Computer Tools for Biblical Research
Digital Reference Books
I.
Standards for Digital Document Publication
Digital publishing standards allow books to be used with a variety of computers, readers and mobile devices.
These e-book file formats contain not only the book contents but also information about the display of the book
and hypertext links to other books.
There most widely used standards for biblical studies reference works are:
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STEP (Standard Template for Electronic Publishing): Many Bible software vendors and open source
(free) Bible programs use this standard (e.g. Parsons, NavPress, White Harvest). You can view and
search digital books with the reader of your choice and combine books from various vendors. The
format is not as flexible as the Logos format and the format is rapidly being abandoned by book
publishers.
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Logos: A proprietary format used by with a vast selection of books and multimedia publications. The
Logos format is multilingual, so it can easily use Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and even Asian languages. It
also allows a rich variety of tags on the text to identify various features of the text (e.g. grammatical
information, hypertext links, pagination in printed documents, verses, etc.). This enables the Logos
reader to have very powerful searching, browsing and hyperlinking capabilities. The largest number
of Christian book publishers have adopted this format.
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Adobe PDF: The most widely used format for distributing non-theological digital books. PDF files
can be read by a free reader program on most computers and mobile devices. However, the reader is
very limited in searching, hyperlinking and browsing compared to STEP and Logos documents.
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Amazon Kindle: The proprietary AZW format was designed by Amazon for its Kindle portable ebook reader. A free reader is also available for Windows and Macintosh computers. The format is not
as rich in layout and hypertext options as PDF or the Logos format. See
https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin for how to create a book for Kindle.
The digital books listed below are just a sample of some of the excellent reference books for Bible study
that are now available in digital form. Thousands of books are available, particularly in the Logos format,
and the number is growing weekly. If you subscribe to the free Logos Newswire (http://www.logos.com),
you will receive periodic email announcements of new books and sales on books.
II.
Digital Reference Books for Biblical and Theological Studies
A. Reference book collections for Bible study
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Logos Scholar’s Library, Platinum: Logos Bible Software is more than a Bible search program. It is
a theological library with thousands of hyperlinked reference and devotional books. Although it
requires some effort to learn to use effectively, it is an outstanding source of Bible research
information. Logos has many collections (called “Base Packages”), but Platinum is the best value and
most suitable for pastoral study and scholarly research. The Silver, Gold, Platinum and Biblical
Languages Library were designed for seminary students, pastors and biblical/theological scholars.
The Platinum base package contains 1,415 books worth $19,000, but only costs $1075 at the
academic discount. The set includes standard reference books every pastor, seminary student and
Bible scholar should have, including numerous Bible translations, Greek and Hebrew Bibles (with
morphology, semantic domains, syntactical function of words and phrases), lexicons, Bible
dictionaries, maps, Greek text critical tools, and books about the culture of the biblical world. Many
Copyright © 2015 Dr. Harry A. Hahne
Digital Reference Books Page 2
Greek and Hebrew lexicons are included, including the Bauer Greek Lexicon (BDAG), BDB and
Holladay's Hebrew lexicons, the 10 volume Kittel’s TDNT, and Lidell, Scott Intermediate Classical
Greek Lexicon. Bible dictionaries include the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, Baker
Dictionary of the New Bible, Encyclopedia of Christianity. Many fine Bible commentaries are
included, such as the New International Greek Testament Commentaries (13 volumes), New
American Commentary (37 volumes), Keil and Delitzsch Old Testament commentary (10 volumes),
Pillar commentaries (10 volumes), and United Bible Societies New Testament and Old Testament
Handbooks (41 vollumes). Original language texts and translations for studying biblical backgrounds
and Patristics include the complete writings of the Church Fathers in translation (37 volumes), the
Apostolic Fathers in Greek. the Nag Hammadi Library in English , Jewish Apocalypses and
Pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Aramaic and Syriac Bibles, and more.
Logos allows students to buy one base package for 50% discount. The difference in price
between the Gold and Platinum is about the same as buying the essential BDAG Greek Lexicon alone,
so the commentaries and other books are essentially free! You can add thousands of additional
reference books to your library, including top quality scholarly reference tools, such as the Word
Biblical Commentaries, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, and InterVarsity Bible
Dictionaries. Logos is constantly adding new books that you can buy separately and access with their
reader. (Windows, Macintosh, iPad, Android; http://www.logos.com/comparison)
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Accordance Ultimate: Hundreds of up-to-date, scholarly reference books with powerful Bible search
software. While the available collection of reference books is not as vast as Logos, the search
software is very powerful, particularly for grammatical searches in Greek and Hebrew. For the
Macintosh, Accordance has long been the most powerful Bible software, although Logos now equals
or surpasses it in most areas. A major drawback is that books tend to be expensive in this format
($1999; Windows, Macintosh; http://www.accordancebible.com)
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Parsons QuickVerse Deluxe: A set of lay level books which are also of some value for seminary
students and pastors. The introductory articles can be useful for sermon preparation. Integration
between the books is not as good as Logos. Since it uses STEP, other books from various vendors can
be used with the search engine (Windows; $259; http://www.quickverse.com).
