Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recommended the following general reference works for Bible study.
Brand, Chad, Trent Butler, and Charles Draper, eds. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Broadman, 2003.
Brisco, Thomas. Holman Bible Atlas. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998.
Dockery, David, ed. The Holman Bible Handbook. Nashville: Broadman, 1992.
Douglas, J. D., ed. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary. 3 vols. Downers Grove: IVP, 1980.
Elwell, Walter, gen. ed. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988.
Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004.
MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville: Word, 1997.
Smith, Marsha Ellis. The Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, and Reconstructions. Nashville: Broadman, 1993.
Strong, James, ed. The New Exhaustive Concordance. Nashville: Nelson, 1985.
Tenney, Merrill. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia. 5 vol. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976.
The New American Standard Bible. Rev. ed. Produced by the Lockman Foundation. Anaheim: FoundationPublications, 1995.
Young, Robert, ed. Young’s Analytical Concordance. Nashville: Nelson, 1982.




Commentary recommendations from Jeremy Pierce
Jeremy Pierce has put together several comprehensive, thoughtful, and helpful posts regarding exegetical commentaries. Links to his posts follow:
Commentary Reviews – Series
Commentary Suggestions
NAC Commentary Series