DID YOU KNOW: You can search the ATLA Religion Database by scripture passage? Take Matthew 26:17, for example, click "Scriptures" then find "Matthew." Hit expand to limit articles to just your assigned passage.
Looking for more information? Check out our Bible Commentaries page here.
Biblical commentaries are a vital part of many assignments at the School of Theology. Search the below subject headings in BU Libraries Search to find biblical commentaries, or see a selection by toggling through the tabs.
In addition to searching our catalog, the commentaries are also easily browseable on our shelves. In the Library of Congress call number system, subclass BS is assigned to Biblical Studies.
Please visit our course reserves page to see textbooks and course readings.
The following are Biblical Commentaries available online through BU Libraries.
Expositor's Bible Commentary : Abridged Edition : New Testament by 
Expositors Bible Commentary Abridged Edition: Old Testament by 
Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible by 
The New Interpreter's Bible by 
Expositors Bible Commentary by 
The International Bible commentary with the New International Version by 
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary by 
The Navarre Bible in the Revised Standard Version with a commentary by 
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha [2018]
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha : New Revised Standard Version [2010]
The Jewish Study Bible by 
The New Interpreter's Study Bible by 
NRSV Cambridge Annotated Study Bible
The Harpercollins Study Bible Standard Version with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books by 
The Catholic Study Bible by 
Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures by 
The Jewish Annotated New Testament by The Holy Bible : New international version, containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Ref. BS 195 .N37 1978
The NIV study Bible, New International Version. General editor, Kenneth Barker ; associate editors, Donald Burdick … [et al.]
Ref. BS 195 .N37 1985
The New English Bible, with the Apocrypha. Ref. BS 191 .A1 1976 N48
Good news Bible : the Bible in Today’s English version. Ref. BS 195 .T63 1976
The New Jerusalem Bible by
Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation by 
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible by 
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception by 
The Anchor Bible Dictionary by 
The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible by 
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible by 
Expository Dictionary of Bible Words : word studies for key English Bible words based on the Hebrew and Greek texts by 
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible by 
Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture by 
Harpercollins Bible Dictionary by 
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible by Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible by 
The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era by 
The Oxford Guide to Ideas and Issues of the Bible by 
The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible by 
True to Our Native Land by 
Women's Bible Commentary by 
Africa Bible Commentary by 
Global Bible Commentary by 
Searching the Scriptures by 
Feminist Biblical Interpretation by 
The Queer Bible Commentary by 
The Bible and the Hermeneutics of Liberation by Searching the Scriptures by 
The Macmillan Bible atlas by 
HarperCollins Concise Atlas of the Bible by 
Zondervan NIV atlas of the Bible by 
Bible History Atlas by 
Historical Atlas of the Middle East by 
The Parallel New Testament in Greek and English with Interlinear Translation by 
The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament by 
The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by 
Literature and the Bible : a reader by 
Canon and Creativity : modern writing and the authority of scripture by 
The Literary Guide to the Bible by 
Literary Forms in the New Testament by Once you have found background resources on your paper, start looking for books and other library material in our library's catalog, available on our home page (www.bu.edu/sthlibrary). If you have an idea of what you want (a title, author, or relevant subject heading, perhaps information from background articles you read) begin your search there!
However, there's a chance you may not know where to start. Don't worry! Start with a keyword search of your topic. Let's start with the term "Elijah." There are over 13,000 entries for Elijah in our catalog. That's very overwhelming! To limit your search, add another word to your search (for example, "fire.). Now, the catalog will search for records that contain both the words "Elijah" and "fire." There's a lot less results now (under 1,000). You're on the right track!
You can use filters to limit results to exactly what you're looking for! Prefer books? Limit resource type to books on the right side. Do the same for date of creation, library, language, etc. as you prefer! On the top, you can limit books to available in library or available online. BU has 10 books or e-books to browse that contain both "Elijah" and "fire" in the record. That's a little more manageable.
Your search may have missed others on your subject, though. Did you find the perfect source in your search? Use the "subject headings" under the More Information tab; here, librarians group together books under the same heading- making it easier for you to find alike resources! If a book is available on shelf, always browse around the area, too. We use Library of Congress Classification, and books are shelved according to subject, meaning other useful resources may be really close by!
Always check the footnotes, references, and bibliographies from resources you found useful! This footnote hoping may find you the perfect resource for your paper!
Finding journal articles isn't difficult, either! Applying the sleuthing techniques you learned by finding books, you can also find the perfect journal article for your research!
Our library's catalog includes full-text journal articles from many of the e-journals and databases BU owns. Start your search there, limiting your search to "articles" on the left side. That said, not every e-journal and database article that we have access to appears in a keyword search. Note that you should directly search our databases (for example, you should get very familiar with the ATLA Religion Database. Learn more about it on our box just to the left!) Check Boston University's complete list of databases to determine which is most helpful to you and your paper writing needs. When searching databases, you may find the perfect journal article, but BU doesn't have access to it online. Search for the journal title in our online catalog- we may have it in print format! If we don't, you may want to request the article as an interlibrary loan- see the tab "What if BU Doesn't Own What I Need" for more information!
