Best study bible

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josiahrussell

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what is everyone's favourite 'go to' study bible? I have the ESV reformation study bible, and the KJV Reformation heritage bible but always open for new ones for my collection.
 
My favorite is the KJV Reformation Heritage Study Bible, which I have open on my desk now. This study Bible has more aids and helps included than any other I've seen. I really enjoy the included "Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship" at the end of each chapter as well.
 
Another study Bible that I've found helpful which is a little less known is the "The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible" edited by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates. I have it in KJV but it's available in multiple translations. It includes notes mainly around the translation of the text, has gramattical marks throughout, and links a great portion of the words of the text to Strong's and then has a concise Strongs dictionary in the back.

In some ways, Bible software is better, but I like having the printed form available.
 
"The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible" edited by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates.
The word studies can be helpful, but Zodhiates acts like the central theme of the Bible is eternal security.

Pound for pound, the best is the old Nelson Study Bible. While it has a premillennial slant to it, it was the best early study bible.
 
Another study Bible that I've found helpful which is a little less known is the "The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible" edited by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates.

I was unfamiliar with this one and took a look and see one of the endorsements on the front of the box is from Beth Moore! It's apparently her favorite study Bible as well! :p
 
The word studies can be helpful, but Zodhiates acts like the central theme of the Bible is eternal security.

Pound for pound, the best is the old Nelson Study Bible. While it has a premillennial slant to it, it was the best early study bible.

The word studies are only on certain passages, and sometimes helpful. I use it more for the language notes (grammatical and definitions) throughout.

I was unfamiliar with this one and took a look and see one of the endorsements on the front of the box is from Beth Moore! It's apparently her favorite study Bible as well! :p

For what it's worth, my older edition doesn't have that. I do see now that some of the newer editions have her recommendations on the front. Zodhiates was (independent?) baptist, so bear that slant in mind.
 
I bounce back and forth between the ESV study bible and Ligoniers reformation study bible.

If I were abandoned on an island I would probably take the ESV study bible.
 
I love my RBH KJV SB. It stays open on the book stand on my desk. A close second is the ESV SB, with third place being awarded to the Spirit of the Reformation SB (NIV). I prefer it to the Reformation SB because its notes are keyed to the confessions, and the RSB notes aren't.

Honorable mention: Zondervan's new NIV SB, the NET Bible, and the HCSB SB.

Also indispensable is the 1599 Geneva Bible.

Just thinking out loud:

1. I've never been very impressed with the "word study" Bibles. AMG has theirs, and Thomas Nelson just printed one recently as well...your mileage may vary.

2. My wife picked me up a gently-used Thompson Chain-Reference at Goodwill for a song. Glad to have it, though I've not had much opportunity to use it yet; but it's an interesting idea. Not sure if I like it yet or not.

3. . I've considered an NLT SB for some time now -- not for the translation, but because I read somewhere that the notes were insightful. Never have picked one up. Any of y'all care to weigh in on its value?
 
If you can find one, Dickson's Analytical Bible (KJV) is good, but out of print.
It has outlines of each book, but also two really useful features others do not: (1) an extensive dictionary / encyclopedia in the front, and (2) at the end of every book a one or two page summary of contemporary events for the time period in that book.
 
If you can overlook the fact that he manages to read the millennial kingdom into virtually every passage of Scripture, the MacArthur study Bible does provide some pretty good insights and a fair amount of historical context.
 
If you can overlook the fact that he manages to read the millennial kingdom into virtually every passage of Scripture, the MacArthur study Bible does provide some pretty good insights and a fair amount of historical context.
I was thinking about getting the MacArthur study bible because I simply like the NASB translation over all the others but there just doesn't seem to be any reformed study bibles in the NASB. Maybe at this stage I should look at individual commentaries to accompany further
 
I was thinking about getting the MacArthur study bible because I simply like the NASB translation over all the others but there just doesn't seem to be any reformed study bibles in the NASB. Maybe at this stage I should look at individual commentaries to accompany further

It's still worth owning if you find a good deal on one.
 
what is everyone's favourite 'go to' study bible? I have the ESV reformation study bible, and the KJV Reformation heritage bible but always open for new ones for my collection.
I current use the most my ESV study bible, and the ESV center column reference bible, and do still use my Ryrie Nas bible, as while Dispensational, still very good notes, and in my favorite version!
 
