Best Study Bible?

[David_AB]

Hi All,
I've been a Christian for almost 5 years, I read my bible every day and am now looking to get deeper into my studies by investing in a Study Bible.
Could anyone give any pointers to what they consider the best study bible and why?
Thanks
David

PS Dear Admins, I forgot to say, I hope this is the correct forum for this question. Please move to a more suitable forum if it isn't.

 

[Anthony2019]

My favourite has always been the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @David_AB, my two favorites are The MacArthur Study Bible and The ESV Study Bible. The reason I like these two is because the commentary is both excellent and is the most extensive I've found (for a study Bible).

The MacArthur Study Bible is available in a number of translations, The ESV Study Bible, as far as I know, is only available in ESV.

--David

 

[ChristianGirl_96]

I too prefer to use the NRSV bible. What will the bible be used for? I recommend talking to your pastor about getting tips and recommendations. Or you can visit a Christian bookshop to look at the Bibles there or request some helpful advice or suggestions.

 

[Ricky M]

I refer to several different translations, in order to get a fuller picture of what's being said.

 

[crossnote]

If you’re inclined towards the languages The Companion Bible is quite nice.

 

[Duke of Stratford]

I recently started using the ESV Student Study Bible. It's a bit less dense than the standard ESV Study Bible, but it still has a lot of useful notes, graphs, and supplementary material! One of my favorite things about this version is that it makes note of where people differ on doctrinal ideas--as someone who sometimes struggles with the massive amounts of theology out there, it's a huge help!

I'm certain there are a lot of other great study Bibles out there, too. Some focus on different aspects of life, certain types of study (linguistic, historical, life application, etc.), or target audiences. For instance, the student study Bible I have is made to be a bit more consolidated and accessible than the normal version of the book. I'd recommend doing a bit of research on your own regarding translations and what exactly you want to get out of it!

 

[Isilwen]

I purchased the NIV Life Application Study Bible Third Edition a couple weeks ago and so far I am liking it.

 

[splish- splash]

I have both the NIV and King James. However , I'm still trying to relate to the King James Version.

 

[Religiot]

Hi All,
I've been a Christian for almost 5 years, I read my bible every day and am now looking to get deeper into my studies by investing in a Study Bible.
Could anyone give any pointers to what they consider the best study bible and why?
Thanks
David

PS Dear Admins, I forgot to say, I hope this is the correct forum for this question. Please move to a more suitable forum if it isn't.

A parallel bible, one that has at least the King James Version, along with other versions.

Then upgrade, by dropping the parallel bible, and going to a plain King James Reference Bible, and a Wycliffe, and a Tyndale, as supplemental referencing bibles.

Concerning traditional study bibles, they are basically just a bible with a lot of man's opinions attached as notes; which is fine, as long as you stick to what the bible says about the bible, and ignore the notes that contradict what the bible already says about the bible.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello again @David_AB, the next step up from a Study Bible are two volume commentaries, OT/NT, just FYI. These will normally have quite a bit more commentary on a verse or passage than a Study Bible is capable of holding.

My two favorite ~two volume commentaries~ are..............

1. The Believer's Bible Commentary by MacDonald
2. The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck
​

...........and I own and use them both regularly.

Finally, I believe you can get Study Bibles and/or both 2 Volume Commentaries as part of a Bible Software program (like Logos Bible Software), and/or on Kindle.

--David
p.s. - just to be clear, 2 Volume Commentaries are not Bibles with commentary, they are simply commentary on the Bible (though the Bible is there, in reality, because the the portion of Scripture that is being commented on is written out before the commentary begins).

There is also a lot of commentary on the entire Bible that's available online for free now, like at this site: John 1:1 Commentaries: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

[David_AB]

I too prefer to use the NRSV bible. What will the bible be used for? I recommend talking to your pastor about getting tips and recommendations. Or you can visit a Christian bookshop to look at the Bibles there or request some helpful advice or suggestions.

Hi,
It will be used for general bible study.
I'm not looking for a specific one e.g Apologetics.

 

[David_AB]

Hello again @David_AB, the next step up from a Study Bible are two volume commentaries, OT/NT, just FYI. These will normally have quite a bit more commentary on a verse or passage than a Study Bible is capable of holding.

My two favorite ~two volume commentaries~ are..............

1. The Believer's Bible Commentary by MacDonald
2. The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck
​

...........and I own and use them both regularly.

Finally, I believe you can get Study Bibles and/or both 2 Volume Commentaries as part of a Bible Software program (like Logos Bible Software), and/or on Kindle.

--David
p.s. - just to be clear, 2 Volume Commentaries are not Bibles with commentary, they are simply commentary on the Bible (though the Bible is there, in reality, because the the portion of Scripture that is being commented on is written out before the commentary begins).

There is also a lot of commentary on the entire Bible that's available online for free now, like at this site: John 1:1 Commentaries: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Thank you. That's really useful to know. I had never heard of these commentaries.

 

[David_AB]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
It's a really difficult choice as there are so many. Subject specific ones, individual ones e.g. MacArthur and ones where a group of people have written the study notes.

I currently have ordinary Bibles in several different translations, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NET and KJV. I use these plus BibleGateway.com and NetBible.org to compare verses.
I do struggle with the KJV.

