HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated – The Authoritative Ecumenical Edition from the Society of Biblical Literature

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 :)

Many people, myself included, find the NRSV to be the most reliable translation of these books extant. The NRSV Bible is produced by the 5500-member Society of Biblical Literature. While that group includes representatives of practically every conceivable religious and scholarly perspective, this translation is definitely not typical of committee products nor does it compromise. You will find that the text of the NRSV corresponds very well with the more scholarly (religious or secular) works about the Bible. Of course, many of them are based on the NRSV to begin with. And many well-known authors are members of the Society. The added value of the Harper Collins Study Bible is the textual and footnotes. They are an education in and of themselves. Making up something like 25-30% of the book, they are so packed with information that you'll constantly find yourself moving back and forth as you read. The notes provide general information critical to understanding these ancient books, suggest likely interpretations of difficult or obscure passages, and point out places where scholars differ on substantive points of interpretation. They also provide heavy cross-referencing. These notes accord very well with what you're likely to find in mainstream secondary literature, such as a college textbook. In fact, I've been reading a textbook on the New Testament and everything mentioned in the textbook (that isn't a straight quote) appears in the footnotes. Finally, each page has a few notes on the actual wording of the translation where existing manuscripts differ in important (and not so important) ways. These notes provide alternate readings. Having spoken of "interpretations" and "alternate readings" let me make one thing clear. The scholarly apparatus in this text DOES NOT favor any particular creed so far as I can tell (cf. NIV). In those cases where a possible interpretation disagrees with how you see it, this book shows you the choice and lets you make the decision. You really want this if you want to study the Bible.

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.

BY FAR THE MOST ECUMENICAL, THOROUGH AND AUTORITATIVE ENGLISH VERSION !

Eu entendo que é uma bíblia e que é muito conteúdo para um só livro - conteúdo este que é magnífico, inclusive. Mas as páginas extremamente finas e as letras pequenas dificultam a leitura. Pensei mais de uma vez que poderiam ter dividido o livro em dois volumes; teria feito a experiência de leitura bem mais agradável.

This is the most accurate translation of the Bible in modern English. It uses US spelling; I do not know if there is a version of NRSV with proper English spelling. All of the Deuterocanonical Books and several other books are included; so, regardless of your denomination, you will find all of the books you expect here. There are several academic (yet understandable) essays about the Bible included, and on every page of the Bible itself there are copious footnotes. This is THE Bible to have for serious study unless you can read the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek!

I love this bible with its notes, tables snd charts. It’s a great for those who want to know more about scripture, but don’t want to undertake advanced studies. I found the more expensive bibles had notes that were too detailed and heavy reading in some cases.