Women in the Bible: Getting Started with your Research

If you don't know where to begin: 

• Find out a little more information on biblical women in general. Using an online source to get a basic spelling of a woman's name, a reference for where she appears in the bible, and some general information about her may help you get started. However, be sure to use scholarly sources in your research once you have verified name spellings and settled on a topic.
• Try a reference source. Some of the reference sources like CREDO Reference listed in the tab on the left will have general information about a specific woman or time period that can help you get started. 

If you have a woman or story that you would like to research: 

• Learn a little more about her.
  • Use an eBook about women in the bible to find out more. (Some suggestions are on the Books and eBooks page on the left.) 
  • Use a resource like CREDO Reference or a biography database to look her up by name.
  • Find information by researching the stories and people associated with this woman in scripture. 

Reference sources include: 

• commentaries
• dictionaries
• subject encyclopedias 
• atlases 
• collections of short biographies

Reference sources are designed to get you started with your research and provide key background information.  

What a Commentary Includes

• Introduction/Historical Background: Provides information on the historical, social, and cultural background of the passages. Introduces what is covered in a particular section.  
• Scripture: Includes the bible verses. Often includes multiple versions side-by-side for comparison. 
• Commentary: Provides historical, social, cultural, and interpretative information about the scripture included in the commentary. 

How to Use a Commentary

• Commentaries are usually made up of several volumes. Each volume covers specific books of the bible. 
• Figure out what story or person in the bible you want to research. If you are looking at a broad topic related to women in the bible (example: marriage in the bible, women rulers, etc.) you may need to choose several stories or individuals to use in your research. 
• Find out where the story/person appears in the bible. Specifically, figure out which book and which chapter/verses you need to find. 
• Find the commentary volume(s) for the book(s) you need to reference and then find the specific verses you need to include. 
  • Need help finding a commentary online? Browse the commentaries page of this guide or ask us for help at Library@umo.edu! 

What is a bible dictionary? 

A bible dictionary is a dictionary of concepts that appear in the bible. This can include names, places, and ideas. 

How to Use a Bible Dictionary

• Figure out several key concepts or individuals that you want to explore in your research OR a symbol or item that appears in your story that you would like to find more information about. 
• If you are using a multi volume bible dictionary, find the volume corresponding with the word that you need. For example: Ark would require you to use the volume A-B. Not all dictionaries have multiple volumes and this is not an issue with eBooks. 
• For one-volume and eBooks, just look up your word in the dictionary and use the information that you find in your research.  

Scholarly Books

Most of our eBooks are written for an academic (scholarly) audience.

Exceptions to look out for include: devotional material (written for personal spiritual development), historical fiction (tells a historical story for entertainment purposes) and children's literature.

Books written for an academic audience (including eBooks) will include multiple cited sources and provide an in-depth treatment of the topics that they cover. 

Scholarly Journal Articles

In addition to our Religion Database (featured in the Articles tab at left), our library catalog has a lot of full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles to add to your research.