The Best Bible Highlighters – Rated & Reviewed

If you are in a hurry and just want to find out what the best Bible highlighters are, then I’d recommend Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter as the best one.

Do you know what would be a fun combo? Faith and creativity! If you’re artsy and the type of person who journals or is at least interested to try, I’m here to tell you that you can bring your hobby to Bible study. 

If you wish to study the Bible more in-depth, highlighting is one of the best ways to improve your understanding while facilitating a faithful reading experience of the scripture.

In this article, I’ll introduce to you my top choices for the Best Bible highlighters.

Here are the Best Bible Highlighters we will be reviewing:

• Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter
• Inductive Bible Study Kit Gel Highlighters, Pack of 10
• GTL Sanford Four-Color Bible Dry Pencil Marking Kit
• G.T. Luscombe Accu-Gel Hi-Glider Bible Highlighters
• Zebra Zebrite Bible Highlighters, Set of 5

What are Bible Highlighters?

Reading the Bible is certainly important, but it’s all too easy to read it passively and then forget about it as soon as we put it down. We must absorb and interact deeply with the Scripture, as well as ponder on and evaluate its values. Finding new ways to connect with God’s Words allow us to reflect and gather insights into our hearts and minds. Bible highlighting is one of the few ways we can do to remember Bible verses for personal reference.

Bible highlighters are art and crafts tools that are specialized for Bible study use. These types of highlighters are known for their no-bleed properties. They are made specifically for highlighting thinner and delicate pages like Bible paper. 

There are different types of Bible journaling highlighters you can choose from, and this will depend on your preference. Moreover, there are some things you need to consider before getting pens and writing on your Bible pages. In this article, we’ll briefly go over some options to help you in choosing the best Bible Highlighter for you.

Why Use Bible Highlighters?

Some people may ask, “Is it wrong to write in or highlight parts of the Bible?” The answer is no. The Bible, regardless of what translation or version you have, is just paper and ink. It is the contents written on it that are important and sacred.

Bible journaling is okay, whatever helps you get the word of God into your heart is good. Underlining, highlighting, color-coding, jotting notes down; do what you think will inspire you to personally learn and grow. As long as you are not changing the meaning of Bible passages to deface or desecrate them, there is nothing wrong with highlighting Bible pages.

The Bible only condemns disdaining the passages of Scripture. It is stated in Revelation 22:19 that anyone who detracts or tampers with Biblical text will have no part in eternal life in heaven.

Bible highlighting your favorite verses is a unique and creative way to note something that speaks to your heart, especially if we need to be reminded of principles to make good decisions in our faith voyage. Think of it as a way of engaging with God’s Word artistically. It can be incredibly fulfilling to look back at your favorite Bible passages anytime you need a piece of good advice in life.

The purpose of a Bible highlighter is to highlight words and paragraphs for emphasis. This is a very helpful tool in Bible study as it can help you spot verses that are significant to you. Some also come in fine tips, which allow you to take notes or even decorate pages of your Bible.

Choosing good highlighter pens might be the most important Bible Journaling decision to make. Regular highlighters are just not the ideal choice for delicate Bible pages, their heavy wet ink is better suited for thicker paper. This is why it is better to invest in Bible-safe highlighters so you won’t have to worry about smearing the glossy and thin papers of the gospel.

Who uses Bible highlighters?

Bible highlighters are often used by pastors, priests, students, clergies, and missionaries. But if you’re interested in spicing up your reflections, you could get one for yourself too! You may want to consider giving someone a set of Bible highlighters and pens as well, they are the ideal Christian art gifts. Bible highlighters are absolutely for everyone.

Pros and Cons of using Bible highlighters

Pros

One of the advantages of having Bible highlighters is, that since these highlighters often come in vivid colors, using them lets you find certain verses or words easier. You can also organize verses into categories as you highlight by color-coding passages.  Developing a highlighting system is an excellent method to deepen your relationship with God while visually tracking verses about His truth and promises.

Using Bible highlighters will let you personalize your Bible. You can exercise your creativity while studying the Bible. These aren’t just used to color some words. You can also use these highlighters and pens to write notes, doodle, and make illustrations as you reflect upon the scriptures. It’s a remarkable approach to locate, categorize, and visually track important ideas and themes to mark special areas of interest or passages in the Bible for personal use. The best technique to use is the one that helps you better understand God through the study of His Word.