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Electronic Theological Library Project: A forthcoming project to put over 10,000 selected volumes
of theological reference works system on a set of CD-ROMs or DVDs that will be searchable with the
Logos system. The goal is to provide a workable theological library in digital form, particularly for
theological schools in developing countries. Hundreds of seminaries, Christian colleges and missions
organizations are contributing to this project, which will initially only be available to participating
institutions.
B. Commentaries
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Word Biblical Commentary: More than 58 unabridged volumes of this important set of exegetical,
scholarly, evangelical, critical commentaries are available on CD-ROM. The commentaries are
hypertext linked with several Bible versions and use the powerful Logos search software, so they may
be used in conjunction with other Logos reference books and Bibles. It is considerably less expensive
than purchasing the set of commentaries in print. ($699; https://www.logos.com/product/8006)
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Pillar New Testament Commentary: A fine set for pastors or serious Bible students. It offers
outstanding interpretations that carefully consider alternative views, without being too technical.
($525; included in Logos Gold and higher (https://www.logos.com/product/40793)
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New American Commentary: A 31 volume evangelical (Southern Baptist sponsored), expository
commentary set designed for advanced lay Bible students and pastors. ($499; included in Logos Silver
and higher; https://www.logos.com/product/37667)
Digital Reference Books Page 3
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New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC): These 12 volumes offer some of the
best examples of solid exegesis based on linguistic, historic and textual information in light of the
latest scholarly research. Although the 12 volumes do not yet cover the entire New Testament,
additional volumes are being written. ($599; included in Logos Gold and higher;
https://www.logos.com/product/8808)
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New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) and Old Testament (NICOT):
This is one of the best commentary sets for pastors. The sold exegesis is based on Greek and Hebrew,
but most of the comments do not require a knowledge of these languages. ($1699;
https://www.logos.com/product/23989)
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Expositors Bible Commentary: A good 12 volume commentary on the whole Bible written by top
evangelical scholars for laypersons. ($459; https://www.logos.com/product/20185)
C. Exegetical Guides
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Exegetical Summaries: This is a unique 27 volume set of concise guides to interpretive questions on
each verse of the Bible. Important exegetical questions are asked about each phrase and key word
followed by a concise summary of answers given by major modern commentaries, lexicons and
grammar books. ($550; included in Logos Gold and higher; https://www.logos.com/product/38965)
D. Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: An excellent evangelical Bible encyclopedia with over
4466 pages in 4 volumes, 1,500 photos (many in color) and 342 maps. Be sure to get the 1979-1995
revised edition from Logos, not the older edition which is available on the Internet and from some
other Bible software vendors. ($129; http://www.logos.com/products/details/1569)
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The Essential IVP Reference Collection: Includes over a dozen of Intervarsity’s best reference
books, including the New Testament dictionary series (Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels,
Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments,
Dictionary of New Testament Background), the New Testament and Old Testament IVP Bible
Background Commentaries, the New Bible Dictionary and New Bible Commentary, Hard Sayings of
the Bible, The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, New Bible Atlas, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology
and New Dictionary of Theology. It is a bargain for over 12,000 pages of up-to-date information on
the Bible, Bible history, cultural background and theology written by the finest evangelical biblical
scholars. ($190; https://www.logos.com/product/49068).
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Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary: The unabridged 6 volumes of this excellent, scholarly dictionary of
the Bible, complete with illustrations. It is equivalent to 7000 printed pages. ($269;
https://www.logos.com/product/1660)
E. Greek Lexicons and Word Study Books
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Bauer’s Greek-English Lexicon (BDAG): This is the standard authoritative lexicon of New
Testament Greek and is now available in the latest third edition. It includes pop-up explanations of
abbreviations, references to numerous articles and a list of primary texts in non-biblical Hellenistic
Greek. It is much easier to use in the digital edition than in the print edition. It is essential for serious
study of the New Testament ($150; included in Logos Platinum and higher;
https://www.logos.com/product/3878).
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Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT): This standard 10 volume Greek
word study book is included with the Logos Scholar’s Library ($199; included in Logos Gold and
Digital Reference Books Page 4
higher; https://www.logos.com/product/8491).
