When You Should and Should Not Use A Bible Commentary

Bible commentaries can open up a whole new world when reading or studying the Bible. Some people will recommend that you never use a commentary. Some say you should. There are times when you can use a commentary and perhaps times when you should not. The key is to know when.

As a general rule, Bible commentaries are used when someone wants to clarify confusion, deepen understanding, or explore curiosities of a particular Bible passage. Bible commentaries can be useful to gain historical insight or even practical application. As such, they make a great Bible study resource.

So should you use a Bible commentary? How beneficial are they? Let’s find out exactly how influential commentaries can be in Biblical studies and spiritual growth, when people use them, and decide whether or not you should use a commentary.

Bible Commentaries: The Basics

A Bible commentary is simply a book that contains notes, insights, and theological interpretations of various aspects of a book of the Bible. These notes can be theological, historical, linguistic, or even devotional in nature.

Typically, Bible commentaries are written by pastors, theologians, or scholars. As such, they can range from highly academic to devotional. Usually, commentaries are divided into three categories. They are:

• Exegetical: These types of commentaries are the highly academic textbook like commentaries. They will typically go in-depth on the historical and linguistic issues of a book of the Bible. They seek to help a reader better understand a passage in its original context.
• Expository/Homiletic: Expository commentaries, also called homiletic commentaries, are middle of the road commentaries. They provide a good balance between helping someone understand the original context while also being practical enough to help Bible teachers and pastors.
• Devotional: These types of commentaries are non-technical and focus heavily on practical application and spiritual growth. Often they will help readers apply a passage or book of the Bible to their daily lives.

Want to know some good examples of these different types? Then you should check out this article that will further explain and give examples of these types of Bible commentaries. Plus, you’ll discover which one is best for beginners.

Overall, a Bible commentary is a book that contains notes, either academic or practical, on various aspects of a Bible passage and comment on the historical, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. As such, commentaries can be a beneficial Bible study tool.

Commentaries Influence Bible Study and Sprititual Growth

Bible commentaries can influence Bible study and spiritual growth. But I’ll be honest. I don’t use commentaries all that often. And I wanted to see just how influential Bible commentaries are in the study of God’s word and in growing spiritually. So, I did an experiment.

Here’s what I did: I took a passage of Scripture (Ezekiel 1) and studied it for 30 minutes using the SOAP Bible study method. First, I studied it without using a commentary. Then I studied the same passage for the same amount of time using a Bible commentary.

Now, the SOAP Bible study has four steps:

• Scripture
• Observation
• Application
• Prayer

And I used each of the three points (observation, application, and prayer) to measure depth of study, spiritual growth, and connection to God.

So, to measure the depth of study I factored in two things: the number of observations I made and the detail of those observations. So, I simply counted how many observations I made both without and with a commentary and factored in the detail of those observations to give it a rank on a scale of 1-10.

To measure spiritual growth I analyzed my application points. How detailed were they? Were they specific and practical? Or were they vague “be a better person” kind of points. I ranked them on a scale of 1-10.

I used the prayer step to measure connection to God. This was very subjective, but I used a number (1-10) to judge how close I felt to God in prayer after studying each time.

Now, before we get to the results, if you want to know more about the SOAP Bible study method, then you should check out this article that will walk you through the SOAP method step by step. Now, on to the results.

	Without A Commentary	With A Commentary
Depth of Study	5	6
Spiritual Growth	5	6.5
Closeness to God	6.5	6

These results show that you should use a Bible commentary as an aid in your Bible study habit. Let’s go more in-depth on each of these.

A Bible Commentary Increases Depth of Study

When I didn’t use a commentary I made a total of 11 observations. Most of these were textual observations like the who, what, when, where, why questions. This also included basic background information like who wrote it and the audience.

Other things I observed, were repeated words and phrases, as well as lists. These are things that I typically observe first without using a commentary.

Now, when I used a commentary I made an average of an additional 11 observations. These were more detailed historical, cultural, and theological observations. For example, instead of just knowing that Ezekiel the priest wrote it, I was able to determine that his inaugural vision occurred around 593 BC.

That was something I would not have known had I not used a Bible commentary. So, if you want go deeper in your Bible study and are struggling to do so, then you should use a bible commentary.

A Bible Commentary Can Aid Spiritual Growth

Second, a Bible commentary can be used to aide spiritual growth. While my application points when I wasn’t using a commentary were good, they were also kind of more like generic principles. Some of them included,

• God is worthy of our praise; Thank God for His glory
• Need to have a high view of God and His glory
• Prayer and hearing God speak through His word requires an appropriate response–awe and terror.

