FTS: Hope and Despair: The Bible

Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias provide background information on biblical events, geographical places, people, and theological concepts. These sources often contain lists of works cited that point you toward other reputable scholarship.

Books are shelved in general subject categories using the Library of Congress classification system. You may want to supplement your use of the catalog with browsing shelf areas for your topic. 

Biblical Studies all are found under BS. See more specifics below. 

• BS 410-680 Works about the Bible
  • BS 500-534.8 Criticism and interpretation
  • BS 535-537 The Bible as literature
  • BS 546-558 Bible stories, Paraphrases of Bible stories, The Bible story
  • BS 569-580 Men, women, and children of the Bible
  • BS 580 Individual Old Testament characters
  • BS 585-613 Study and teaching
  • BS 647-649 Prophecy
  • BS 650-667 Bible and science
  • BS 670-672 Bible and social sciences 
• BS 701-1830 Old Testament
  • BS 705-815 Early versions of the Old Testament
  • BS 825-1013 Modern texts and versions
  • BS 1091-1099 Selections, Quotations
  • BS 1110-1199 Works about the Old Testament
  • BS 1160-1191.5 Criticism and interpretation
  • BS 1200-1830 Special parts of the Old Testament

Biblical commentaries are a category of texts that, as their name implies, provides commentary on biblical passages. They define terms, discuss major themes, and identify how a particular collection of verses fits within the larger book.  There are a few key ways to find biblical commentaries in our library. The first is to use the commentaries that are in the Reference section, listed below. The second way is to search the library catalog to find commentaries in the General Collection - as a bonus, you can check these out!