 Books Useful for Bible Study 
Companion Bible 
No matter which Bible you use for your studies, if you do not have a copy of the Companion Bible, you do not have what is probably the best study Bible ever produced.
Dr. E.W.Bullinger, a renowned Biblical scholar in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, began working on the Companion Bible about 1908, and continued working on it until his death in 1913. By then he had completed the Old Testament. His work on the New Testament had progressed to the end of the gospel of John. The work was continued and completed by other scholars.
The text is the KJV and it is unaltered apart from using different type faces for words such as 'God' and 'Lord' to make clear whether the original was speaking of 'YHWH' or 'Adonai' or 'Elohim' or other words used for 'God'.
It is printed in two columns, with the text on the left and notes on the right. These notes give this Bible its great value. They are explanatory but not interpretive. They give information concerning
| Words used in the original languages |
| Figures of speech |
| Meanings of names |
| Structures |
| References to parallel or related passages |
| Ancient readings and new and amended renderings |
| All Massoretic notes which throw light on the scriptures |
| Innumerable other topics |
Historical notes are included. They are based on the historical and archaeological information available in the first and second decades of the twentieth century, and so are sometimes outdated, but often useful.
Following Revelation there are 198 appendices. While a few of these are interpretive the vast majority are explanatory.
If you do not have a Companion Bible, then get one. You are missing out on one of the most useful tools in existence for understanding Scripture.
Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8254-2203-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-8254-2203-4 (leather)
A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament. E.W. Bullinger.
This book lists every English word in the New Testament in alphabetical order. It gives the Greek word or words behind every English word. As well, there is a list of passages in which each English word occurs with a reference to the Greek word used in each passage.
Thus at one view, the Greek word with its literal and derivitive meanings may be found for every word in the English New Testament.
A Greek and English index lists each Greek word in alphabetical order with the English word or words that translate it.
Three appendices give
Varient readings of long phrases and clauses
Concise Greek grammar
Varient readings from the Codex Sinaiticus
Having Concordance and Lexicon combined in one volume is very convenient. The definitions of the Greek words are clear, concise and scholarly, but easily understood.
Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. ISBN: 0-310-20310-4
Old Testament Word Studies. William Wilson
This is a similar book to Bullinger's New Testament dictionary and lexicon, but dealing with the Old Testament.
It is organized according to English words, but explains each word according to Hebrew.
The book is as invaluable for Hebrew as is Bullinger's for Greek.
Published by MacDonald Publishing Co. McLean, VA.
ISBN: 0-917006-27-5
Figures of Speech Used in the Bible. E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger sets out 217 distinct figures of speech present in Scripture. He gives for each the pronunciation and etymology of its name, and then a number of passages of Scripture in which it appears, accompanied by a full explanation. In all, nearly eight thousand passages are cited.
The figures of speech are grouped together in three groups. Those involving
Those in the first and second divisions are further subdivided into those affecting the words and the sense. Figures involving change include those that affect the meaning and usage of words, those that affect the order and arrangement of words, and those that affect the application of words.
"A figure," writes the author, "is simply a word or a sentence thrown into a peculiar form, different from its original or simplest meaning or use." Bible translaters have, through inattention to figures of speech, "made blunders as serious as they are foolish. Sometimes they have translated the figure literally, totally ignoring its existence ... sometimes they have taken literal words and translated them figuratively. Commentators and interpreters, from inattention to the figures, have been led astray from the real meaning of many important passages of God'sWord ..."
Published by Baker Book House Company. ISBN: 0-8010-0559-0
Exegetical Fallacies D.A.Carson.
A Book to Keep You Honest
This small volume discusses the pitfalls Bible students need to avoid. It deals with
 | Word-Study Fallacies |
| Grammatical Fallacies |
| Logical Fallacies |
| Presuppositional and Historical Fallacies |
The value of the book is well stated by two of its reviewers.
The reader who does not confuse the Bible's inerrancy with his own interpretations will receive valuable guidance from this book. Carson has provided a pithy and practical manual of many of those mistakes to which all of us who deal with the text in earnest fall prey.
Robert Yarborough, Fundamentalist Journal
If given the attention it deserves, Exegetical Fallacies will make its readers more careful and honest expositors of the Bible.