While, these are good application points they are not specific goal oriented points. It wasn’t until I was using a commentary that my application points became more specific to my life. When I used a commentary my points were,

• Need for a active spiritual life: read the Bible daily
• Do for God in strength, understanding, boldness, diligence, patience, quickness, and insight
• Constantly seek God’s will in prayer and submit to His kingship

So, if you are struggling a little bit with applying the Bible to your life, like I do, or you want to see the Bible come alive in your life, then perhaps you should use a Bible commentary.

A Bible Commentary Has No Impact On Closeness to God

The last thing that we can see from these results is that using a commentary does not really affect your closeness to God. This is a vital thing to remember. Using a bible commentary does not make you more of a Christian.

You are no closer to God when you use a commentary than when you don’t. A bible commentary has no impact on your closeness to God. It is Jesus that saves us not the use of commentary. You are not more spiritual because you use a commentary than if you don’t (and vice versa).

This ought to be a huge encouragement. Your spiritual well being, your relationship with God, is not dependent on a commentary. Rather, it’s dependent upon the work of Jesus on the cross for your sins, His death and resurrection.

What Commentary You Choose Affects What You Get Out Of It

So from the above results, we see that a commentary can be beneficial, but is not necessary. Here’s something else to know: what type of commentary you use affects what you get out of it.

Remember those three types of commentaries above? Exegetical, Expositional/Homiletical, and Devotional? Which one you choose can have specific impact on your Bible study habit.

So when I was doing my little experiment, I looked at not only what influence a commentary has on Bible study and spiritual growth, but also what type of commentary has what impact.

I did the SOAP Bible study method 3 times with the 3 different types of commentaries, all for the same passage of Scripture. Here are the ones I used:

• Exegetical: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
• Homiletical: Expositors Bible Commentary
• Devotional: Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

All were available for free online at studylight.org. You can visit the Bible Study Bookshelf for a complete list of websites, tools, and resources I recommend.

I once again measured depth of study, spiritual growth, and connection to God and used the same 1-10 scale to rate them. This is the results:

	No Commentary	Exegetical Commentary	Homiletical Commentary	Devotional Commentary	Commentary Average
Depth of Study	5	7	6	5	6
Spiritual Growth	5	6	5.5	8	6.5
Connection to God	6.5	5.5	7	6	6
Total	16.5	18.5	18.5	19	18.5

We can draw two conclusions from these results:

• If we want to deepen our study of God’s Word, then we should use a exegetical or homiletical commentary.
• If our focus is to grow more spiritual, then we should consider using a more devotional commmentary.

The type of commentary that had the most impact on me throughout the week after studying Ezekiel chapter 1 was the devotional commentary. It was quotes and sayings from Matthew Henry’s concise commentary that would come to mind most frequently.

For example, in his commentary on chapter one Hentry wrote,

“That which we take to be a dark cloud, is to God clear as crystal, through which he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”

Matthew Henry

Henry says, this because in Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel sees this cloud in the distant north that is coming toward him. As he gets closer he can see it clearer and begins to describe it. This is what Ezekiel 1 is all about. The end of the chapter Ezekiel is describing God on His throne upheld by this crystal floor.

Anyway, later this week after studying this passage, I was driving through a construction site and drove through this cloud of dust. I remembered this quote and it made me smile. God sees the full picture and that is a comfort when I only see dust.

Overall, commentaries are a useful tool to aid in Bible study. They can help deepen our understanding of a passage and gain practical insights that lead to spiritual growth. So, you should consider using a Bible commentary.

If you need help finding one for you, then this article lists some great and practical tips for finding a Bible commentary.

Use A Bible Commentary to Clarify Confusion

Now that we’ve seen how influential Bible commentaries can be, let’s take a moment to look at when people use commentaries the most.

As a general rule, people will use commentaries to clarify confusion, deepen understanding, and explore curiosities of a particular passage of Scripture. As such, commentaries are not used every time someone studies the Bible. Though it is a helpful resource to have on hand.

One of the main ways a commentary is used is to clarify confusion.

Let’s be honest a minute.

Sometimes, reading the Bible is boring. It can be hard and confusing. That’s okay. It’s normal and expected. In fact, God probably has a reason why reading the Bible can be hard. Want to know what that reason is? Then you should read this article that will explain why reading the bible is hard, and that’s okay.

Sometimes, it’s worse than reading a textbook. I mean–Leviticus? Need I say more?

But a Bible commentary can help clarify confusion when reading those hard to read books and passages.

