So, if you resolved to read through the Bible at the beginning of the year, now, in late February/early March, you should be about in the book of Leviticus. Unless… you’ve already given up and quit or just skipped Leviticus and Deuteronomy altogether! Reading through lists of names and repetitions of laws might be hard to stick to even if you are truly committed to it.

I’m more of a task-oriented person, so if you give me a job and a deadline, I will usually push to get it done, but I found that after a while, I was reading the words of Scripture as just words to get through. Now, I still think it is a good idea to read the Bible all the way through. God left us one book that tells us about Him and that He wants us to read, and I think I’d feel kind of stupid standing in front of Him some day with Him knowing I never even read it.

But this year I tried something different – I have been reading an archaeological study Bible. If you are imagining boring measurements from a dig site, it is not like that, but there are hundreds of photographs of artifacts and places. You will get an idea of what some ancient tools, seals, and pots looked like and learn how they demonstrate that the stories of the Bible actually took place. Pictures of ancient buildings and fields and mountains near where events occurred bring context to your reading.

Who, Where, Why, and When

But the archaeological Bible does more than explain the archaeology. It helps out with geography, history, and culture too. Maps illustrate the relation of one event to another, often answering the question why something took place where it did. The notes will give you a more complete look at history. It tells you what else was going on in the world at the same time Bible events were happening. And the many footnotes and side articles give insights to the people both of the Bible and their neighbors. Their culture is not ours, and the articles point out what was going on at the time God was speaking to them.

Ancient writers are quoted. These quotes have been found on monuments, carvings, and scrolls – poets writing about kings or regular people discussing regular people. One insert I recently read was text on a tablet from a Sumerian scribal school in which an older student mockingly criticized the work of a younger student – makes even the really ancient people sound just like us!

Slow Down

If you chose to make a more academic study of things, you could. There are notes, concordances, and charts. I don’t; I just use it for my personal reading. The most valuable part of all is that it slows you down. You won’t feel the same pull to rush through to get so many chapters read, but your understanding will grow.

Some examples of archaeological Bibles and similar cultural background Bibles you might want to check out are:

1. Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV and NKJV) (sampler)
2. ESV Archaeology Study Bible from Crossway (sampler)
3. Archaeological Study Bible (NIV and KJV) This is the one I use, but unfortunately, it is now out of print. There is a digital version, and there are still copies available on places like eBay. (a helpful personal review found on youtube)