Study Bible

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A study Bible is an edition of the Bible prepared for use by a serious student of the Bible. It provides scholarly information designed to help the reader gain a better understanding of and context for the text.

Contents

History

Perhaps the first edition of an English language Bible that qualified as a "study Bible" was the Geneva Bible published by Sir Rowland Hill in 1560; [1] [2] it contained extensive cross-references, synopses, and doctrinal points. The text of the Geneva Bible was usually not printed without the commentary, though the Cambridge edition was printed without commentary.[ citation needed ]

The Church of England disputed some of the statements made in the Geneva Bible annotations. This led to the creation of the King James Bible , which was typically printed with a much less extensive apparatus or none at all. Several commentators have supplied annotated King James Bibles containing their own points of view, but unlike the Geneva Bible, these commentaries are not as thoroughly integrated into the text.

Another historically significant study Bible was the Scofield Reference Bible , first printed by Cyrus Scofield in 1909. This study Bible became widely popular in the United States, where it spread the interpretation system known as dispensationalism among fundamentalist Christians. A new version, the Recovery Version, was published in 1985. It holds a similar interpretation, and this study Bible has a very large number of cross-references and explanatory and interpretative footnotes.

Nearly all Catholic Bibles have explanatory and interpretative footnotes.[ citation needed ] For example, the Jerusalem Bible is a widely respected study Bible originally made by French monks in Jerusalem, under the auspices of the Catholic Church. The original French edition of 1961 became the basis of versions of this study Bible in several other languages, including English, revised as the New Jerusalem Bible ; some versions have more extensive notes than others.[ citation needed ]

Logos International published the Logos International Study Bible in 1972. Based on the 1901 American Standard Version , it is essentially an updated version of The Cross-Reference Bible, published before 1929 and edited by Harold E. Monser. It includes an unusually large number of cross-references, in-text articles, and treatment of variant readings.[ citation needed ]

Zondervan claims that its NIV Study Bible has six million in distribution and that it is the world's best selling study Bible. [3]

The ESV Study Bible is a recent addition which sold well in its pre-release phase, in the fall of 2008. [4]

In recent times, study Bibles focusing on specific aspects of the Biblical message, have appeared, such as The Green Bible , an English version of the New Revised Standard Version Bible (originally published by Harper Bibles on October 7, 2008), which focuses on environmental issues and teachings.

Features

A study Bible usually contains such features as: [5] [6] [7] [8]

Study Bible software

Study Bible software is also available which can aid readers in the study of the Bible. This software normally includes several Bible translations, commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, maps and other content. They also include search engines to enable users to find Bible passages by keyword and by theme.

Related Research Articles

The Book of Joel is a Jewish prophetic text containing a series of "divine announcements". The first line attributes authorship to "Joel the son of Pethuel". It forms part of the Book of the twelve minor prophets or the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Hebrew Bible, and is a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. In the New Testament, his prophecy of the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit upon all people was notably quoted by Saint Peter in his Pentecost sermon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New International Version</span> English translation of the Bible

The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released in 1978 with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies on recently-published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Today's New International Version</span> Updated translation of the Bible

Today's New International Version (TNIV) is an English translation of the Bible which was developed by the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). The CBT also developed the New International Version (NIV) in the 1970s. The TNIV is based on the NIV. It is explicitly Protestant like its predecessor; the deuterocanonical books are not part of this translation. The TNIV New Testament was published in March 2002. The complete Bible was published in February 2005. The rights to the text are owned by Biblica. Zondervan published the TNIV in North America. Hodder & Stoughton published the TNIV in the UK and European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scofield Reference Bible</span> Study Bible

The Scofield Reference Bible is a widely circulated study Bible. Edited and annotated by the American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, it popularized dispensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Published by Oxford University Press and containing the entire text of the traditional, Protestant King James Version, it first appeared in 1909 and was revised by the author in 1917.

Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been produced. A number of translations have been prepared of parts of the Bible, some deliberately limited to certain books and some projects that have been abandoned before the planned completion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Living Translation</span> English translation of the Bible

The New Living Translation (NLT) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation, the NLT was created "by 90 leading Bible scholars." The NLT relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Standard Version</span> English translation of the Bible

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

Moisés Silva is a Cuban-born American biblical scholar and translator.

Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). It is a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. and has multiple imprints including Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz, Blink, and Editorial Vida. Zondervan is the commercial rights holder for the New International Version (NIV) Bible in North America. According to the Zondervan website, it is the largest Christian publisher.

The NIV Study Bible is a study Bible originally published by Zondervan in 1985 that uses the New International Version (NIV). Revisions include one in 1995, a full revision in 2002, an update in October 2008 for the 30th anniversary of the NIV, another update in 2011, and a fully revised update in 2020 named "Fully Revised Edition". Its publisher and distributors claim over nine million sold, and claim that it is the world's bestselling study bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 19</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Matthew 19 is the nineteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Matthew composed this Gospel. Jesus commences his final journey to Jerusalem in this chapter, ministering through Perea. It can be seen as the starting point for the passion narrative.

John 9 is the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It maintains the previous chapter's theme "Jesus is light", recording the healing of an unnamed man who had been blind from birth, a miracle performed by Jesus, and their subsequent dealings with the Pharisees. The man born blind comes to complete faith in Jesus, while some of the Pharisees remain in their sin. The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke 17</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Luke 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records "some sayings of Jesus" and the healing of ten lepers. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.

Jewish commentaries on the Bible are biblical commentaries of the Hebrew Bible from a Jewish perspective. Translations into Aramaic and English, and some universally accepted Jewish commentaries with notes on their method of approach and also some modern translations into English with notes are listed.

Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible is a Bible concordance to the King James Version compiled by Robert Young. First published in 1879, it contains "about 311,000 references subdivided under the Hebrew and Greek originals with the literal meaning and pronunciation of each."

Biblical software or Bible software is a group of computer applications designed to read, study and in some cases discuss biblical texts and concepts. Biblical software programs are similar to e-book readers in that they include digitally formatted books, may be used to display a wide variety of inspirational books and Bibles, and can be used on portable computers. However, biblical software is geared more toward word and phrase searches, accessing study bible notes and commentaries, referencing various modern translations, cross-referencing similar passages and topics, biblical dictionaries, original language texts and language tools, maps, charts, and other e-books deemed relevant to understanding texts from a philological approach.

Barry J. Beitzel is an Old Testament scholar, geographer, cartographer, and translator of the Bible. He currently resides in Mundelein, Illinois.

Jack Pearl Lewis was an American Bible scholar affiliated with the Churches of Christ. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard University in 1953 and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1962. For 50 years, Lewis taught Bible and biblical languages first at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, and then at Harding School of Theology in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was named professor emeritus upon his retirement. He authored over 223 articles in scholarly and church publications and published more than twenty-five books. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 24, 2018, at the age of 99.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 Kings 20</span> 2 Kings, chapter 20

2 Kings 20 is the twentieth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh, the kings of Judah.

Karen H. Jobes is an American biblical scholar who is Gerald F. Hawthorne Professor Emerita of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Wheaton College. She has written a number of books and biblical commentaries. In 2015, she received the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Christian Book of the Year Award for "Bible Reference" books. Jobes currently serves as the president of the Evangelical Theological Society.

References

  1. Staging Scripture: Biblical Drama, 1350–1600. BRILL. 2016-04-18. ISBN   978-90-04-31395-8.
  2. Beenham.), Thomas STACKHOUSE (Vicar of (1838). A New History of the Holy Bible, from the beginning of the world to the establishment of Christianity. L.P.
  3. Zondervan – "About Study Bibles". Zondervan.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. "Highly Praised ESV Study Bible Reports Phenomenal Sales". Christian Post . November 3, 2008.
  5. "Study Bibles: A Survey of Eight: A Look at the HCSB Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, NIV Study Bible, NKJV Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, Life Application Study Bible, and the Thompson's Chain Reference Bible". Baptiststart.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  6. "Study Bible Comparison Chart" (PDF). Baptiststart.com.
  7. "Strengths and Emphases of Various Study Bibles: The Strongest Study Bibles in Various Categories". Baptiststart.com.
  8. Garcia, Elena (November 3, 2008). "Highly Praised ESV Study Bible Reports Phenomenal Sales". Christian Post.

Further reading