Not only does this kind of discipline help you remind of how a Bible verse moved you the last time you read it, but it also serves as a long-term testimony to your spiritual growth.

Cons

Having passages in your Bible highlighted with bright colors may be distracting for some readers. But of course, it depends on personal preferences and you can always get Bible highlighters that are easier on the eyes (dim or pastel colors). Some may say highlighting and/or writing on your Bible sort of “disrespects” it. 

However, my stand on this is that you’re doing it to complement Bible study. Again, it depends on each person. Some highlighters and pens are not made to be used on thin paper, like the Bible pages. These smudges and bleed through pages, ruining passages. Considering this, you have to be careful when choosing your highlighters.

How to Take Care of Your Bible Highlighters?

Like anything, if you want your Bible highlighters to last, you should know how to take care of them. The first piece of advice I can give you is always put the cap back on after using the pens. Forgetting to do so will dry your pens and highlighters. In some cases, when we forget to put the cap back on, the highlighter ink may run and smudge our other stuff, especially paper. Then you would have two problems: the mess and your new pen running out of ink.

My second tip for you is to have a case or pouch to store the pens and highlighter when not in use. Having a pen case will make it easier for you to organize and bring your highlighter pens around. Having one also prevents you from misplacing them.

Lastly, you wouldn’t want to drop your pens off often. Although it depends on the ink, some cheaper pens’ ink breaks when dropped, then they stop working. The fine tip can break too, especially if dropped without a cap.

How to Use Bible Highlighters?

There are different ways in which you can mark your Bible. You can opt to stick to one or even combine two or several techniques, it all depends on you. For now, you can choose a method you like and try it out.

1. Color-coding. You can assign a Bible color code for each topic or theme significant to you and every time you find a passage that fits in this particular group, you highlight it. Color coding is one of the most common highlighting systems, it is the easiest way to organize and highlight Bible verses using bright colors.
2. Keywords. Instead of highlighting a whole paragraph, you can identify keywords and just color those words. Selective highlighting is a good way to emphasize key terms that are important in Bible pages.
3. Margin notes. This is more than just putting color on words or verses. To level up your Bible study, you can use your pens and highlighters to write notes and reflections on the margins of Bible pages. Thinking through and writing your insights into a passage that made an impression on you is a great way to interact with God’s Word.
4. Underlining. Underlining is best for beginners! Just choose whatever color you like and underline words, verses, and paragraphs that you resonate with.

Types of Bible Highlighters

Choosing the best type of Bible highlighter for you can get you a long way. There are different types of highlighters available in the market, each with its own sort of color and sharpness of the tip. You have to be very careful too, as not every pen or highlighter is safe to use for your Bible.

Gel type highlighters

Gel highlighters have a gel stick inside containing the highlighting pigment. The formula of gel ink prevents it from bleeding and smudging as you write. It also doesn’t contain water or alcohol, which means gel highlighters and gel pens are not prone to drying up. Because gel ink does not dry out quickly, these highlighters may be used for a long period of time.

Another advantage of using gel highlighters is their versatility. You may either sharpen the tips of the gel highlighter for a more chisel or fine tip, or you can take a portion of the tip-off to make it broader and flat, which is ideal for marking larger and longer Biblical verses. The only disadvantage of gel highlighters is that some of them can be quite waxy and sticky, making them unsuitable for writing.

Dry highlighters

Dry highlighters look like colored pencils. These have a lead core that is brightly colored and comes in different shades of neon. The pen dry highlighter is available in several colors, but like traditional highlighters, the most popular color is bright yellow. Its main advantage over regular highlighters is that it distributes ink using a fiber-tipped pen. There is no bleeding or smearing on papers with a dry highlighter, and some types are even refillable and erasable. Dry highlighter pens do the same job as any other highlighters but in a pencil-like form.

Wet highlighters

Wet highlighters are the most common highlighter. It comes in different colors, tips, and body designs. Since these use a wet formulation, the lines are bolder, but take longer to dry. Thus, using wet highlighters may be prone to bleeding and smudges, especially on thin Bible pages. Wet ink seeping through the other side of the paper would definitely be a torment for Bible owners. Wet highlighters are rarely used for Bible journaling for this exact reason.

Colored pencils

These are pencil crayons encased in a wooden body. These are often used to draw or color illustrations and offer a variety of colors to choose from. Colored pencils are the most easy-to-use, versatile, and accessible journaling supply tool available. They have no bleed properties and are very gentle on thin Bible pages.