If you can overlook the fact that he manages to read the millennial kingdom into virtually every passage of Scripture, the MacArthur study Bible does provide some pretty good insights and a fair amount of historical context.
Much as my Ryrie bible, as you can get information from either one, just as long as know their Dispensational views are in there....
 
I love my RBH KJV SB. It stays open on the book stand on my desk. A close second is the ESV SB, with third place being awarded to the Spirit of the Reformation SB (NIV). I prefer it to the Reformation SB because its notes are keyed to the confessions, and the RSB notes aren't.

Honorable mention: Zondervan's new NIV SB, the NET Bible, and the HCSB SB.

Also indispensable is the 1599 Geneva Bible.

Just thinking out loud:

1. I've never been very impressed with the "word study" Bibles. AMG has theirs, and Thomas Nelson just printed one recently as well...your mileage may vary.

2. My wife picked me up a gently-used Thompson Chain-Reference at Goodwill for a song. Glad to have it, though I've not had much opportunity to use it yet; but it's an interesting idea. Not sure if I like it yet or not.

3. . I've considered an NLT SB for some time now -- not for the translation, but because I read somewhere that the notes were insightful. Never have picked one up. Any of y'all care to weigh in on its value?
Another good one would be the Inductive study bible, as that version teaches one how to actually study the bible...
 
For those talking about the MacArthur SB, if you have a smart phone, I think you can still get access to the notes in the mobile app for $5. (That mobile app is one of the better one's I've used, and it has audio versions of the ESV, NASB and KJV, with the latter being a Scourby recording.) The Kindle version is also periodically on sale for under $5, along with several other major Study Bibles, mostly those published by Zondervan and Nelson.

I've gotten to where I hardly refer to Study Bibles anymore, especially the physical book. About the only exception in recent years is the Reformation Heritage Study Bible. Usually I just read a text or reference edition and then refer to an electronic copy of a Study Bible or commentary as needed.
 
The word studies can be helpful, but Zodhiates acts like the central theme of the Bible is eternal security.

Pound for pound, the best is the old Nelson Study Bible. While it has a premillennial slant to it, it was the best early study bible.

I've never found the Nelson (subsequently revised as the NKJV Study Bible) to be particularly helpful. (I only have it on Logos and have rarely referred to it, so maybe that's part of the problem. But if I refer to something 4 or 5 times and don't find it to be particularly helpful or distinctive, I tend to forget about it.) Most if not all of the contributors were dispensational, but they seemed to have made the notes rather plain vanilla and inoffensive, perhaps appealing to the lowest common denominator. Are you maybe referring to word studies or something like that?

One that pleasantly surprised me several years ago, especially because it is basically a product of Liberty Baptist Seminary (which has been rather anti-Calvinist at times) was the Nelson KJV Study Bible. I found the notes to be helpful more often than not, less anti-Calvinist than I expected, and it tended to have an in-text map just when I thought it would be helpful. It has archaic KJV words rendered in modern English in the margin. The print is nice and large although I think with the new edition it might not be as large. Although the doctrinal perspective (Baptist and moderately dispensational) falls far short of the Reformed confessions, Reformation Heritage Books used to sell this one due to their commitment to the KJV and what was perhaps a felt need to have at least one Study Bible available. Evidently they thought it was better than Zondervan's KJV Study Bible, which has more plain vanilla notes that don't take a position on many matters.
 
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I was thinking about getting the MacArthur study bible because I simply like the NASB translation over all the others but there just doesn't seem to be any reformed study bibles in the NASB. Maybe at this stage I should look at individual commentaries to accompany further

in my opinion the MacArthur is well worth getting, but I wouldn't pay $50 (much less $80) for something that I am not likely to refer to often. (Hence, opting for ebook versions at a sale price as I mentioned earlier before making a big investment.)