Gerald Mattingley. The (Cincinnatti) Seminary Review
Published by
Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan ISBN 0-8010-2086-7
and
Paternoster Press, Carlisle, Cumbria ISBN: 0-85364-677-5
The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. James Strong
The value of this book cannot be over-emphasized. It lists every occurrence of every word in the Bible, and gives each Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek word a unique number.
These numbers can be used to find the original word in the dictionaries at the end of the book. The dictionaries give each word in English and in the original language, with a brief definition.
Strong's Reference Numbers (SRN) have been adopted by a number of authors who have coded their books according to these numbers.
Published by
Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, Iowa ISBN 0-917006-01-1
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Joseph H. Thayer
An excellent lexicon of Greek words used in the New Testament. The book is coded according to Strong's Reference Numbers, and so is an excellent companion to Strong's Concordance. The information regarding Greek words is far more detailed than in Strong's Concordance.
As mentioned in the publisher's introduction, Thayer was a Unitarian, so the reader should be alert for both subtle and blatant denials of such doctrines as the Trinity and Biblical inerrancy.
These things aside, the book is invaluable for those who would search the Greek words for the meaning of Scripture. If you embark upon a course to find out for yourself, there will be times when you must make decisions on issues such as these.
Published by
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN Cloth 0-8010-8872-0
ISBN Paper 0-8010-8838-0
Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament.
This is a lexicon numerically coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and so similar in purpose to Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon.
Both Hebrew and Chaldee words are addressed.
It is as important for Old Testament study as Thayer's, and more so, Bullinger's, dictionaries are for New Testament studies.
Published by
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8010-3736-0
Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. W.E.Vine.
This is an English language explanation of New Testament words. Early versions used only Roman text, even for Greek words. Later versions give Greek words using the Greek alphabet.
While earlier versions stand alone, more recent versions are coded for Strong's numbers.
My version published by
Marshall, Morgan and Scott, London.
ISBN 0 551 00913 6
I am not sure of details for later versions.
Other Books by Dr. E.W.Bullinger
I am very much a fan of the writings of Dr. E.W. Bullinger. This is partly because, like him, I am a Dispensationalist, but also because he brings a marvellous objectivity to Scripture, and a depth of scholarship seldom reached by other Christian writers.
It must be remembered that Dr. Bullinger wrote in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The scientific areas he mentions must be understood in this light. Any errors or shortcomings in understanding must be understood in this context, and accommodated.
As well, it should be noted that Dr. Bullinger, although a Dispensationalist for many years, only recognized the Acts 28 dispensational position late in his life, after discussion with C.H.Welch (see below). He stated that recognizing this position undermined much of his earlier work. While this is to some extent true, it relates only to recognition of the church's position.
His final position was that the prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I & II Timothy, Philemon) were written to the gentile church which came into being at Acts 28, while the other epistles were written to the church which existed during Acts.
Few, if any, scholars had a better understanding of the Scriptures.
The Witness of the Stars E.W. Bullinger
Building on ancient astronomical sources and more modern scientific data, the author displays how the constellations witness to the accuracy of Biblical prophetic truths. Numerous celestial charts and diagrams are provided to lend vivid support to his conclusions. With the psalmist one discovers that "the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork", thus encouraging Bible students to look upwards for the coming of Christ.
Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8254-2245-0
Number in Scripture E.W. Bullinger
An invaluable guide to the study of Bible Numerics. The first part of the book deals with the designs involved in the numbers and numerical features of the Word of God, evidencing as it does the Designer who devised it.
The second part covers the spiritual significance and symbolic connotations of those numbers which repeatedly appear in the same or similar contexts and connections throughout the Bible.
Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8254-2204-3 cloth
ISBN 0-8254-2238-8 paper
The Giver and His
Gifts E.W. Bullinger
An in-depth study of the Holy Spirit and His work by one of the greatest Greek and Hebrew scholars of past days. The author investigates the use of pneuma (spirit) as found in the New Testament with a complete list and exposition of the 385 Scripture passages in which the word ocurs.
He differentiates between the Giver, "the Spirit, the holy One", and the gift, "the Holy Spirit" in a way no modern expositor has done. If his exegetical method had been followed by Bible students who have succeeded him, many of the Pentecostal problems which have plagued the church would have been avoided.