Colored pens

The pens we usually use are usually in black, red, or blue. But there are so many more colors to choose from! Some people won’t use anything but a classic pen for journaling. They love the precise lines and simplicity of regular pens over other instruments. These colorful pens may be used to draw precise lines on passages or even write notes on your Bible’s margins.

What to Look for When Buying the Best Bible Highlighters?

As I mentioned earlier you have to be careful when using pens or highlighters for Bible. This is because some may tear or bleed through the page. Here are some factors to consider before you buy your own Bible highlighter:

Design

Choose something that feels right in your hand. The most common ones are either pen-like, meaning it has a thin, circular body much like a pen’s, or a wide body. Wide-body highlighters are usually rectangular and are somewhat flat and curvy. In my opinion, pen-like highlighters are better as they are less bulky and thus easier to hold and bring for everyday usage.

Type of Ink

As I mentioned earlier, there are different types of highlighter sets depending on the ink it uses. Each has its advantages and disadvantages so it all depends on your preference and your needs. I would recommend the gel highlighter and colored pens for beginners. Gel bible highlighters are unique in the sense that they offer a smudge-free, non-bleed-through experience for users. They won’t have to worry about their gel highlighter tearing up the paper due to excess ink flow. Furthermore, since gel highlighters have silky smooth tips, you don’t have to strike it hard to highlight your favorite lines. Both the gel highlighters and the pens are user-friendly and convenient for daily use.

Quick Dry Function

I think this is one of the most important factors to consider in choosing the best Bible highlighters. The pages of the Bible are usually thinner than usual paper. Using some pens or markers can bleed through the page or mess up, so you must be careful when using ink. I recommend getting a highlighter that has a quick-dry function so you don’t have to worry about your notes and highlights getting smudged while they’re wet. Dry and gel highlighters are noted for their quick-drying properties, which makes them ideal for Bible highlighting.

Color Quality

Another factor you’d like to consider is the color quality of the pen or marker. Would you like ones that are in vivid colors, making the highlighted words stand out? Or would you prefer something light and easy on the eyes?

Durability

Not that this is something you will often use so make sure to choose something that’ll last! Highlighters for Bible must be long-lasting and visible enough that they maintain their original color for as long as possible.

Tip

The most common tips of highlighters are chisel, window, bullet, or fine for pens. The chisel tip is the most common highlighter tip type, which has a thick and flat tip. The chisel tips are very convenient in highlighting a whole word or sentence in one stroke. A window tip is much like a chisel’s but a bit longer. The bullet tip is more rounded, which can be great for drawing and writing too. For pens, a fine tip is the most common type for Bible highlighters.

To make sure you make a safe and great choice in choosing your Bible highlighter, here are five of my picks for the best Bible highlighters:

Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter

The Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter tops my recommendation list as these are of great quality, very affordable, and have no-bleed ink! The set comes with eight highlighters of different colors: bright and pretty (red, pink, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, cobalt blue, and brown). 

This one also features a twist-up gel stick design, which also means they won’t dry out when left uncapped. Their twist-up design to push out the gel tip is a very convenient and neat feature for reloading ink once it has been used up. It also doesn’t smudge as you write so it’s perfectly safe for any paper surface, even thin paper like the Bible. This is why gel highlighters are very handy since you can sharpen their tips for finer highlighting. I also recommend this to Bible students who frequently wear out the tips of their highlighter pens.

The Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter uses dry-colored wax so this isn’t for you if you’re expecting something that uses ink. These non-bleed twist-up highlighters are great for taking notes, drawing lines, or adding any additional writing details to the Bible text that you are studying. They dispense a good amount of ink that will stay vibrant for a long time without bleeding, even if you use a lot of hand pressure or highlight in many layers. Of all the highlighters for Bible out there, these are my favorite. I would commend for you guys to try it out too.

Pros:

• The ink will not bleed through pages
• This comes in a set of different colors so you can use it for color-coding and note-taking for your Bible study
• The colors are vibrant too, which is great for highlighting keywords
• Twist-up design
• Compact in size
• Comfortable to hold and use

Cons:

• Some colors are light
• Not recommended for coloring pictures

Inductive Bible Study Kit Gel Highlighters, Pack of 10

The Inductive Bible study gel highlighters are recommended and tested for marking on Bible paper. The Inductive Study Kit contains 10 acid-free, non-bleeding, non-smearing Accu-gel highlighters. Bible-safe; each color corresponds to a topic of study, matching up with the Inductive Bible study plan. The highlighters are housed in a reusable clear vinyl zipper case. Each marker has a removable cap and pocket clip. Silky smooth gel highlighters are what make this kit the best. 

