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University of Portland Clark Library

THE 205: Biblical Texts in Global Contexts (Wheeler): Biblical Commentaries

Types of Biblical Commentaries

There are two types of biblical commentaries that you will encounter during your research: single-volume commentaries and book-length commentaries. Understanding the difference will help you to locate, use, and cite these resources.

Single-Volume Commentaries

Characteristics of single-volume commentaries:

  • Has chapters covering each book of the Bible
  • Chapters are written by different authors
  • How to cite

Examples:

Class Activity: Find a Book on a Biblical Passage

  1. Choose any biblical passage to look up in the sources today. It could be a passage that you recently read for class (such as: Joshua 2), or it could be any other passage of interest to you.
  2. Use the Search for Book-Length Commentaries search box below to search for the name of your book of the Bible and the word "commentary:": 

    Example: Joshua commentary

  3. Look for a book that was published after 2000, and is available in the Book Stacks. Write down or take a photo of the call number
  4. We will go to the lower floor to find the book on the shelf and bring it back to the Classroom.

Search for Book-Length Commentaries

Search: for:  

Book-Length Commentaries

Characteristics of book-length commentaries:

  • Covers 1 book of the Bible from start to finish (or may be part of a 2- or 3-volume set covering one book of the Bible)
  • Entire book is written by the same author/co-authors
  • How to cite

Examples:

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