Biblical Studies Guide 

The Subject search option is used to retrieve records using Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings. The LC Subject Headings are terms or phrases that have been designated as the standard word or phrase for every subject.

For example, if you were doing research on the book of Philemon, you would not want to put Philemon in as your subject, because the designated LC Subject Heading for this topic is actually Bible N T Philemon.

Often, if you put in the wrong subject heading, Orbis will let you know what the correct subject heading is for your topic:

The results of a Subject Heading search are displayed in a Search Results list which may be browsed, forward and backward.  The results indicate further subdivisions of the topic.

Search by Subject Heading (see above) to find works on specific books, chapters, verses, or other parts of the Bible.

• Bible
• Bible o t (for the Old Testament)
• Bible n t (for the New Testament)
• Bible o t [name of subsection] or Bible n t [name of subsection]
  e.g.:
  • Bible o t former prophets
  • Bible o t hexateuch
  • Bible o t pentateuch
  • Bible o t prophets
  • Bible o t apocrypha
  • Bible n t gospels
  • Bible n t epistles
  • Bible n t epistles of Paul
  • Bible n t pastoral epistles
  • Bible n t epistles of John
  • Bible n t catholic epistles

  but

  • Wisdom literature, not bible o t wisdom literature
  • Apocalyptic literature, not bible o t apocalyptic literature
  • Beatitudes
  • Book of the covenant
  • Ten commandments
• Bible o t [name of book] e.g. Bible o t Amos
• Bible n t [name of book] e.g. Bible n t Matthew
• Bible [o t or n t] [name of book] [chapter - Roman numerals] [verse - Arabic numbers]
  e.g.
  • Bible o t Genesis xxii 1 19
  • Bible n t Romans xi 25 32

Search by Subject Heading (see above) to find works relating the Bible or sections of the Bible to specific topics, genres, interpretive approaches, etc.

• --Antiquities (the archaeology and antiquities of the Bible)
  e.g. Bible--antiquities
• --Bibliography (bibliographies of works containing biblical criticism and interpretation)
• --Commentaries
  e.g. Bible o t amos--commentaries
• --Concordances
• --Criticism interpretation etc (critical works on the Bible)
  e.g. Bible n t matthew--criticism interpretation etc
• --Black interpretations
• --Criticism interpretation etc Jewish
• --Canonical criticism
• --Criticism form
• --Criticism narrative
• --Criticism redaction
• --Criticism textual
• --Feminist criticism
• --Islamic interpretation
• --Social scientific criticism
• --Dictionaries
• --Geography
  e.g.
  • Bible o t exodus--geography
  • Bible--geography--maps
• --Hermeneutics (the principles of biblical criticism)
• --Historiography (works on the way in which historical events are presented in the Bible)
• --History of contemporary events (history contemporary with the history of biblical events)
  e.g. Bible o t isaiah--history of contempory events
• --History of biblical events (the history of events related in the Bible)
  e.g. Bible o t isaiah--history of biblical events
• --Homiletical use
• --Indexes
• --Introductions
• --Language style
• --Liturgical use
  e.g. Bible o t psalms--liturgical use
• --Parables
• --Prayers
• --Relation to _____
  e.g.
  • Bible n t matthew--relation to mark (to Psalms, etc)
  • Bible o t chronicles--relation to kings
  • Bible o t Jeremiah--relation to psalms
• --Sermons
• --Theology
• _____ in the Bible
  e.g.
  • Metaphor in the Bible
  • Narration in the Bible
  • Rhetoric in the Bible
  • Rites and ceremonies in the Bible
  • Satire in the Bible
  • Symbolism in the Bible
• Bible and _____
  e.g.
  • Bible and law
  • Bible and literature
  • Bible and science

Search by Subject Heading (see above) to find works on specific individuals in the Bible. Examples are provided below.

• Abraham biblical patriarch
• Moses biblical leader
• Hezekiah king of judah
• Isaiah biblical prophet
• Paul the apostle saint
• Matthew the apostle saint
• Mark saint
• Luke saint
• John saint apostle
• Jesus Christ

You can also related a particular person to a specific topic, as follows:

• --Historicity
  e.g. Jesus Christ--historicity
• --Teachings
  e.g. Paul the apostle saint--teachings
• --Theology
• --Views on _____
  e.g.
  • Paul the apostle saint--views on Jewish law
  • Paul the apostle saint--views on justification
  • Paul the apostle saint--views on women

The basic procedure for finding specific versions of the Bible (i.e., Revised Standard Version, New King James Version, New International Version, etc.) is to do a Title search starting with the word "Bible" followed by the language, and then the version.

• Bible English Revised Standard

Finds the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible



• Bible English New Revised Standard

Finds the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible



• Bible English New International

Finds the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible



• Bible English New American

Finds the New American Bible (NAB)



• Bible English New American Standard

Finds the New American Standard Bible (NASB) of the Bible



• Bible English Revised English

Finds the Revised English Bible



• Bible English New Jerusalem

Finds the New Jerusalem Bible



• Bible English Authorized

Finds the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible



• Bible English New King James

Finds the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible



• Bible English Today's English

Finds the Good News Bible



• Bible O T Hebrew

Finds the Hebrew Bible



• Bible Latin Vulgate

Finds the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible

• _____ literature--relation to the old testament / --relation to the new testatment
  e.g.
  • Assyro-Babylonian literature--relation to the old testament
  • Greek literature--relation to the new testament
  • Ugaritic literature--relation to the old testament
• _____--biblical teaching
  e.g.
  • creation--biblical teaching
  • law--biblical teaching
  • law (theology)--biblical teaching
  • spirit--biblical teaching
  • war--biblical teaching
• Bible as literature
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Discourse analysis
• Feminist criticism
• Feminist literary criticism
• Greek language
• Hebrew language
• Narration (Rhetoric)
• Q hypothesis
• Structuralism
• Structuralism (Literary analysis)