Study Commentaries

This book offers updated explanations of the sins of interpretation to teach sound grammatical, lexical, cultural, theological, and historical Bible study practices.

The two books of Samuel form a basic foundational study in the Old Testament. An understanding of this basic history is essential, not only to understanding the Old and New Testaments, but in gaining a valid perspective of eschatological issues as well.

Acts is a book of action. But whose actions does it follow? The most obvious answer is the Apostles’. The book’s full name is the Acts of the Apostles, for it recounts their efforts to take the gospel to the nations. Yet we can also think of it as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Poured out like a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2), the Spirit empowered the Apostles’ witness and opened hearts to believe. In this volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul offers an in-depth study on the Spirit’s work through these Christians and in the growth and spread of the early church.

How well do you understand the grace of God? As women, we try so hard to be perfect, get the Christian life just right and have all of the pieces in just the right places. The book of Hebrews is a deep and complex argument for the finality of Christ’s sacrifice and His completed work on the cross. It presents for us the importance of learning to balance our need for holy living with the grace of God and the blood of Jesus that sanctifies us and makes us holy. A Study of Hebrews takes you on a journey through this powerful book of the Bible, giving you a devotional reading sprinkled with ...

Julius Caesar wrote his exciting Commentaries during some of the most grueling campaigns ever undertaken by a Roman army. The Gallic Wars and The Civil Wars constitute the greatest series of military dispatches ever written. As literature, they are representative of the finest expressions of Latin prose in its "golden" age, a benchmark of elegant style and masculine brevity imitated by young schoolboys for centuries.

Prepared to be awed by our God. The books of Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Malachi are viewed by Biblical scholars as the Minor Prophets. Yet the insights and messages contained within these books are anything but minor. These prophets offer a unique, firsthand view of an all-powerful God who longs to intimately connect with His people. This study examines their personal stories to discover how He interacts with our world in truly amazing ways.

If the Bible isn’t a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she began a quest to better understand what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.

Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.

As the world’s most popular annual Bible commentary for more than three decades, Standard Lesson Commentary (SLC) provides 52 weeks of study in a single volume.

The book of Leviticus has not been a popular subject of study in the modern church. Much like the book of proverbs, any emphasis upon the practical applications of God's law is readily shunned in pursuit of more "spiritual" studies. Books like Leviticus are considered dull, overbearing, and irrelevant. To be spiritual, in the modern sense of the term, means to live on a "higher" level where today's Christian is governed more by the impressions of the heart than a carnal commandment.

The world has become a confusing place. Every day we are confronted with cloudy moral issues that once seemed clear. When did the simple things get so complicated? But instead of wondering how we got here, maybe we should revisit how we got started. And there's no better place to start than the beginning of God's Word, the book of Genesis.

Many Bible scholars have concluded that "Colossians" is the most profound letter Paul ever wrote. This study contains eight hours of verse-by-verse teachings.

Observation of true relevancy in life brings one to fear God and keep his commandments.

Best-selling author Warren Wiersbe unwraps the book of Nehemiah in his study Be Determined to show a servant so selfless, a mission so humbling, and a perseverance so admirable that Christians are drawn to a new awe of God. As the leader God calls to mobilize and equip His people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah was a man who didn't know the word no when it came to God's economy.

Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices past and present that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, and more.

In this addition to the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, two well-respected New Testament scholars interpret the Gospel of John in its historical and literary setting as well as in light of the Church's doctrinal, liturgical, and spiritual tradition. They unpack the wisdom of the Fourth Gospel for the intellectual and spiritual transformation of its followers and connect the Gospel with a range of witnesses throughout the whole history of Catholicism.

Contemporary commentaries humorously interpret stories in the Old and New Testaments.

In Hebrew, this book is called dibhere ha-yamim: ''the words concerning the days.'' The Jewish Bible regards the Old Testament as 22 books and Chronicles is counted as a single book. I and II Chronicles take the form of a history: David and Judah are the focal points. The emphasis of I and II Chronicles is on the Southern Kingdom and the preservation of the Davidic line.

Since Hamas's attack on Israel last October 7, the term "settler colonialism" has become central to public debate in the United States. A concept new to most Americans, but already established and influential in academic circles, settler colonialism is shaping the way many people think about the history of the United States, Israel and Palestine, and a host of political issues. This short book is the first to examine settler colonialism critically for a general audience.

In 1932, the US Public Health Service recruited 623 African American men from Macon County, Alabama, for a study of "the effects of untreated syphilis in the Negro male". For the next 40 years - even after the development of penicillin, the cure for syphilis - these men were denied medical care for this potentially fatal disease.

In this classic book, Madeleine L’Engle addresses the questions, What makes art Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian artist? What is the relationship between faith and art? Through L’Engle’s beautiful and insightful essay, listeners will find themselves called to what the author views as the prime tasks of an artist: to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to creation through one’s own art.