Okay, I admit it… I have had a life-long fetish about Bibles (translations, translation theory, and production) and Study Bibles (layout, design, and content)… call me bizarre, eccentric, bookish, weird, strange, or irregular– I can handle it! I want to see how they open and lie on the table… the quality of the paper… the legibility of the print, typeface used, are the cover materials flexible or stiff, quality of the “grip-n-feel” (as I call it)– I warned you I have issues…

I think this obsession/fetish began when I first became a follower of Jesus… I had an insatiable need to understand what I was reading. People I respected used a Harper Study Bible and so I purchased one too… I found it very helpful to have a resource I could carry with me that had introductions and explanatory notes that help me navigate the message of the Bible– especially what struck me as weird and confusing. 

The problem is that, although I do not have the same need for the study bible as a personal resource,  I still have this fascination and affection for study bibles! (I hope I still have the same hunger to understand too!) I think I have bought every study bible published over the years and I usually end up giving them away… 

So fast forward to last month when both the ESV and NLT study bibles were published– a date I had been tracking for 6 months! And what is my impression? In a nutshell: These are both exceptional offerings with one warning– their weight may give you a hernia! While neither requires a forklift  I would not consider either of them my personal-take-with-me-anywhere-bible.

Both of these study bibles pack a tremendous amount of information between their covers. Their book introductions are extensive despite an economy of words; they offer outstanding commentary on the text, make extensive use of charts, maps, and graphics, and both possess extended articles on a wide range of themes. The ESV study bible strikes a slightly more academic tone but neither are intended as popular devotional aids. Both strive to provide resources that will allow us to hear the message of Scripture in a manner consistent with the author’s first intentions.  Where godly scholarship differs in understanding– for example in Revelation 20 on the meaning of the millennium– both strive to present multiple perspectives. The ESV does include a theological dictionary that has articles on the great themes of Scripture.

You can view/download sample pages of the ESV or the NLT online– you can’t go wrong with either one… Both would make generous Christmas gifts for someone you love!