You don’t realize it or realize enough to think about it until you are old enough to make advanced inferences and engage in challenges of the intellect, but the first Bible Commentaries shape you, condition you for future references if not future faiths. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) to have a mother who was fairly open-minded and who also gave us kids gifts that appealed to our sensibilities at the time. For example, I loved to read, look at great visuals, and play with paper and colors when I was a kid, so after a time at Sunday School one summer, my mother bought me this huge kid’s book of the Bible parables and allegories. It had a large font, I recall, and pastelly (my word) pictures of the Old and New Testament “characters”, if you will. It had no Bible Commentaries, but that’s my point: the stories, pictures, and presentation of Bible contents are the Bible commentaries, as the artists and writers and publishers are the ones who consciously or unconsciously make implicit commentary by their very style and manner of delivering the information.

These are indirect Bible Commentaries, those that influence us early on. But if the point is too convoluted or is too “so what” to you and therefore useless, here are some actual (intentional) forms of Bible commentaries for you. They help me now that I do not consult them for answers but for options and as I use them as resources for students studying literature.

LITERARY BIBLE COMMENTARIES and “TRIVIA”

Parables, Similes, and Metaphors http://www.request.org.uk/main/bible/parables01.htm

Unusual, unique, and uncommon facts about a diversity of subjects: Trivia about the Bible and religion http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/c-triv.html

Bible Metaphors

http://www.biblemetaphors.com/

SUMMATIVE BIBLE COMMENTARIES

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/apenglishlit/bible.txt

GENERAL/SPECIFIC & SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS BIBLE COMMENTARIES

Bible Gateway http://www.biblegateway.com/

All about God

http://www.allaboutgod.com/bible-verses.htm

And, of course, all of the above are based (even my earliest memories and my current description of influences) on the Good Book itself, so here is one of many fine, searchable, user-friendly online Holy Bibles:

Bible Online

http://www.biblemetaphors.com/