Two appendices offer a classified list of the usages.
The three indexes are of subject, text, and Greek words explained.
Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8254-2234-5
Commentary on Revelation E.W. Bullinger
The pastor, teacher and serious student will find this book practical and helpful in its literal acceptance of God's Word. This is not a commentary of other men's views "warmed over". You will find other commentators views not merely parroted, but challenged. No ill-founded ten nation Europe is presented.
In this creative and masterful commentary, the Book of Revelation is treated, not as a book to be interpreted by man, but as God's own interpretation of the future to us, and what will take place in "the Day of the Lord". You will be challenged in every chapter, on almost every page, to confirm your views of interpretation, or to accept the view E.W. Bullinger is presenting.
Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ISBN 0-8254-2239-6
The Chief Musician. E.W. Bullinger
This remarkable book deals not only with the contents of the Psalms, but investigates the instructions given to the musicians who perform the Psalms.
This approach gives marvellous insights to the Psalms.
Published by The Berean Publishing Trust,
52a Wilson St,
London EC2A 2ER
Books by Charles H. Welch
Charles Welch, as a young man, met Dr. Bullinger in 1908 when Bullinger was just commencing work on the Companion Bible. He asked Welch to take over his work on a periodical, Things to Come, so he could have more time to spend on the Companion Bible. Welch did so and continued writing articles for it until its publication ceased.
In 1909 he published the first issue of the Berean Expositor, a dispensational periodical. It is still in publication today, and all back issues are available as bound works. As well as this he has published many books on dispensational subjects.
Among them are
In Heavenly Places C.H.Welch
This book is an exposition of Ephesians, the peak of Paul's writings. Welch clearly shows the marvellous position the church, Christ's body not bride, has in the eyes of God. In dispensational thinking Ephesians is a key book, and Welch deals with every aspect of it in detail.
Published by The Berean Publishing Trust,
52a Wilson St,
London EC2A 2ER
From Pentecost to Prison C.H.Welch
God was dealing directly with Israel during Acts. From Pentecost to the end of the book the original apostles, and later Paul, directed their ministry to Israel. The gentiles were not in their sight until the Lord specifically made Peter go to Cornelius. Even after that they went first to the Jews before approaching the gentiles in any area.
Welch makes this and many other things quite clear in this book. He concludes the book by showing that it was at the end of Acts that Israel was set aside and the way opened for the blessings of God to be poured out fully on gentiles.
Published by The Berean Publishing Trust,
52a Wilson St,
London EC2A 2ER
The Prize of the High Calling C.H.Welch
This is a dispensational exposition of the book of Philippians. The high calling of believers since Acts is made perfectly clear. It deals with concepts which are fundamental to Philippians such as
Things that are more excellent
Far better
The believer's citizenship
The mind which was in Christ Jesus
Published by The Berean Publishing Trust,
52a Wilson St,
London EC2A 2ER
An Alphabetical Analysis C.H.Welch
This ten volume set is divided into sections
Volumes 1 - 5 Dispensational Truth
Volumes 6 - 7 Doctrinal Truth
Volumes 8 - 9 Prophetic Truth
Volume 10 Practical Truth
It is a reference source with special emphasis on dispensational matters. As an example of its approach the first part of the entry concerning the word 'calling' in the dispensational section is presented.
The Greek word translated "calling" is klesis, and it occurs in the N.T. eleven times. Those who receive this calling are denominated "called" kletos, and this too occurs eleven times. Both of these words are derived from kaleo "to call", which is found in the N.T. 147 times. Those who receive the call of Divine grace, become members of a "called out company" or ekklesia, which is the primary meaning of the word church. Calling is employed doctrinally, as in Romans 8:30, "whom He called, them He also justified" and has a great place in the doctrine of grace. We, however, must not allow ourselves in this analysis to attempt to embrace doctrinal themes as well as dispensational, and with this passing reference, we turn our attention to the use of "calling" as a term employed in making known dispensational truth.
The entire reference is several pages long. There are hundreds of such references on many topics.
Published by The Berean Publishing Trust,
52a Wilson St,
London EC2A 2ER
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