I have seen Rainbow Study Bibles which are colour coded but I don't know what the notes are like. I think they are normally in KJV. I think they might be in NIV too
I have watched many YouTube reviews about different study bibles.
Life Application study Bible and the MacArthur ones seemed to get very good reviews.
It seems from the reviews, all differ in some way in their opinions and there won't be one study bible where we agree with everything that is said.
Over time, money permitting I can buy more than one.

 

[JM]

I own over 30 Bibles, many of them study Bibles, and it really depends on your flavour of theology and the translation you prefer.

 

[St_Worm2]

Thank you. That's really useful to know. I had never heard of these commentaries.

Hello again David, you're welcome. I started off with a NIV Study Bible, but there were so many holes in the commentary of that Study Bible (which left me with so many unanswered questions) that I started looking for something more, and the two volume commentary sets ended up being the answer (because back then I was not prepared to spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on full commentary sets). Then better Study Bibles (at least for me) were produced (we are so incredibly blessed to have access to such things today ).

One Study Bible that I forgot to mention is the Thompson Chain Reference Bible (published by Kirkbridge, I believe). It doesn't have commentary like the other study Bibles do, rather, it walks you though the Bible with an extensive chain of references so that you can draw your own conclusions about what the Bible is teaching. For instance, if you want to figure out how the church came up with the doctrine of the Trinity, the Thompson Chain Reference Bible is the Bible for you. It will take a lot more work on your part, but it is somewhat mind blowing (at least it was for me) to discover the Biblical reasons behind our long established doctrines (the ones that all churches within the pale of orthodoxy hold in common, for instance).

I also remember turning to God out of amazement and with thanksgiving and praise (as a young believer) more often than I did with my regular study Bible, because the Thompson Chain references help you uncover things (peel back the layers) in such a way that the heart of the matter is suddenly before you (and you see in a somewhat different way how God has been and is at work in this world and in your life).

I wouldn't want to be without a regular Study Bible (like the MacArthur Study Bible) but if you can afford it, having both, a regular study Bible AND a Thompson Chain Reference Bible, is a great idea (IMHO anyway ).

God bless you!

--David

 

[David_AB]

Hello again David, you're welcome. I started off with a NIV Study Bible, but there were so many holes in the commentary of that Study Bible (which left me with so many unanswered questions) that I started looking for something more, and the two volume commentary sets ended up being the answer (because back then I was not prepared to spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on full commentary sets). Then better Study Bibles (at least for me) were produced (we are so incredibly blessed to have access to such things today ).

One Study Bible that I forgot to mention is the Thompson Chain Reference Bible (published by Kirkbridge, I believe). It doesn't have commentary like the other study Bibles do, rather, it walks you though the Bible with an extensive chain of references so that you can draw your own conclusions about what the Bible is teaching. For instance, if you want to figure out how the church came up with the doctrine of the Trinity, the Thompson Chain Reference Bible is the Bible for you. It will take a lot more work on your part, but it is somewhat mind blowing (at least it was for me) to discover the Biblical reasons behind our long established doctrines (the ones that all churches within the pale of orthodoxy hold in common, for instance).

I also remember turning to God out of amazement and with thanksgiving and praise (as a young believer) more often than I did with my regular study Bible, because the Thompson Chain references help you uncover things (peel back the layers) in such a way that the heart of the matter is suddenly before you (and you see in a somewhat different way how God has been and is at work in this world and in your life).

I wouldn't want to be without a regular Study Bible (like the MacArthur Study Bible) but if you can afford it, having both, a regular study Bible AND a Thompson Chain Reference Bible, is a great idea (IMHO anyway ).

God bless you!

--David

Once again, thank you David.
I have decided to go for the MacArthur Study Bible 2nd edition to start with and see how I get on.
Money permitting I think it's going to be gradual accumulation of other study Bibles and commentaries. I shall certainly keep in mind the Thompson chain reference as that does sound really valuable. I had heard of it but knew little about it.
God bless.
David.

 

[JM]

Thompson Chain is good but if you like the KJV the Westminster has more chains and no articles at the back to contend with making it lighter. The Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS) sells them. Their Bibles are printed by Cambridge and the profits go to producing free Bibles. I use the TBS (Cambridge) Concord KJV, Westminster and the Reformation Study Bible NKJV.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[JM]

Once again, thank you David.
I have decided to go for the MacArthur Study Bible 2nd edition to start with and see how I get on.
Money permitting I think it's going to be gradual accumulation of other study Bibles and commentaries. I shall certainly keep in mind the Thompson chain reference as that does sound really valuable. I had heard of it but knew little about it.
God bless.
David.

You may want to wait a little longer. MacArthur announced just this week that his seminary is releasing an update of the NASB called the Legacy Standard Bible which will likely be a new standard for conservative evangelicals. I'm really looking forward to it.

Yours in the Lord

jm

 

[David_AB]

Thompson Chain is good but if you like the KJV the Westminster has more chains and no articles at the back to contend with making it lighter. The Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS) sells them. Their Bibles are printed by Cambridge and the profits go to producing free Bibles. I use the TBS (Cambridge) Concord KJV, Westminster and the Reformation Study Bible NKJV.

Yours in the Lord,

jm

Thanks JM.
I have small phases of reading the KJV to try to get used to it but I still struggle with it and go back to NLT, NET or NKJV.