Are bible commentaries a good idea?

Question

Or is it better to just stick to reading the Word and praying to understand God's meaning, rather than reading what others interpret a verse to mean?

Answer 1

They can help you to understand by Bible better however, you need to remember that they are just some ones opinion and you have to draw your own conclusions yourself.

Personally, I only believe in reading the King James Version Bible because, the KJV Bible was translated directly from the original Greek and Hebrew text into English. All other versions of the Bible are translations of that translation. Their writers did not go back and translate directly from the original Greek and Roman text but rather, they took the KJV Bible and translated it again. Therefore, I believe the KJV Bible is the most accurate and true to the original text.

Answer 2

Well you see what might cause a problem right? Commentaries are exactly that, comments... They are not scripture, they're the thoughts of the man/men giving the commentary and it can be useful and it can be harmful as well. Some people take a commentary and treat it as though its scripture, I recently had a heated debate with someone over a Bible commentary. I had mentioned that Job talked about large animals that he described and to me, they sound like dinosaurs(Behemoth and Leviathan) someone laughed at me and told me one was an alligator and the other was an elephant. I asked how they ever came up with that since I've never seen an elephant knock a tree down with his tail (as Job describes the Behemoth doing) the dude read me the commentary his Bible had. The commentary said "Behemoth was probably an elephant". Well, that doesn't make it true just because THAT scholar said so does it? But, the dude was insistent it could not have been a dinosaur.

Commentaries are OK, they might shed an interesting light on a topic but when it comes down to it. It is NOT God-breathed scripture but a mans opinion. So, its best to pray for understanding and take all commentaries with a grain of salt.

Answer 3

Dear WhiteWing,

Commentaries are not good because you are getting what an individual perceives to be truth. The Bible is the truth, but you have to utilize God's rules in interpretation. First, Christ spoke in parables (Mark 4:33, 34). Second, from 1 Corinthians 2:13 we need to caompare Spiritual things with Spiritual things. You cannot just take 1 or a few verses and say, I have truth. For example, look at the word "faith" in Romans 10:17. Notice how the Lord continues throughout the gospels to say where is your faith? Now read Revelation 19:11.... Christ is a synoym for faith. Now read Hebrews 11 and insert :"Christ" where you see the word "faith." Look at Romans 10:17 and do the same thing. Do you understand? Thirdly, we need to read the Bible carefully, and prayerfully. Everything in the Bible is important, even the numbers. See Isaiah 28:13.

Answer 4

Sometimes commentaries can be really helpful, especially when there are some historical insights that help explain confusing verses. They are not infallible interpreters but neither are we. Another person's perspective never hurts whether it is a friend, pastor, or scholar. They are also reading, praying, and trying to understand God's meaning.

Answer 5

Depends what your goal is. If you think there is only one Divine interpretation then you probably shouldn't read commentaries. They are written by humans, and therefore all of them are fallible. If you are a scholar who is interested in different interpretations of the Bible (doesn't sound like you are) then you might want to read several commentaries.

If I believed it was the word of God I would read it without commentary and then perhaps go to a trusted pastor for help with certain passages if I had difficulties.

Answer 6

Hi, Whitewing.

Just some thoughts...

I have always been hesitant about bible commentaries. I certainly believe they can supplement your study, your understanding of context, of cultural expressions, etc. But I am more inclined to read and pray, read and pray, read and pray, and allow God to make real to me what He desires.

On the other hand, I know some commentaries are written by men of god who truly desire to exalt Jesus and make Him real to the reader.

Back the other way, I certainly discourage and do not recommend using a bible with "commentary" or notes right next to the bible (down at the bottom of the page or something like that). Having it that close to the verses makes it so easy to rely on it too much or to be too emphasized. I don't even write anything in the margins of my bible - If something is there, my mind is directed to it instead of the scripture ( that's just me)

I think a good basic understanding of history, bible events, and doctrines can be gained by bible "handbooks" and small bible commentaries. (something like Halley's bible handbook).
after that, I choose to set commentaries aside...

god bless!!

email me if you want to discuss more!!

Answer 7

Most commentaries are base upon various translations of the Bible, by denominational beliefs.

Stick with prayer and God's Word.

Me myself; I'm Prayer. King James and a Strongs Exhaustive Concordance.

Answer 8

Commentaries tend to reflect the point of view of the writer. Not necessarily a bad thing, but a Methodist might not agree with everything said by a Presbyterian, or Baptist, etc.
What I enjoy using when I study are a Bible dictionary, to look up things I'm not familiar with, and a good Bible handbook, like Halley's Bible Handbook.
Dr. Halley gave lots of good info, and included archaeological finds, maps, etc. A great book to help you study.
Also, Strong's Concise Concordance - a great tool for finding stuff. Every major word in the Bible is in there. If you know a word in the verse, look up the word. It lists every verse in the Bible with that word in it.

Answer 9

Why pray for understanding of scripture, if you are not going to consider the information provided, that is out there? That doesn't mean that you have to believe any one interpretation, or any. Sometimes it takes a long time to sift through the bull, and start seeing a bigger picture.

Answer 10

Its just like yahoo answers. There is wisdom in the knowledge of many people but there are idiots and liars too. It is best to have others commentary but develope your own critical thinking to weed out truth from fiction.