{"id":3076,"date":"2019-03-12T01:57:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T01:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=3076"},"modified":"2024-04-29T20:03:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T01:03:19","slug":"can-you-recommend-a-good-commentary-and-study-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-recommend-a-good-commentary-and-study-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you recommend a good commentary and study Bible?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Dear sir,<\/p>\n

Could you please recommend a good Bible commentary and study Bible?<\/p>\n

Thank you very much.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Commentaries are basically a man or a group of men’s opinions about what the Bible is saying. The opinions might be good, or they might be completely wrong depending on the personal bias of the commentator and his knowledge of that particular passage. Most study Bibles are nothing more than mixing in commentary with the Bible text. What I find happening far too often is that the person treats the commentary as if it is as authoritative as the inspired text. They let the commentator sway their thinking instead of thinking on their own.<\/p>\n

Read your Bible repeatedly. If you come to a difficult passage, try looking at verses that are cross-referenced to that passage. If your Bible lacks a cross-reference, there are independent cross-references, such as the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge or the Thompson Chain Reference. If you are still unsure, then use two or three commentators from different backgrounds. I tend to focus on what passages they might use to support their position. I might also use commentaries to learn about the different views of a passage or to see what issues might exist in translating a particular passage. It is not who states a belief that makes it right but how well you understand what God is actually saying. Several commentaries are listed on the Reference Works<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

In regards to a study Bible, check out an Inductive Study Bible. This one doesn’t have commentary or even section titles. Instead, it teaches you how to study your Bible book-by-book with suggestions to mark up the text to help you notice things and questions to answer about each book.<\/p>\n\t

Response:<\/h2>\n

Thank you!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Dear sir, Could you please recommend a good Bible commentary and study Bible? Thank you very much. Answer: Commentaries are basically a man or a group of men’s opinions about what the Bible is saying. The opinions might be good, or they might be completely wrong depending on the personal bias of the commentator…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[619],"class_list":["post-3076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-commentaries"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-study-bibles-or-commentaries-written-by-members-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":0},"title":"Are there study Bibles or commentaries written by members of the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is there a study Bible whose commentator is a member of the church of Christ? I can't seem to find one. Maybe not a study bible but a commentary (maybe written in a separate book) written by a member of the church of Christ. Just as long as it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-commentaries-contain-gods-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":1},"title":"Do commentaries contain God’s words?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In these dark days of political upheaval, financial uncertainty, and more, Christians and non-Christians alike have been asking many questions! Deep spiritual questions. I have questions, and I am not the only one in our Bible study groups! l think you will agree that men of God have written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20028,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-believe-all-commentaries-on-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":2},"title":"Do you believe all commentaries on the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you believe all commentaries on the bible? Can the persons who write the commentaries be wrong with their interpretations of the text? Answer: Commentaries are written by men without the inspiration of God. Men make mistakes and it is not hard to find two commentaries in disagreement with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-best-study-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":3},"title":"What is the best study Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What Bible is the best to study? Several publishers now teach that baptism is not required, such as the Life Application Bible, and several teach the 1000 year war. How can I know which publishing house and what Bible are the best for me? Answer: First, pick a Bible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67829,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-seated-at-gods-right-hand-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":4},"title":"What does “seated at God’s right hand” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey, What does the Scriptures mean when it says Christ is seated at God's right hand of the Father? And are there any particularly good commentaries you can recommend in general for Bible study? Answer: For most people, the right hand is their dominant hand. It is stronger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-of-good-inductive-study-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":3076,"position":5},"title":"Do you know of good Inductive Study guides?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does anyone know a good Inductive Study Guide for study on how to learn the Scripture? I know there are items out there, but I was trying to locate one that members of the Church of Christ have reviewed and found to be of sound teaching. So many folks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Inductive4-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}