Book: NLT Illustrated Study Bible
Translation: NLT
Publisher: Tyndale House
Publication Date: Sept 17 2015
Price: $30 to $50 depending
Link: There are many sellers on Amazon, prices may fluctuate.
Sample: here
Pages: 2618
Weight: 4.7 lbs
Rating: 5/5
There is a Bible that I carry around with me often. It is compact and pink, King James and without an index or dictionary. The only color amidst the pages is red lettering and I have read through the Bible with this small, nearly margin-less copy. It is approx. .75in * 3.5 * 6.8 for a final volume of 17.87 in^3.
A few days ago, I got an email asking if I would like to review a newly released study Bible and knowing how pricey (valuable) they can be, jumped at the offer.
This new Bible is NLT, has images, maps, dictionaries, etc. and certainly could not be carried regularly. There is even a section including image credits. Compared to the other with minimal margins, the white space in this book is overwhelming. Its volume is 166.25, just under 10x the size of the other.
These are very different books :)
In the letter I recieved for this study Bible, I was promised "the study Bible for today's visual generation", which uses color and imagery to better help people understand its people and themes.
Additionally, the images are to have a National Geographic feel. This is to be inspiring.
If I pick through each of these I was first a bit disappointed by the images. For as many pages as there are, I expected more than every 8-10 pages a small image or map. While the animals and settings included are dainty, it does not stand out to me as above and beyond other Bibles with images. If the publishers are trying to be ridiculously visual, that is not going to be as effective as they hope.
(Psalms runs pages 959- 1096 and 13 of these 137 pages have images)
Translation: NLT
Publisher: Tyndale House
Publication Date: Sept 17 2015
Price: $30 to $50 depending
Link: There are many sellers on Amazon, prices may fluctuate.
Sample: here
Pages: 2618
Weight: 4.7 lbs
Rating: 5/5
There is a Bible that I carry around with me often. It is compact and pink, King James and without an index or dictionary. The only color amidst the pages is red lettering and I have read through the Bible with this small, nearly margin-less copy. It is approx. .75in * 3.5 * 6.8 for a final volume of 17.87 in^3.
A few days ago, I got an email asking if I would like to review a newly released study Bible and knowing how pricey (valuable) they can be, jumped at the offer.
This new Bible is NLT, has images, maps, dictionaries, etc. and certainly could not be carried regularly. There is even a section including image credits. Compared to the other with minimal margins, the white space in this book is overwhelming. Its volume is 166.25, just under 10x the size of the other.
These are very different books :)
In the letter I recieved for this study Bible, I was promised "the study Bible for today's visual generation", which uses color and imagery to better help people understand its people and themes.
Additionally, the images are to have a National Geographic feel. This is to be inspiring.
If I pick through each of these I was first a bit disappointed by the images. For as many pages as there are, I expected more than every 8-10 pages a small image or map. While the animals and settings included are dainty, it does not stand out to me as above and beyond other Bibles with images. If the publishers are trying to be ridiculously visual, that is not going to be as effective as they hope.
(Psalms runs pages 959- 1096 and 13 of these 137 pages have images)
Similarly, I dont understand how a dull, computerized map can be National Geographic quality.... I am not sure that that claim is supported well by the book itself.,. I simply do not find architecture and maps explicitly inspiring and it is uncomfortable to agree with this statement entirely. Of course pages with native Israeli plants and animals, old hands playing a harp, and a guy sitting on a bench at dusk are nice quality but they just cant represent every picture.
But all of this is superficial. It makes me upset that the book doesnt live up to the claims but at the same time it doesnt affect the Bible itself, text-wise. In fact, I am now writing a week after the above text, with much more respect, and who is going ot spend time looking at pictures anyway? I'm much more interested in the text and other features :)
(See images above)
Here is some talk about the features which do seem pretty handy:
In the How to Read the Bible section, there is an emphasis of reading the verse in question in context, to make use of the indexes, cross references, outlines, maps, images, etc. Each chapter does have an extensive introduction and each of 7 sections of the Bible get an overview as well.
Study notes on every page give additional information and talk about Greek and Hebrew words. I was able to learn more about (I want to say) Mark 9 using these and I'm sure I will get lots of valuable info from the footnotes in the future.
But all of this is superficial. It makes me upset that the book doesnt live up to the claims but at the same time it doesnt affect the Bible itself, text-wise. In fact, I am now writing a week after the above text, with much more respect, and who is going ot spend time looking at pictures anyway? I'm much more interested in the text and other features :)
(See images above)
Here is some talk about the features which do seem pretty handy:
In the How to Read the Bible section, there is an emphasis of reading the verse in question in context, to make use of the indexes, cross references, outlines, maps, images, etc. Each chapter does have an extensive introduction and each of 7 sections of the Bible get an overview as well.
Study notes on every page give additional information and talk about Greek and Hebrew words. I was able to learn more about (I want to say) Mark 9 using these and I'm sure I will get lots of valuable info from the footnotes in the future.
Its a bit awkward to sometimes have 1/3 of a page text and 2/3as random other things, but I dont think its wasted space.
I came also across a time line at the beginning with the Books charted out, with other world events and civilization existences, with key events of history and pictures of ancient texts thrown in for excitement. That might be my favorite.
I came also across a time line at the beginning with the Books charted out, with other world events and civilization existences, with key events of history and pictures of ancient texts thrown in for excitement. That might be my favorite.
I also enjoy the concordance. I was drafting a post for you guys about "Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy" and being able to see how often holy is used in scripture was amazing. There is literally a whole column just for the word holy.
Hmm.. Thats all I can think of at the moment but I have so much more exploring that I am looking forward to with this book! Look at some of these gems in the back:
Hmm.. Thats all I can think of at the moment but I have so much more exploring that I am looking forward to with this book! Look at some of these gems in the back:
I really do think it deserves a 5. I'm not going to sit and fight about the translations but I havent had any issues with what I have read so far. Once you get past the marketing, its pretty reliable.
I havent decided if I want to donate it to the church library or keep it to myself as I dont have a study bible like this. Choices, choices. :)
I havent decided if I want to donate it to the church library or keep it to myself as I dont have a study bible like this. Choices, choices. :)
