Encyclopedias, when compared to dictionaries, generally offer a more detailed explanation of a term, concept, person, or place. The benifits of using an encyclopedia are:
- they can be easily read in a short period of time
- they provide authoritative information often times written by specialists in the filed
- they often contain valuable bibliographies that point to other more comprehensive works.
Atlases can often times paint a picture of what life was like during Bible times by using time appropriate maps as well as by utilizing the archaeological findings concerned with the biblical world.
Atlas of the Bible, Andromeda
The IVP Atlas of Bible History by 
All Things in the Bible: an Encyclopedia of the Biblical World by 
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia by 
The Zondervan pictorial encyclopedia of the Bible by 