Pros:

• Bible-safe
• The colors are beautiful and are not too harsh
• The ink doesn’t bleed through pages, even through thin ones like the Bible
• Feature a pen-like design thus are easy to hold and use

Cons:

• The ink runs out quickly
• These take longer to dry, and if you accidentally touch your writing while it’s wet, they will smudge on the paper

GTL Sanford Four-Color Bible Dry Pencil Marking Kit

The GTL Sanford Four-Color Bible Dry Pencil Marking Kit is one of the best-selling Bible highlighters and when you try them, you’ll understand why. This kit comes with four vibrant highlighters in different colors. This means more choices to choose from, which is great. 

The GTL Stanford Dry Pencils are Bible-safe as they don’t smear over other ink and don’t bleed through pages. They come in a handy push-button design and the good thing about this highlighter is that it requires no sharpening! The ink used is a non-toxic, alcohol-free gel safe for children’s use. GTL can promise you 100% satisfaction with not only a high-quality product but also a quick response service. Totally risk-free.

Pros:

• Comfort grip
• No bleed and no smear
• Colors are vivid and distinctly different from one another
• Doesn’t dry out like other gel highlighters
• Comes in a handy push-button design

Cons:

• Although these highlighters don’t smudge on your Bible, the color can get on your hands
• The product labels on the highlighter may smear your Bible pages, so be wary of that
• Because the gel is more like a wax crayon, sometimes there’s a wax build-up

G.T. Luscombe Accu-Gel Hi-Glider Bible Highlighters

Accu-Gel Bible-Hi-Glider Bible Study Set includes 6 different eye-catching bright neon fluorescent gel highlighter colors. The colors included are yellow, blue, violet, pink, green, and orange. No bleed ink applies translucent color right where you want it, and won’t smear afterward!

This Bible highlighter glides on paper smoothly. A long-lasting gel stick advances by twisting the base. The set comes in a sturdy storage pouch with a Bible color code printed on the back. Always recap highlighter when not in use, keep out of direct sunlight, and store at room temperature.

Pros:

• Includes four gel highlighters in pink, blue, green, and yellow
• Includes one Pigma Micron 01 underliner pen in black
• With no-bleed ink
• It comes with a set of gold Bible tabs
• Includes books of the Bible ruler and bookmark
• These are very easy to use, you don’t need to exert so much force to highlight words

Cons:

• The tip is wide and blunt
• The gel stick can be flakey and leave some chips of wax behind

Zebra Zebrite Bible Highlighters, Set of 5

My favorite feature about the Zebra Zebrite Double-Ended Highlighters is that it has tips on both ends! The main tip is a fine bullet, while the other end is a chisel tip. Both are amazing for precise highlighting, underlining, and note-taking! These dual-tip highlighters come in five bright colors: blue, pink, green, orange, and neon yellow.

The Zebrite has two tips! You can use the fine bullet tip for underlining and writing your reflections on Bible verses and the chisel tip for highlighting keywords and verses. This dual-tip highlighter set is great for people who need to shift from underlining passages with the fine tip to highlighting the whole portion with the chisel tips.

Pros:

• Features a fine bullet and medium chisel tip
• The Black, stylish barrel is made with recycled materials
• Features a convenient pocket clip for a secure clasp
• AP Certified Non-Toxic
• Color assortment is perfect for color-coding projects

Cons: 

• The no-bleed feature might not work on thin pages
• The ink dries out if left uncapped

Conclusion

Who says Bible study should be boring and neutral? Give your Bible a little bit of yourself by bringing in your creativity and personality. We want to learn more about God to have a deep understanding of His teachings, and Bible highlighting may help us do that by encouraging purposeful Bible study while also allowing us to express ourselves creatively. The objective is to be captured by the beauty of the gospel through engaging with the living Words of God.

You can use a Bible highlighter to emphasize words and verses that stand out or write your reflections on the margins. But not all highlighters and other stationery tools are safe to use for your Bible. So wait! Don’t just head out to your desk and stationery to try out your pens because some can mess up the pages of your Bible. 

I’d recommend the Pentel 8-Color Dry Mark Bible Highlighter