Research Guides: BTS 3410: Women, the Bible, and the Church (Veeneman): Biblical Commentaries

Finding Commentaries in Brandel Library

Commentaries on the Bible provide interpretations of Scripture passages, usually for a book of the Bible or portion of a book of the Bible.
You can find commentaries in two places in Brandel Library:
- the Reference Section (on the 1st floor, behind the Reference Desks)
- the General Collection (on the 3rd floor).
- The same classification system applies to both collections, so the call number will be identical, but the location listed in the catalog differs.
- Reference copies of commentaries cannot leave the Library, so these copies cannot be checked out, but can be read in the Library or portions of them scanned or photocopied.
- The General Collection copies may be checked out of the Library.
The Reference collection contains many of the most important commentaries, so it is a good place to begin your browsing for commentaries.
- In some cases, we have copies of a commentary in both places, but not often.
Only a few biblical commentaries are available digitally as yet, but we are purchasing them as they are published.
- Separate records in the library catalog are retrieved for the print and the digital/electronic formats (which are marked with an 'eb' at the end of the call number), so it is easy to see when these commentaries are available for your subject.
Commentaries are shelved in the order of the Protestant canon (as distinguished from the Roman Catholic canon of the Bible or the order of the Hebrew Bible).
Commentaries may be individual, free-standing books or they may be part of a series.
- Some (mostly older) commentary series are shelved all together, but most series are shelved separately, so that the volumes are in the appropriate section for the book/books/portion of book on which they comment.
Call numbers for the Old Testament are BS 701-BS 1830.
Call numbers for the New Testament are BS 1901- BS 2970.