The Best Bible Study Tools on the Web

Updated August 31, 2006

Here are the Best Bible Study Tools I know about on the web.

English Translations:

BibleGateway.com
BibleGateway.com is the best Bible search site.  It has almost all of the best English translations.  You can look at five versions of a passage at a time.  Here are some of the versions I would recommend checking out.  The descriptions below in quotes are from the publishers of the Bibles. 

• Today’s New International Version (TNIV), 2005. "The Today’s New International Version (TNIV) is a thoroughly accurate, fully trustworthy Bible text built on the rich heritage of the New International Version (NIV). In fact, this contemporary language version incorporates the continuing work of the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), the translators of the NIV, since the NIV’s last update in 1984."  I really like this translation and would recommend you using it with the ESV.   It is well-known for being more gender-inclusive than the ESV.   
• English Standard Version (ESV), 2001. "It seeks to be transparent to the original text,   letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of   the original."  Very popular in conservative reformed churches. 
• New International Version (NIV), 1984.  The most popular English translation.  It is very popular with evangelicals.  I am hoping that more and more people begin to notice some of these newer translations. 
• New American Standard Bible (NASB), 1995.  "The NASB update continues the NASB’s tradition of literal translation of the original Greek and Hebrew without compromise."  It is hard to read but helpful if you want to get word-for-word translation. 
• Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), 2003. "to affirm the authority of the Scriptures as God’s inerrant word and to champion its absolutes against social or cultural agendas that would compromise its accuracy."  This is another new solid translation. 
• New Living Translation, second edition, (NLT), 2004. "In the New Living Translation, this is accomplished by translating entire thoughts (rather than just words) into natural, everyday English."  This is another outstanding translation that has been updated since its original 1996 version.  It is more of a paraphrase but done by outstanding scholars. 
• The Message (MSG), 2002. "There is a need in every generation to keep the language of the gospel message current, fresh, and understandable—the way it was for its very first readers. That is what The Message seeks to accomplish for contemporary readers."  This paraphrase by Eugene Peterson reminds us that the Bible didn’t originally sound holy and religious but rather earthy and fresh. 
• Contemporary English Version (CEV), 1995. "The text is easily read by grade schoolers, second language readers, and those who prefer the more contemporized form."  These last two translations are superb resources for English as a Second Language and young readers.  Children’s Sunday school teachers must start using these two versions!
• New International Reader’s Version (NIrV), 1998. "The NIV is easy to understand and very clear. More people read the NIV than any other English Bible. We made the NIrV even easier to read and understand. Sometimes we used shorter words. We explained words that might be hard to understand. We made the sentences shorter."  This should be the first choice for all who work with children or in ESL.

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), 1989. It is typically used in Presbyterian USA churches among other places.  The NRSV is the one recent version that is not yet on Biblegateway.com but you can find it at:

NRSV

Commentary lists:

Ever wondered which commentaries, you should grab off the library shelf.  Well check out the recommend lists below.   
Gordon-Conwell Bibliography – Christian Resources
Denver Seminary Journal – 60101 – Annotated Old Testament Bibliography
Denver Seminary Journal – 60201 – New Testament Bibliography

I also recommend pointing students to the list at the end of the book of:

Fee, Gordon and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3d ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

This is a much more comprehensive resource:

Glynn, John. Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources. 9th. ed. Kregel Academic & Professional, 2003.  It was reviewed positively in RBL and JETS  A new version is coming out in March 2007. 

Commentaries:
BibleGateway.com Commentaries
IVP NT Commentaries – not bad for free.  Thanks InterVarsity. 

Classic Bible Commentaries (Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Spurgeon)

Plea to commentary writers and publishers:

There are so many outstanding commentaries that are written and published.  I am waiting for some publisher or author to make their commentaries available online for free. It would do a tremendous amount of good to widely circulate solid biblical commentaries.  Too many people use the ancient Matthew Henry Commentary (1811!) because it is the only thing available online for free.   Don’t commentary writers want their works to be read and used?  I realize they work like crazy on these things and want some compensation and that commentaries are the best money-makers for publishers . . . but still . . . I will say it again . . . don’t they want their works to be read and used?!  What about those of F.F. Bruce for a start?  Gordon Fee and James Dunn, will you put it in your will that all your works be published online for free when you’re gone?  Why wait? 

Bible Software:

For the record, I recommend one of the better Bible software packages as opposed to cobbling together free stuff from the internet. The better Bible softward packages include: Logos (what I have which is ok), Accordance (which Rikk Watts and Phil Long – Regent College professors have), BibleWorks, or Gramcord (D.A. Carson president).

Greek
New Testament Greek
Greek New Testament, Read by Marilyn Phemister
Greek-Latin New Testament Audio Readings
http://www.zhubert.com

Photos for Use in PowerPoint
Holy Land Photos
Free for use by professors and students

BiblePlaces.com – Photos of Israel from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
Sells Bible Places photos but lets students use the ones on the websites for free.

Audio

See also my list of the very best audio lectures and sermons on the web here.