Study Bible

I use the Nelson NKJV Study Bible and love it! LOTS and LOTS of study notes, that's for sure. (But I have to admit, I have my eye on one of those NASB Open Bibles!)

 

Don't waste your money on a study Bible. Wear out a cheaper Bible without any notes. Spend the difference in money and buy a good survey of the OT and another on the NT and maybe some other books as you have money. The problem is that you will read someone's commentary and not really get much. Spend our time studying the historical context and much of scripture will be easy to interpret once you understand that.

The books I like are:

A Survey of the New Testament, Fourth Edition
By: Robert H. Gundry

Introduction to the New Testament Second Edition
By: D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo

New Testament Introduction
By: Donald Guthrie

Old Testament Survey, Second Edition
By: W.S. LaSor

Introduction to the Old Testament
By: R.K. Harrison

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
By: Edited by Allen C. Myers
(It is a very good inexpensive Bible dictionary)
Can be purchased for about ten dollars at www.christianbook.com

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 4 Vols. Edited by Geoffrey Bromiley

 

Buy a plain ol' Bible and get a good word study to go along with it. Robertson's Word Pictures is good as well as Vincent's Word Studies. Both are free with eSword. Get a Greek with a literal interlinear (also free) and a good Greek lexicon. The BDAG is best, but is quite spendy. The Analytical Greek Lexicon is good and affordable. Usually about $20 including shipping on eBay.

 

My thoughts:

No clue of your particular taste, but my fav NKJV study bible is John McArthur. I believe you can get a hardback version for 24.99 right now.

I worked at christian bookstores through my first 3 years of college. Dont buy the leather ones unless you just want to. A hard back and a $10 bible cover will last longer in most cases. That way, in 2 years, just replace the $10 bible cover!

If you want a leather, then get a Nelson if you want a regular size, or B&H if you want a thinline. There are a few other choices, but these seem to be good quality (everyone always came back to buy them for friends/gifts, thats how we knew what the good ones were).

I think you can find all the comentary you need online, so I agree that a couple of survey books would be much better. Be smart and check the sales, you can often find things cheaper if you look around.

What christian bookstores are in your area? I used to work for Family Christian Store, and I know that you can find a those survey books in their clearance section for pretty cheap.

 

Nothing beats an Old Scofield Bible.

and a Matthew Poole Commentary.

and maybe a Matthew Henry as well...

MH

 

You can't go wrong with Nelson's NKJV Study Bible . The footnotes and study aids are great, and the word studies keyed to Strongs are very helpful.

Rob

 

That is the one thing that Strong's is good for: It ties all the words together so you can look at the entire list.

 

As far as study Bibles go I am partial to the Ryrie Study Bible. Sadly it is no longr available in the NKJV (it used to be - I have one). As for what others have said, a good word study can be very helpful. Also, there is the Matthew Henry Study Bible, but I believe it is only availale in the KJV. (Not intended as a slur against the KJV)

 

Yes. You mentioned two good ones, and if I were you I'd focus on one of these two. Examine them in the store or borrow one from a friend at church.

My other piece of advice is to buy a wide-margin edition so you can add your own notes, observations, and cross-references in the margin. Expect to keep the Bible 30 years ... that Bible may last longer than you think. Make your notes clear, because you'll want to look at those again. The notes that I've made in my study Bible are almost irreplaceable to me now. (NO, they're not inspired or anything, but they give me connections and cross-references that remind me of special gems from God's Word.)

--
Eric Pement

 

Dump the study Bibles, or you'll be studying the teachings of man. However, getting a Bible for notes is good. Here's a link where you can get an interleaved Bible. (Blank page between every page.) Otherwise, you can get some onionskin and put it between the pages where you need it.

Interleaved Bibles

 

I completely agree! I'll keep mine until it completely falls apart!

 

Completely untrue. Reading study notes on a study bible isn't any different than listening to your pastor on Sunday morning. If you're like me, you take notes (with a separate notepad) and go back over the sermon and hold it up to the Word of God.

 

I use the word "complete" too much, don't I?

 

Completely.

 

How can you be against study Bibles, but be for purchasing a Bible with blank pages so someone can write his own notes? As soon as he's written his first note on the page, he's got the "teachings of man" again ... namely, his own!!

I don't think that a study Bible which gives the times, circumstances, context, historical and geographic background of the books of the Bible is wrong to give this information. In fact, I think the Bible student can profit by knowing the historical and literary background of Bible times.

I don't think listing cross-references is wrong. I don't think listing parallel passages is wrong. I don't think having good concordance or explanation of Greek and Hebrew terms is wrong. But that's just me ...

 

Amen Eric!
Study Bibles are great! Having all that information right along with the Bible is very helpful... Maps, Word studies, Summaries of each book with Author, Date etc... I have the Nelson NKJV Study Bible and I love it. I have found it to be fairly balanced even when it comes to more "controversial" passages, listing alternate views on an interpretation where needed. There is much more information in them than the notes at the bottom to make them highly beneficial. Go pick on up at bookstore an look through it. I think every layman needs one, unless he wants to carry a "Halley's Bible Handbook" or something like that along with his Bible.

Todd

 

Read everything that I wrote. I didn't say to dump the information, but to dump the study Bibles. I've never seen one without preconceived bias.

If you want to study Greek, study Greek; don't study was Schofield (sp?) or someone else says that is "obvious".

Cross reference the passages, compare Scripture to Scripture.

I have compared study Bibles to study Bibles, and they contradict one another quite frequently, not to mention contradicting Scripture. Much of it is based (unintentionally) on Catholic theology.

Take your preferred translation with the blank pages, compare it side by side with a NA Greek text, have a good Greek dictionary (not concordance) such as the BDAG handy, a decent ancient history traditions text book, etc.

 

I find study bibles very useful and helpful. Don't confine yourself to just one because you learn different things from each one.

The Baptist Study bible is very good.

I would not get the one by Hayford unless you are partial to charismatic theology.

The Thompson Chain Bible is good for seeing how different topics are linked in the Bible and it has a great reference section. It does not have cross-references (except by topics), however.

I also like the NASB study bible and the NET study bible.