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RESEARCH GUIDES

The Bible, Literature and Literary Criticism

his guide points to resources which treat the Bible as literature.

Some helpful points

  • For the Bible and literature, KEYWORD searching does not allow distinguishing the subject headings BIBLE AND LITERATURE, BIBLE AS LITERATURE, and other occurrences of the words. For BIBLE AS LITERATURE browse call numbers BS535.
  • Search BIBLE FEMINIST CRITICISM for feminist criticism of the Bible. Search BIBLE FEMINISM for feminism from the standpoint of the Bible.
  • Do a KEYWORD Search on BIBLE HERMENEUTICS.
  • For the History of the Interpretation of the Bible, search under words such as BIBLE, CRITICISM, INTERPRETATION, HISTORY.
  • For literarary genres search under terms such as HEBREW, POETRY, BIBLICAL HISTORY, CRITICISM, NARRATIVE IN THE BIBLE.

Catalog search tips

  • In the Catalog, click on "Catalog USMAI" in the upper-left corner in order to search all University System of Maryland libraries at once.
  • University of Maryland Libraries are using Library of Congress Classification system to sort, organize and arrange our materials on our shelves.  Thus for best searching results use the Library of Congress Subject Headings.  They are viewable within each individual records -- in this case just click on a subject heading best describing your subject.   You can also use the "Subject Beginning with..." search.  Finally you can use words from these headings to build your own search vocabulary to use in key word searching.  Some examples of subject headings are:

Use the subject beginning with...search option to search for books about the Bible, and, in some cases, specific chapters and verses. Examples:

  • Bible O T ecclesiastes
  • Bible O T judges xix-xi

Types of books may be searched. Examples:

  • Bible O T historical books
  • Bible O T pentateuch
  • Bible O T wisdom literature
  • Bible N T gospels
  • Bible N T epistles of paul

Also use the word/s anywhere search option for other topics. Examples:

  • Bible hermeneutics
  • Bible criticism interpretation
  • Bible language
  • New testament women