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F.
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE): The best
word study book for the New Testament. Moderate to conservative theologically. More reliable, up to
date and easier to use than TDNT. Greek and Hebrew words are transliterated, except in the subtitles
of articles. This is an updated and expanded edition based on the New International Dictionary of
New Testament Theology, edited by Colin Brown. ($199; https://www.logos.com/product/45403).
Hebrew Lexicons and Word Study Books
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The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT, Koehler-Baumgartner): This
lexicon by Koehler, Baumgartner and Stamm is widely recognized as the standard modern, scholarly
dictionary for Biblical Hebrew. The CD-ROM edition provides additional features that enhance its
usefulness over the print edition ($159; less when bundled with BDAG Greek Lexicon;
https://www.logos.com/product/5226)
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Holladay's Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon: This valuable lexicon is concise, yet reliable
and easier to use than BDB. For a quick lookup about Hebrew words it is probably the best lexicon. It
is adapted from HALOT and Baumgartner’s additional unpublished notes. ($31; included all Logos
base packages; https://www.logos.com/product/7850)
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Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB): Still widely used and trusted,
despite being written in 1906. ($44; included in all Logos base packages;
(https://www.logos.com/product/1796)
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Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT): This intermediate 2 volume Hebrew word
study book is included with the Logos Scholar’s Library. This is one of the most useful Hebrew word
study books for pastors.
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New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE): The best
word study book for the Old Testament. ($99; https://www.logos.com/product/5465).
G. Bible Multimedia
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Get Lost in Jerusalem: An interactive virtual reality tour of modern Jerusalem. It includes
background sounds from the streets and audio commentary on the historical and archeological
background of each location. You can travel from place to place with the click of a mouse and pan
360 degrees at each location. Get oriented to the layout and history of the old city of Jerusalem
without paying for airfare! (Windows; Macintosh; also accessible from the Web; free:
https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/GetLostInJerusalem/OpeningScreen.html).
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Scroll Multimedia Bible: Contains thousands of photographs of the Middle East, charts, maps,
sounds, and videos hypertext linked to the Bible text. A clever map of Paul's journeys shows a moving
stick figure going from place to place. The articles are aimed at lay persons and the quality of many
could be improved. Only the KJV Bible is currently available. Having access to the pictures while
reading the Bible is worthwhile and lots of fun. (Windows [check with company if compatible with
recent versions]; much of the data is also available on the company Web site; free;
http://the-scroll-multimedia-study-bible.en.softonic.com)
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Dead Sea Scrolls Revealed: An interactive multimedia learning guide on the Dead Sea Scrolls. It
includes hundreds of photographs, short videos, scroll translations, commentary and historical
information. Sadly it is not compatible with recent Windows versions. (Windows 95/98; Macintosh;
$15; http://www.cdaccess.com/html/shared/deadseas.htm)
Digital Reference Books Page 5
H. Bible Atlases
I.
J.
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Holman Bible Atlas: A standard set of Bible maps with discussion of the historical events associated
with each map. ($26; included in all Logos base packages; https://www.logos.com/product/7301).
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Logos Maps: A fine set of high quality maps is included in all Logos base packages. Logos also
includes many images of various places of importance in the Bible.
Historical and Theological Writings
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Early Church Fathers: The complete 38 volumes of Ante-Nicene, Nicene- and Post-Nicene Fathers.
This is the complete text of the Eerdmans print edition. The Logos edition includes footnotes and page
numbers, unlike most other digital versions of these documents. Includes hypertext links and the full
flexibility and power of the Logos search software. Although the Logos edition is somewhat
expensive, especially since the translations are now public domain, the Logos search engine makes it
easy to find things. ($229.95; included in Logos Silver and higher;
https://www.logos.com/product/5771)
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Luther’s Works: The 55-volume complete writings of Martin Luther in English translation by
Jaroslav Pelikan. ($249.95; https://www.logos.com/product/15485)
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John Wesley Collection: A collection of all of Wesley’s theological works, including some omitted
from the 14-volume Jackson edition of The Works of John Wesley. ($249.95;
https://www.logos.com/product/9130)
Theological Journals
Collections of major theological journals are available in Logos format. Many of the collections go back to
the earliest issues.
K. General Reference Books
Many general purpose encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, books of quotations and other reference books
are available in Logos base packages. (See the Writer's Tools lesson).
III.
Recommended Reading
A. Jeffrey Hsu. Computer Bible Study. Chapters 7-8 discuss CD-ROM and online Bible study resources.
Although the material is dated, the principles are still relevant.