Do you use a bible commentary? If so, which one do you prefer?

[BronxBriar]

I am looking for a good bible commentary. I've heard Matthew Henry's is very good. If you can recommend one, please specify which translation it uses.

Thank you.

[SumTinWong]

I am looking for a good bible commentary. I've heard Matthew Henry's is very good. If you can recommend one, please specify which translation it uses.

Thank you. I use Eerdmans New Bible Commentary: Revised
and I use the commentary in my Reformation Study Bible, NIV.

I also have the One Volume Bible Commentary by JR Dummelow, that I really don't care for much.

If you download e-sword (http://www.esword.net) you can also download:
Mathew Henrys Concise commentary
John Wesleys Explainitory Notes
Scofield reference notes
Keil and Delitzsch commentary on the old test
Albert Barnes notes on the Bible
Adam Clarkes commentary on the Bible
John Darbys Synopsis
Geneva Bible translation notes
John Gill's exposition on the whole Bible
Jamieson Faussett and Brown commentary

If you cannot download them all, PM me with your address and I will put all the esword stuff on a cd for you.

[RED that's ME]

You can also go to http://www.crosswalk.com and they have Bible commentaries and dictionaries etc.. you can use for free.

I also like to use J.Vernon McGee commentaries they are easier to understand.

[GreenEyedLady]

www.blueletterbible.org (http://www.blueletterbible.org)

Is like a whole combination of everything for the bible. Has all the translations and greek/hewbew. Its the best site!

[OracleX]

I use SwordSearcher which has several built in commentaries, books and dictionaries along with more than a dozen translations of the Bible. Very cool piece of software.

www.swordsearcher.com (http://www.swordsearcher.com)

[Crazy Liz]

I consult commentaries on specific books when I'm studying. Fortunately, I have a Christian university just a few blocks from my house, and I use their library a lot. I compare several commentaries when studying a specific passage, and different ones are best for different books.

If you want commentaries that discuss translational issues, the old International Critical Commentary Series is usually very good. They are very expensive - around $60 per volume, and Matthew is 3 volumes, to give an example of how detailed they are.

If I'm teaching on a New Testament passage, I like to consult Chrysostom's sermons (http://www.ccel.org/index/sermons.html). This saint of the 4th century published sermons on nearly all of the New Testament. His method of interpretation is straightforward and similar to that used by Evangelicals today, not wildly metaphorical or allegorically like some of the Fathers.

I find it helpful to consult Chrysostom and perhaps other early Fathers to get an idea whether the ancients looked at a particular scripture in a different way than we moderns do.

[BT]

I do not own, but have read some of the John McArthur commentaries. He is an amazing Bible teacher, unfortunately he's a bit of a calvinist (if you're a calvinist disregard the unfortunately part). Either way you should read ANY commentary with a discerning eye and a prayerful spirit.


P.S. I will someday own the McArthur series. I do not "not own it" because he's a bit of a calvinist. I don't own it because it comes with a decent price tag $$$$ which I can't afford since I'm funding my own seminary training. Ack!

Besides him though I have a whack of commentaries that I use to study. You should go with some of the recommendations for software. It's a nice way to get a bulk of them in one shot. I also have the swordsearcher software, and for a cost of I think $30 you get over a thousand bucks in commentaries.. plus the greek and hebrew and the associated lexicons... strongs links and some real good Bible versions (all King James or based on the TR.. ). I highly recommend this software package.

[theseed]

Matthew Henery's Complete, and New Interpreters Bible.

[theseed]

www.bibledatabase.com (http://www.bibledatabase.com) has actuall software where you can download different bibles, and commentaries, Eastman's, maps, and so forth.