIU username and password. (This is what you use to log into your Trinity email, myTIU, and Moodle.)

If you are having trouble logging in, see the login help page.

Articles versus Essays?

Q. What's the difference between articles and essays?

A. They are in essence the same. The difference is where they are published. Articles are published in journals while essays are individually authored chapters of edited books. In ATLA they are distinguished by looking at publication type, either article or essay. For an article the source will be a journal title whereas the source for an essay will be a book title. ATLA has many full text articles, but no full text essays. You will need to search Rolfing Search or I-Share to find a copy of the book in which the essay is published.

Atla

Bible tools

Writing Helps

Style Guides and Templates

The TEDS standard for all course papers, capstones, master's theses, doctoral projects and dissertations is the TIU Style and Format Guide on myTIU. The Guide provides writers specific details relative to writing a document acceptable to Trinity. Writers are advised to examine their style and formatting early in their writing process in order to avoid delays in their graduation. For style questions not covered by the TIU Style and Format Guide, consult the Turabian Quick Guide or the Chicago Manual of Style Online.

Zotero

Zotero is a free bibliographic management program that one can use with any of these three browsers: Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. It allows one to download references from Rolfing Search, I-Share, WorldCat, and most of our databases, including ATLA, Academic Search Premier, and PsycINFO. After downloading references, Zotero can be used with its corresponding Microsoft Word (or Open Office counterpart) plugin to create parenthetical references/footnotes and bibliographies in many different citation styles. See our guide here for help with Zotero or click on the tab for Zotero above.

Writing a Research Paper at TEDS / TGS

See our helpful guide for tips on researching and writing an academic paper at TEDS / TGS.

Center for Theological Writing

The Center for Theological Writing of the Thrive Center (formerly the USSC) helps TEDS/TGS students with their academic and theological writing needs. You will need to schedule an appointment with a tutor. You can call the Thrive Center at (847) 317-8193 or email them at thrive@tiu.edu.

Zotero

Zotero

Zotero is a free bibliographic management program that one can use with any of these three browsers: Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. It allows one to download references from Rolfing Search, I-Share, WorldCat, and most of our databases, including Atla, Academic Search Premier, and PsycInfo. After downloading references, Zotero can be used with its corresponding Microsoft Word (or Open Office counterpart) plugin to create parenthetical references/footnotes and bibliographies in many different citation styles.

Download Zotero

Tutorial / help with Zotero