Free Bible Commentaries, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedia for You to Consult on Bible Gateway

• Free Bible Commentaries • Free Bible Dictionaries • Free Bible Encyclopedia • Free Parallel Bible • Create Your Bible Gateway Free Personal Account

The Bible tells us we are to do our “best to please God. Be a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed. Teach the message of truth correctly” (2 Timothy 2:15). Studying the Bible is how we learn the message of truth.

To help you in that endeavor, Bible Gateway makes freely available to you a wide variety of Bible reference works—commentaries, dictionaries, and encyclopedia described below—that are conveniently located alongside your Bible reading and synchronized to each verse.

Combine these free Bible study resources with the more than 50 other scholarly reference works when you become a member of Bible Gateway Plus and you have all you need to help you more clearly understand God’s Word.

[Descriptions of all Bible reference resources available to you with a Bible Gateway Plus membership]

Taking to heart, use BibleGateway.com every day to freely read, hear, study, search, compare, and share the Bible:

NIrV: God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.

MSG: Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Explore the Many Ways Bible Gateway Helps You Study the Bible]

Free Bible Commentaries

• Asbury Bible Commentary — An evangelical Wesleyan commentary on the entire Bible with exegesis by nearly 50 Bible scholars and includes an extensive selection of articles examining origin, history, and make up of Scripture. [Table of Contents]

• The Bible Panorama — A survey of the “scenery” of Scripture. Each chapter of each book of the Bible is plainly and briefly summarized and explained. [Table of Contents]

• IVP New Testament Commentary Series (selected volumes) — Informed by the best of up-to-date evangelical Bible scholarship, this commentary published by InterVarsity Press, a not-for-profit division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, presents passage-by-passage commentary based on the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation along with background information on authorship, setting, theme, and various interpretive issues. [Table of Contents]

• Matthew Henry’s Commentary — An updated abridgment of the six volume set published in the early 1700s by UK Bible scholar and minister, Matthew Henry, who expresses profound spiritual insights with simplicity and eloquence, approaching Scripture with devotional scholarship. [Table of Contents]

• NIV Application Commentary (selected volumes) — Award-winning reference that explains not only what the Bible means but also how it speaks powerfully today. To bring the ancient messages of Scripture into the modern world, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning (historical, literary, and cultural context), Bridging Contexts (discerning the timeless in the timely pages of the Bible), and Contemporary Significance (identifying and applying comparable situations of today to those faced in the Bible). [Table of Contents]

• A Ransom for Many – Commentary on the Gospel of Mark — Based on a series of sermons by Dr. Steve Wilmshurst, director of training at Kensington Baptist Church in Bristol, UK, this commentary helps you recognize how the Gospel of Mark is connected to the Old Testament prophets in ways that give us a new understanding of the mission of Jesus Christ. [Table of Contents]

• Theology of Work Bible Commentary — Gain a new perspective on God’s plan for Christians’ working lives and learn how to incorporate vocation into worship with this applicable study that will help you discover what the whole Bible―from Genesis to Revelation―says about work. [Table of Contents]

• Warren Wiersbe BE Bible Study Series (selected volumes) — Practical, in-depth guides to selected books of the Bible from the pastoral insight of Warren Wiersbe. It features engaging questions and everyday applications that will help you connect God’s word with your life. [Table of Contents]

• Additional Commentaries Available to You With Your Bible Gateway Plus Membership:

Essential Bible Companion
Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms
Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Abridged Edition: Old Testament/New Testament
Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes
How to Read the Bible Book by Book
How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens
New Bible Commentary
NIV Application Commentary
Olive Tree Bible Overview
Thru the Bible by J. Vernon McGee
Zondervan Bible Commentary: One-Volume Illustrated Edition
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old and New Testament)
Zondervan KJV Commentary

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Free Bible Dictionaries

• Bible Concordance — Search the Bible on Bible Gateway using a keyword or keyword phrases to create a comprehensive list, in Bible book order, of the Scripture passages where those words and phrases are found.

• Dictionary of Bible Themes — Over 2,000 articles organized in a unique, 9-level thematic classification with explanations of the theme, key Bible references, and cross-references to related themes brings related biblical and theological concepts together. A superb tool for topical studies produced by the outstanding editorial team of Martin Manser, Alister McGrath, J.I. Packer, and Donald Wiseman. [Table of Contents]

• Easton’s Bible Dictionary — Written by Scottish minister Matthew George Easton, MA, DD and published in 1897, it is a classic source of histories, people, and customs of the Bible described in brief entries as well as longer accounts. [Table of Contents]

• Hitchco*ck’s Bible Names Dictionary — Published in the late 1800s by professor and seminary president Roswell Dwight Hitchco*ck, it is comprised of more than 2,500 Bible and Bible-related proper names and their meanings. [Table of Contents]

• Lockyer’s All the Men of the Bible — A portrait gallery and reference library of over 3,000 named biblical characters, it also classifies the thousands upon thousands of unnamed men. Written by 20th century minister, Dr. Herbert Lockyer. [Table of Contents]

• Nave’s Topical Bible — Originally produced by Orville J. Nave, AM, DD, LLD in the early 20th century while serving as a chaplain in the US Army, it is a comprehensive digest of over 20,000 topics and subtopics with more than 100,000 associated Scripture references. Because it groups verses by “idea” (or “topic”), it offers a better overview of relevant Scriptures than a concordance, which only lists or indexes verses according to specific words. Readers are able to study all the verses related to a particular topic or all the topics related to a particular verse. [Table of Contents]

• Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary — Dr. William Smith, 19th century English theologian and scholar known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin, completed his original 3-volume dictionary in 1863. A classic reference, this condensed Bible dictionary provides a wealth of basic background information. [Table of Contents]

• Torrey’s New Topical Textbook — This work by 20th century evangelist and Bible teacher R.A. Torrey groups together the major Scripture verses that pertain to hundreds of important Bible topics, such as sin, atonement through the blood of Christ, the new birth, redemption, grace, the person and work of Christ, and sanctification. [Table of Contents]

• Additional Dictionaries Available to You With Your Bible Gateway Plus Membership:

Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times
Essential Bible Dictionary
Lockyer’s All the Women of the Bible
Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Abridged)
NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary
NKJV Open Bible
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Free Bible Encyclopedia

• Encyclopedia of the Bible — The result of more than 10 years of research and preparation, more than 7,500 articles by 230 contributors comprehensively inform readers about Bible lands, people, doctrines, themes, theology, and biblical interpretation. [Table of Contents]

• Additional Encyclopedias Available to You With Your Bible Gateway Plus Membership:

New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters
New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Bible Table of Contents]

Free Parallel Bible

• Parallel Bible — Compare how different Bible versions translate the same Scripture passage by viewing them side-by-side (up to five). Once the passage you’re searching for appears, click the “Add parallel” icon in the icon bar above the Bible text.