For example, I’ve been slowly (very slowly) working my way through Leviticus. There are times I read it and try to make sense of it and put it in order in my head, and I can’t. So, I’ll read the passage in the Bible, then turn to a commentary to help me make sense of what I’m reading.

So, a bible commentary can be a valuable tool when reading those challenging passages in the Bible. It can help you clarify your understanding. Help you make sense of those head scratchers.

Use A Bible Commentary to Deepen Understanding

Another useful reason to have a bible commentary is to deepen or confirm your understanding of a passage. We’ve already seen how a commentary can help us make more detailed observations. Often these observations provide greater historical, cultural, or linguistic context.

This deepens our understanding of God’s word.

But we can also turn to a commentary to clarify our understanding. This is especially true if you are new to having a Bible study habit.

When you are studying the Bible and come to an understanding of what a passage or verse may mean on your own, it can be a great encouragement to see that others have come to that same conclusion. It can strengthen your resolve to continue in Bible study on your own.

Use A Bible Commentary to Explore Curiosities

A third common use that people use bible commentaries for is to explore curiosities. Curiosity and the Bible go hand in hand. You can be curious about a number of different things related to the Bible. For example, you can be curious about,

• What a particular verse may mean
• The history and culture of a particular time or people in the bible
• different interpretations of a particular passage
• etc.

A Bible commentary can help you explore all these curiosities and help you go deeper into God’s word.

I’ve often found that it is curiosity that get me to study God’s word deeper more than anything else. I’ll read a phrase or read of an interesting custom and be like, “Hmmm…I want to know more about that” So, I’ll pick up a commentary and read some. That quickly gets me back to exploring God’s word.

Commentaries vs. Relying on the Holy Spirit

Now, we’ve seen that commentaries are useful. They are helpful to deepen study, grow spiritually, confirm understanding, and explore curiosities. But there are Christians who will practically condemn the use of Bible commentaries.

These Christians will say things like, “You shouldn’t read a commentary. You should only rely on the Holy Spirit.”

This “Holy Spirit only” approach actually minimizes the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays a vital and active role in our Christian lives. One that often gets overlooked. This is especially true in how the Holy Spirit uses God’s word in our lives.

The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to:

• teach us
• encourage us, and
• convict us

The Holy Spirit will pray for us when we don’t know what to pray. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as an Advocate, a legal counselor to advise us in our walk in life (John 14:26).

If you want to know more about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives and the dangers of not listening to the Holy Spirit than you should check out these articles. They will encourage you to value the role of the Holy Spirit in your life.

So, how does this “Holy Spirit Only” approach to Bible study minimize the role of the Holy Spirit? It does so by neglecting the possibility that the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to work in others lives and how that work in their lives can benefit us as well.

I was talking about this with someone who has been studying the Bible for a long time. She said,

The Holy Spirit is there to teach me and tell me what it means even if I need someone else’s help. I’m not afraid to pick up a commentary.”

Her point was that the Holy Spirit is there to teach us. He can do that through the Bible. He can do that through a commentary. Our job is to have faith in the role of the Holy Spirit and trust Him to teach us.

The Best Commentary on the Bible is The Bible

Another common objection to using a Bible commentary that you will hear is that you only need the Bible. There is truth in highlighting the importance of the Bible as a commentary on the Bible.

There are over 63,000 cross references in the Bible where one part is referred to in another part of the Book. This means that the Bible is a great commentary on the Bible. It is helpful to see what the Bible says about about a particular passage by seeing if there are any cross references to or from that passage.

Just check out this illustration of all the cross references in the Bible.

How amazing is that! It’s beautiful!

While the Bible is the best commentary on the Bible, that doesn’t negate the usefulness of other commentary. So, start with the Bible as a commentary on itself and then branch out into other commentaries.

Key Takeaways

Deciding whether or not to use a commentary when studying the Bible is an important decision. Here are some key takeaways that can help:

• A Bible commentary can be beneficial in Bible study and spiritual growth (though not necessary).
• A Bible commentary has no impact on how close one is to God.
• Use a Bible commentary to deepen understanding, clarify confusions, or explore curiosities.
• Use an exegetical commentary or a homilietical commentary if you want a deeper Bible study experience.
• Use a devotional commentary if you want more practical application from your Bible study habit.

Commentaries are useful Bible study tools and should be used when you feel they will help you. So, don’t neglect the awesome benefit of using commentaries. That said, don’t become a Bible commentary hoarder either.

Start with the Bible and trust the Holy Spirit to teach you. Let Him use God’s word and maybe even commentaries to help you, teach you, and encourage you to live biblically and follow God in your daily life.