Study Bibles?

[Aino]

The ESV seems to be quite popular here, does anyone know anything about it's background? Like who wrote it etc?

 

[High Fidelity]

The ESV seems to be quite popular here, does anyone know anything about it's background? Like who wrote it etc?

Over 100 scholars of various specific fields contributed. You should be able to see who at crossway.org I think the site is.

 

[JM]

The ESV seems to be quite popular here, does anyone know anything about it's background? Like who wrote it etc?

The ESV notes, intro's, etc. started out as a J.I. Packer study Bible if I'm not mistaken. Packer wrote up some theological summaries that were later published as Concise Theology, but the team was expanded to include Grudem and others. The translation itself is based on the RSV which is owned by the National Council of Churches. I'm not sure what or if Crossway paid the NCC for the use of the RSV but they must've received something for the publishing rights. The ESV is held in high esteem by many godly men and women I hold in high esteem but I still use the AV. When I want a modern take on a passage I use the NLT paraphrase. I've been using the Westminster Reference Bible and really enjoying the layout. I recommend it.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[ihavefoundgod951]

Niv is popular I like personally the Oxford and Cambridge bible.

Can be difficult go read the bible at first but when you get into it it gets addictive (it's only book I read)

Good way to approach it is to say I will read a minimum of 1 chapter per day (3 mins)
If you feel like continue reading then do it, if not don't. Some days I read just 1 chapter some days I will read a full gospel

God bless

 

[Commander Xenophon]

You can get an excellent study bible that's reasonably priced for $20-30. It's called the ESV Study Bible.

You should be able to find it on Christian Book, Evangelical Bible or Amazon.

What Old Testament does it have? To what extent is there denominational influence in the commentary?

 

[Wgw]

I have two "study Bibles," the Orthodox Study Bible, which I naturally rather like, and a KJV Study Bible given to me when I was 15; the premillenial, dispensationalist, fundamentalist bias contained in it nearly alienated me from Christianity, in tnat I could not make a connection between it, and the Methodist church where I then worshipped.

Now, I find it useful, because if nothing else, where its commentary agrees with that of the OSB, I can be sure of the broadest possible ecumenical consensus.

 

[JM]

I have two "study Bibles," the Orthodox Study Bible, which I naturally rather like, and a KJV Study Bible given to me when I was 15; the premillenial, dispensationalist, fundamentalist bias contained in it nearly alienated me from Christianity, in tnat I could not make a connection between it, and the Methodist church where I then worshipped.

Now, I find it useful, because if nothing else, where its commentary agrees with that of the OSB, I can be sure of the broadest possible ecumenical consensus.

This is the one I'm using right now. I have to admit the notes and ordering of the books are causing me to have fits. lol

 

[Wgw]

This is the one I'm using right now. I have to admit the notes and ordering of the books are causing me to have fits. lol

The ordering is different due to the LXX. As far as the doctrinal notes are concerned, well, an Orthodox Bible is going to shock Baptist sensibilities a bit.

 

[juvenissun]

Hi! I've been wondering whether I should get a study Bible but aince they are so pricey I thought I'd ask for some opinions on them first. So, if you have a study Bible, what kind is it and have you found it useful? Where did you get it? If you'd choose now, would you pick the same one or change into another one? Or would you maybe get a separate commentary instead? If you have experience of several study Bibles, how do they differ and which do you like best?

There are many free resources of Bible studies.
Here may be a good one to explore.

 

[Tiny Bible]

That's your opinion.

It would be helpful to inform this thread OP if you'd share those study bibles you believe counter that opinion. Don't you think so?

 

[High Fidelity]

It would be helpful to inform this thread OP if you'd share those study bibles you believe counter that opinion. Don't you think so?

I already did.

 

[Tiny Bible]

There are only a few people who ever find out what the gate into God's kingdom is is His stated FACT! No footnote interpretation in any "Study Bible" explains what that gate is.

Do you know what the gate into God's kingdom is?

 

[Tiny Bible]

I already did.

I saw that post. I thought it was a recommendation on the version of a study Bible. My apologies for misunderstanding.

 

[SeekerOfChrist94]

There's not a study Bible that I recommend, but rather a Bible study series of books. It's called the New Inductive Study Series by Kay Arthur. Everything you learn is from the Word itself, Kay just shows you how and tells you to mark certain things for certain purposes. She has a study on each book of the Bible, sometimes with multiple books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, etc.) in one volume depending on the topic. It's not a commentary, it's just showing you how to study the Word of God in a new way and learn from the Word rather than what a fallible human being says.

http://www.christianbook.com/page/b...-study-series?event=Christian-Authors|1002329

 

[Greg J.]

Hi! I've been wondering whether I should get a study Bible but aince they are so pricey I thought I'd ask for some opinions on them first. So, if you have a study Bible, what kind is it and have you found it useful? Where did you get it? If you'd choose now, would you pick the same one or change into another one? Or would you maybe get a separate commentary instead? If you have experience of several study Bibles, how do they differ and which do you like best?

I'm not personally familiar with the various publishers' study Bibles, however, I doubt there's anything seriously wrong with them. The study notes are not there to teach you theology, doctrine, or, well, the Bible. In fact, my experience is that there is very little direct theology in them, although they are, of course, influenced by certain theologies. Remember the publishers are trying to provide Bibles that a lot of people want to buy.

