In any Christian bookshop you will find many types of reference books and special Bibles which will help you understand the Word of God. Some are listed below:

· A Bible Commentary gives verse by verse explanations and comments on Bible passages, with background information. Some commentaries are very detailed and academic, covering only one book of the Bible per volume. Others are more general, and cover the whole Bible or the Old or New Testaments in one volume. To find a commentary which is right for you, it is best to look yourself at what is available.

· A Bible Dictionary or a Bible Encyclopaedia is an alphabetical list of Bible words and topics, giving explanations and useful background information.

· A Bible Handbook has lots of charts, maps, articles, photographs, historical, cultural and geographical information, and gives a general overview of all the books of the Bible. It is probably the most useful reference book for the beginner.

· A Concordance is an alphabetical list of the words used in the Bible, showing where they occur. Some Bibles have a concordance in the back. The concordance must be of the same version as the Bible you use.

· A Devotional Bible is an ordinary Bible (it may come in several different translations) which, in addition to the actual Bible text, has articles which will help you to build up your relationship with God.

· An Interlinear Bible is a Bible where each line of the Greek or Hebrew text has the English translation beneath it. Useful for Bible students.

· A Parallel Bible has several different translations side by side on the page - this makes it a large and heavy volume, but is useful for serious study.

· A Reference Bible has verse references in the margin or down the centre column, which point to other related texts, so that you can tie different parts of the Bible together easily.

· A Study Bible is a reference Bible, a concordance, commentary and handbook all rolled into one! Many translations are produced in Study Bible form.

· A Youth Bible is an easy to read version of the Bible with special notes and articles which are relevant to young people.