HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated

I bought this on the recommendation of Peter Enns, my favorite writer in the realm of Bible exegesis / study / nerdery. He says it's one of his favorite study bibles, along with the New Interpreter's. I own that one already, but reading the two side by side, I greatly prefer the notes and essays in this one so far. They are engaging, (mostly) accessible and easy to read, and packed with useful info about context and discoveries from biblical criticism and history. The notes do an amazing job situating the books of the Bible within history - both the time the story is taking place and the time the text was written down - and they offer insight from other Near Eastern cultures that sometimes clarify confusing episodes in the Old Testament.In addition to gushing about how much fun this is to read, I'm mostly writing this review because I noticed the reviews of the Kindle version are fairly negative - others found it difficult to navigate around between the scripture text itself and the notes. Maybe those reviewers have a different study bible workflow than I do, but I'm having no issues at all. The Kindle version is broken up so that you read a short chunk of the Bible, then you get the notes for that chunk, then the next chunk of scripture begins. This is exactly how I read study bibles anyway, even when they're in physical form, so I couldn't have asked for a better layout. Maybe others like to read a sentence or two at a time and jump down to the notes for those couple sentences, in which case there'd be a lot of paging back and forth, but even with paper study bibles that's not how I read, I find that takes me out of the narrative too much. If you read like I do - finishing a whole chapter before you jump to the study notes - this one is great.

The Christian Bible, for better or for worse, has been foundational to Western culture. Our laws, values, and even the way we speak has been deeply influenced by the Bible - both in religious and secular spaces. It's created a lasting impact on our daily lives in ways we don't even notice.This lands it squarely in the middle of the study of social anthropology for me, a comfortable but curious non-believer.And just as Western culture has its roots in the Christian Bible, this book digs even deeper to grasp the roots of that Bible itself.We've learned quite a bit since the inception of the King James version in 1611. We've unearthed scrolls that are much older than the copies we were working with before, writings that add context to the books we read now, and we have a much better understanding of the ancient languages that the original scriptures were written in.The NRSV is a great translation for both reading and study and was my personal favorite even before I found the Harper Collins. To my knowledge, it's the only translation that encompasses books from multiple traditions (i.e. the Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox bibles), which is great for continuity and keeping book clutter to a minimum.It does NOT include books found only in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo canon such as Jubilees and Enoch. Though you can easily find those elsewhere if you need to.I've attached a picture of the books included in this volume for reference.I'd recommend the Harper Collins to believers who'd like to learn a little about the genesis of their holy book, students looking to get into the weeds, and everyday people who maybe had trouble understanding the King James as a kid but want to revisit the Bible. I've found that the footnotes kind of act as a person in the room who can explain things when the text gets a bit confusing.Fundamentalist literalists who hold every verse as unquestionable historical fact may want to skip this one and get a devotional instead.Content-wise, it's a textbook for the price of a bible.Physically, it is pushing the limits of its binding, but I'm not worried about it holding up.I don't quite understand why some reviewers are upset about the paper unless they expected an actual textbook. It's the same as any bible paper I've ever touched and about twice as thick as the thinnest paper I've encountered.You can definitely tell there's text on the other side of the page, but the ink itself does not bleed through.In all, a very important and valuable tome packed full of answers for Christians and worldly academics alike. I think it's a pretty fun read too :)

If you're in the mainline tradition, and you like the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) translation, this is the Bible for you. Lots of notes and context-setting. Excellent articles in the front. We used this as our textbook Bible in seminary, and of all the Bibles I own, this is the one that I pull out first.

I've been studying the Holy Bible since I was very young. (King James) Although I'd studied it before, since I bought this book and have begun reading it, the bible has come alive so much more. The translation is very easy to read and has so so many great footnotes. When getting to the NT books, the pre-book explanation's become really helpful, especially with the Pauline Epistles. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is thinking of taking their bibical study to the next level.

We've all been there as Bible readers - things seem to make sense, and then you hit a couple verses that really seem strange and indecipherable. Much of the time, people just guess at the meaning or ignore it. The notes in this Bible often bring clarity in cases like that, by providing the best currently-known academic view on what the verses probably meant, taking into account things like religious and social context, linguistics, history, etc. There are a few verses that I didn't understand whatsoever until I read the notes in this study bible.To me, these notes are trustworthy because they've been compiled by university professors who study religion professionally, rather than by people from a particular religious denomination. But I think the information contained here can be useful to anybody, and it's easy enough to understand.

It was time for me to buy yet another Bible. Not that I needed it, as I have so many Bibles now. I like to follow a “read the entire Bible in one year” programme, which means reading 3-4 chapters per day, and I have been doing this for a number of years. Each time I started afresh I like to use a different translation of the Bible. This year it is the NRSV I am using. I was interested in getting a so called “Study Bible”, though I am a little wary of using these as I find the study notes are often the opinion of the author, and so I do not treat the study notes as “thus saith the Lord”. I wanted a study Bible which gives historical and archaeological evidence, as well as notes from learned scholars that provide true FACTS rather than, “the Bible says it, so it must be true and no secular evidence is required”. I wanted a balanced set of study notes, and I feel I have this with this Study Bible. I opted for the hardcover version after reading the negative reviews of the Kindle version, and I am glad I did. This Bible seems to be vary well made and has lots of information in it. It also includes the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books, which though not accepted as Canon by many denominations, the RC being the main exception, they are still interesting to read.There are plenty of updated notes here and the pages, over 2000 of them, are of that nice crisp “Bible paper”. The NRSV is, so I have read, one of the most accurate translations of the Bible, though some do disagree, saying that the KJV 1611 is the most accurate. I do like the KJV but due to it’s old style language used it can be a vary “wordy” translation to read. This NRSV version is clear and easy to read. My only negative point about this Bible is that it has no ribbon as so many Bibles do. However, it’s not hard to use a piece of paper for a book marker. Oh, and though the paper it is printed on is nice, it does have a bit of a shine on it that can reflect the light a little, which can be distracting. So, all in all, this is a vary nice study Bible, and a nice easy translation to read. Recommended.

An excellent study bible using the NRSV text. Full of detailed, scholarly articles of the more liberal persuasion. Useful to compare the text with the RSV. Worth purchasing, though the New Oxford Annotated Study Bible has the edge for me.

Recommended

Very useful, clear and thorough, well worth the investment.

Comprehensive Bible and study guide, with good illustrations. Very informative and useful for students or anyone interested in knowing more about the Bible.