To understand the Bible, you need to read the Bible! The study notes are sometimes an aid. What they are very useful for is helping you understand verses that rely on some knowledge of the ancient culture.

I've spent the most time in the Zondervan NIV Life Application Bible (ISBN 0-8423-4751-8) and in retrospect think it is a good Bible for the first (many) years for a person new to person Bible study. However, some of the study notes are oriented toward encouraging behaviors, and while I don't think there was anything wrong with that (I didn't even notice the first few years), I got tired of having those instead of the study notes that could have been there.

I don't really read the study notes in the Bible I currently use, the Zondervan NIV Study Bible (ISBN 978-0310438335), but the ones I have looked at make it look like an excellent choice for everyone. It was the most popular study Bible at one time.

However, I think that the study notes from any of the significant Bible publishers would be a good quality (Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Tyndale, etc.).

Regarding price, I don't mind used books that are in excellent condition. If you are willing to go that route, you can get a good study Bible for $10, sometimes less. I found brand new ones for $23.

 

[pescador]

"Study Bibles" are commentaries. There has never been any commentary that is worth the paper it is printed on. As for translations of the Bible I primarily use NIV and KJV, but disregard their explanatory soteriological notes since they not correct.

I totally disagree with this statement. Study bibles are created by the best scholars in the biblical field. It is extremely arrogant to dismiss them as not worth the paper they're printed on. They are generally very helpful; my preference is the NET Bible, with 60,932 translators notes. They're available at bible.org (although they're almost out of them).

 

[pescador]

There are no "Study Bibles" that are other than soteriologically incorrect.

Where is the proof of such an outlandish statement? Are we to believe you over the great biblical scholars?

 

[JM]

I really enjoying my RHS Bible. It's not just a Study Bible but a tool to aid yourself and family through devotional reading.

 

[Archie the Preacher]

Hi! I've been wondering whether I should get a study Bible but aince they are so pricey I thought I'd ask for some opinions on them first. So, if you have a study Bible, what kind is it and have you found it useful?

One of the Bibles I suggest having in one's library is the Amplified Bible. It is a 'modern' English translation (if one considers the late 1950s to late 1960s as 'modern') with all the verbs and some nouns 'amplified' in that they have the various meanings of the Hebrew or Greek words in parenthesis following the commonly accepted meaning.

It is a little clumsy - wordy - for public reading, but excellent for personal study as it gives a deeper layer of meaning to the text.

Commentaries range from the excellent to the wretched. I suggest you get a good grip on the Bible itself first, then branch out further. Typically the older versions are good, as the ones that are wretched tend to fade away. I would also suggest avoiding any commentaries advertising 'secret', 'repressed' or 'hidden' knowledge in the Bible. (And those advertised as the official book of a particular group.) The Bible is pretty open for anyone who follows God and wants to know.

Lastly, I suggest you politely and firmly ignore all those who claim 'no commentaries are any good' and instead attempt to enlist you in their group.

 

[Commander Xenophon]

Commentaries range from the excellent to the wretched.

Agreed. I don't much care for anything written by most Calvinists about the Bible, and for that matter, those commentaries written by St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas or Martin Luther, because I disagree with the Augustinian synthesis on which too much of Western theology rests. John Wesley's commentaries read a bit like scribbled notes at the margins, which I think they originally were actually, and unlike his preserved sermons, do not in my opinion express fluently his theological ideas.

On the other hand, the homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the different books of sacred scripture represent the apex of expositional preaching. I do not believe he has ever been surpassed as a preacher, and I doubt he ever will be. The commentaries of Origen, from 150 years earlier, are also fascinating, particularly because they offer us the earliest surviving systematic study of the Bible that included most of what became the canonical New Testament.

It has been suggested to me by an Oriental Orthodox friend that I read the commentaries of St. Nerses on the scriptural books, and this I am looking forward to.

I suggest you get a good grip on the Bible itself first, then branch out further. Typically the older versions are good, as the ones that are wretched tend to fade away. I would also suggest avoiding any commentaries advertising 'secret', 'repressed' or 'hidden' knowledge in the Bible. (And those advertised as the official book of a particular group.) The Bible is pretty open for anyone who follows God and wants to know.

Indeed, the idea of secret salvific knowledge either in the Bible or in the form of pseudepigraphical apocrypha like the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Mary, is the hallmark of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which arrogantly posits that salvation will only be attaimed by the enlightened few, those who are sufficiently "spiritual" to understand the secret doctrine.

Lastly, I suggest you politely and firmly ignore all those who claim 'no commentaries are any good' and instead attempt to enlist you in their group.

I agree. Particularly since it can be argued that the first chapter of the Gospel of John is a commentary or Christological exposition or recapitulation of the first chapter of Genesis. It can even be argued that to the extent St. John wrote his Gospel to fill in the important blanks left untouched in the Synoptic Gospels, that his Gospel is an exposition of sorts on their Gospels; the Synoptics imply that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and St. John expresses this absolutely vital, holy and life-bestowing doctrine of apostolic Christianity in explicit and unambiguous language.