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View Full Version : Access/HarperCollins/Cambridge/Oxford NRSV Bibles - HELP!


sedulous_samantha
22nd May 2004, 08:32 AM
Hi everyone,

I think I've decided on the NRSV bible - but now, which one to get?! In terms of the more scholarly ones, there are four main ones:

1. New Oxford Annotated Bible (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/019528478X/qid=1085232780/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-2285164-1959832?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
2. Cambridge Annotated Bible (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521507774/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-2285164-1959832)
3. The HarperCollins Study Bible (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060655801/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_2/103-2285164-1959832)
4. The Access Bible (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195282167/ref=lpr_g_1/103-2285164-1959832?v=glance&s=books)

Clicking on any of them will bring them up at Amazon.com.

Has anybody got any opinions of these? I've heard that the Cambridge has great notes - and the layout is good (the notes are in the margin and under the text, NOT in the middle of the text!). The Access Bible seems to be more for beginners to the bible, but the notes are bizarrely presented - half at the bottom, half at the top. Have a look at the Amazon excerpt! The Oxford seems a little too rich for me at the moment, and the HarperCollins seems alright.

Basically, my favourite is the Cambridge, but it's not available in leather - and I would be too scared to sling a hardback around, incase it got all dog-eared! The Access Bible is the only one in leather. The NRSV Student Bible by Zondervan (but an older publication) looks great, but the notes aren't as detailed as the Cambridge and again, it's only in hardback.

I'm wondering if I should give up my NRSV (:() and go for an NIV, because there are so many more options - I love the Life Application and Quest bibles, and feel their notes might suit me a little better. But I don't like the NIV. :(

HELP!

PaladinValer
22nd May 2004, 01:08 PM
I use the HarperCollins myself, and I love it.

kitkat60
23rd May 2004, 09:44 PM
Ultimately you will need to probably compromise a little, and wll be unable to find THE perfect one for you (which is why you can always save up and buy another!!!!) In the meantime, decide what is the most important, the layout, the notes themselves, the linguistics, the types of cover, and then go from there. I will say this, if you don't like the NIV, then if you get that translation, you will constantly be going "BLECH". Find a translation you are comfortable with first.

Have you looked at the ESV translation? It is not yet available in a study bible, but that may not be all a bad thing. It is similar to the NRSV, and imo, beefier than the NIV, yet without the liberal slant of the NRSV.