How to Use a Bible Commentary

When you are at the point where you start scratching your head, make some more thorough notes with the questions you have regarding the text. Grab a bunch of commentaries and compare what each author has to say on the passage you are studying. Commentaries include chapters that cover specific portions of Scripture. They also have a large index with Scripture verses.

Look up the cross-referenced passages they mention. This is a great way to see how the Bible is the best interpreter of itself.

Once you come to a consensus conclusion about the passage, ask your pastor (or another elder) their thoughts about the passage and about what you have learned from the commentaries you’ve studied.

Bible Study Tools Plus subscribers have access to a wide range of Bible commentaries, including the ESV Study Bible and those written by John Calvin, Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, and C.I. Scofield. Take a look at our list and see which commentary will best help you dive deeper into the Word of God.

Once again, be prayerful and mindful of these things:

1. Don’t Go Solo

Look into what has been written by scholars who have spent much of their lives exegeting Scripture and expounding the truth.

2. Don’t Give Up

This may seem like too hard a task, and yes, it will be hard. But the effort you expend studying God’s Word helps you grow as a Christian. Bible study is part of God’s sanctifying work in us (2 Thessalonians 2:13). As King David said, "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105). God’s Word works powerfully within unbelievers to bring them to salvation (Romans 1:16; 10:17). And God’s Word works in believers, who also need the gospel (Philippians 1:6).

3. Find a Partner

Talk over your study with another student of the Word. You each may have questions the other hasn’t thought of.

Once you open a hefty Bible commentary, my prayer is you will get pure delight from digging deeper into God’s Word. I pray what you learn will give you greater love for our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. I also pray you don’t stop at one study, but continue for the rest of the days the Lord gives you here on earth. God bless you.

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Lisa Loraine Baker is the multiple award-winning author of Someplace to be Somebody, which is being adapted and brought to the stage by the Karamu House Theater in Cleveland, Ohio (Winter, 2027). Lisa writes fiction (Christmas stories) and is currently writing a novel titled “Refuge.” She also writes non-fiction, including articles for BibleStudyTools.com and Christianity.com. She and her husband, Stephen, live in Lexington, Kentucky with their Kentucky wild cat, Lewis.