Turabian Bible Citation Examples

Before getting into Turabian bible citations, it’s essential to remember the Turabian style does not require Bible citations in your reference list or bibliography. Whew! However, Turabian Bible citations are required in-text. Turabian style is the student version of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 17th edition. This shorter manual makes it easy for students to write humanities or science papers to create bibliographies. Learn how to cite the Bible in Turabian style, including Turabian Bible abbreviations.

How to Cite the Bible in Turabian

When you are citing the Bible, you don’t have to include the sources in your reference list or bibliography. Therefore, you only need to include a Bible citation in the text of the paper. Bible in-text citations in Turabian style have two formats: author-date and notes-biblio. When it comes to how to cite the Bible in Turabian, it’s essential to see an example of each style.

Author/Date Citation Examples

Turabian format requires you to include citations for biblical references within your text. Use either the full title of the version or a recognized abbreviation in your first citation. Format your author-date citation this way:

 

Turabian Author-Date Bible Citation Example

Turabian Author-Date Bible Citation Example (No Version)

For subsequent citations, do not include the version unless you’re using a different one.

Reference List Turabian Bible Citation

Only include a reference list citation for the Bible in your paper if requested by your teacher or if it is a significant theme or part of the paper.

Notes/Bibliography Citation Examples

As you can see in these Bible citation examples, the Turabian notes-bibliography style is very similar to author-date, except you need to number your notes sequentially. The use of brackets is also different.

 

Turabian Notes Bible Citation Example

Shortened Turabian Notes Bible Citation Example

Bibliography Turabian Bible Citation Example

Only include a bibliographical reference for the Bible in your paper if requested by the teacher, or it’s pivotal to your paper.

Turabian Bible Abbreviations

When creating your Turabian Bible citations, use Bible abbreviations depending on your version. For the Old Testament of the Bible, you use different abbreviations than the New Testament. Therefore, it’s helpful to view both.

Old Testament Bible Abbreviations in Turabian

Explore a list of abbreviations for the Old Testament of the Bible. Those books with short names, like Ezra, do not have abbreviations.

Abbreviation	Full Name
Amos	Amos
1 Chron	1 Chronicles
2 Chron	2 Chronicles
Dan	Daniel
Deut	Deuteronomy
Eccles	Ecclesiastes
Exod	Exodus
Ezek	Ezekiel
Gen	Genesis
Hab	Habakkuk
Hag	Haggai
Isa	Isaiah
Jer	Jeremiah
Jon	Jonah
Josh	Joshua
Judg	Judges
Lam	Lamentations
Lev	Leviticus
Mal	Malachi
Mic	Micah
Nah	Nahum
Neh	Nehemiah
Num	Numbers
Obad	Obadiah
Prov	Proverbs
Ps. (Plural Pss)	Psalms
1 Sam	1 Samuel
2 Sam	2 Samuel
Song of Sol	Song of Solomon
Zech	Zechariah
Zeph	Zephaniah

New Testament Bible Abbreviations in Turabian

Dive into the abbreviations for the New Testament. When a book doesn’t list an abbreviation, use the full name like Luke and John.

Abbreviations	Full Name
Acts	Acts of the Apostles
Apoc	Apocalypse (Revelation)
Col	Colossians
1 Cor	1 Corinthians
2 Cor	2 Corinthians
Eph	Ephesians
Gal	Galatians
Heb	Hebrews
Matt	Matthew
1 Pet	1 Peter
2 Pet	2 Peter
Philem	Philemon
Phil	Philippians
Rev	Revelation (Apocalypse)
Rom	Romans
1 Thess	1 Thessalonians
2 Thess	2 Thessalonians
1 Tim	1 Timothy
2 Tim	2 Timothy

Other Rules for Turabian Bible Citations

When citing the Bible in Turabian style, keep these rules in mind:

• Never use page numbers for Bible citations.
• Use Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2, 3) for citing chapter and verse numbers, not Roman numerals.
• If you’re talking about a book in the Bible, such as Hebrews or Matthew, spell out the full name in the text of the paper.

Example

 

Understanding Chicago/Turabian Styles

Commonly used while writing papers in humanities subjects like history and literature, the notes-bibliography style of CMOS’s Turabian style uses a system of footnotes or endnotes, combined with a bibliography. The author-date style uses a simpler format. As the name suggests, the author’s name is the first element, followed by the year of publication. The author-date style includes a list of references rather than a bibliography.