The MacArthur was published 20 years ago. At the time, it had a lot more notes than any other Study Bible. (The most thorough at that time were probably the original NIV Study Bible and the Nelson KJV Study Bible, and maybe the Ryrie.) The MacArthur still holds up quite well in that regard. It has a lot more notes in the NT than the OT, but the OT still has more notes than most other Study Bibles do. I think it probably has at least about the same amount of notes in the OT as the first edition of the Reformation Study Bible did, which was fairly skimpy in places. The revision of the Reformation Study Bible that was published a few years ago has a good many more notes than the first edition did, from what I understand.

Another good one is the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. Some still prefer it to the Ligonier Reformation Study Bible. But it has been out of print for about a decade. Whether or not you use the NIV, it is well worth picking up if you don't have to pay a fortune for it.

Among Study Bibles that are currently in print, the MacArthur is still in my top 5 along with the Ligonier and RHB Reformed Study Bibles, the ESV Study Bible and maybe either the HCSB or Zondervan NIV Study Bible. (I haven't looked at the Zondervan NIV much and only have it in ebook format, but I've heard good things about it.) The CSB Study Bible has just been released. It is a revision of the HCSB Study Bible, but I don't know how much was changed or if it was made more or less friendly to Reformed theology. With the HCSB Study Bible, you have at least a few dispensational notes in Revelation and some that are not dispensational in Matthew, so it doesn't really come from a unified doctrinal perspective.

The Archaeological Study Bible is another one that I've heard good things about, but I have never really looked at it.

I've occasionally found it helpful to read a Study Bible from a different doctrinal perspective in order to get it straight from the horse's mouth, as they say, and not merely rely on critiques. I did that with the Scofield III close to 10 years ago. But once I read through it once, (there aren't many notes) I'm not sure if I've ever really consulted it again. And I probably won't unless I'm doing some kind of research on dispensationalism. in my opinion there isn't enough there to bear repeated reading compared to the Nelson KJV Study Bible and a few of the others. But it did help me understand dispensationalism as opposed to relying on what other people said about it, some of which is helpful and some of which really is not. Getting something like Concordia's Lutheran Study Bible (which I hear is excellent) could serve a similar purpose, and it would probably bear repeated reading. (I've never seen that one and I don't know if it has second commandment violations.)
 
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Another good one is the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. Some still prefer it to the Ligonier Reformation Study Bible. But it has been out of print for about a decade. Whether or not you use the NIV, it is well worth picking up if you don't have to pay a fortune for it.
Pratt and the ThirdMill folks will eventually get this back online:
http://thirdmill.org/studybible/

About as cheap as you can get nowadays:
http://www.biblio.com/book/niv-spirit-reformation-study-bible-pratt/d/956716734
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0310923603/

Some may have been fortunate to get it on the Kindle a few years ago but it is no longer offered.

I have read that it maybe available on iTunes, too.
Laridian has the notes available for any bible translation:
https://www.laridian.com/catalog/products/pcdsotr.asp
 
I've seen hardcover copies of the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible on eBay for less than $50 in the past few years, with some appearing (or so the seller claims) to be in decent condition. You just have to be patient. I'd try make sure the seller accepts returns in case there is something wrong with it or see if they can post pics.

Bookfinder.com is the place I usually check for used books as it searches most of the major sites. It is sort of hit or miss for eBay though. Most of my listings show up on there, but some don't even if I have the ISBN entered.
 
My favorite is the KJV Reformation Heritage Study Bible, which I have open on my desk now. This study Bible has more aids and helps included than any other I've seen. I really enjoy the included "Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship" at the end of each chapter as well.

Are you aware that all of those "Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship" have been gathered together and published here: Family Worship Bible Guide, Joel R. Beeke, general editor (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Press, 2016), xviii + 856pp.? Although nearly 900 pages long, it's printed on Bible paper and is a small, physically handy size. It's even printed and bound by Royal Jongbloed in the Netherlands. The list price is $20, I think, but you can get it for less. I've been using it as part of my devotional reading and I'm really enjoying it.
 
Another study Bible that I've found helpful which is a little less known is the "The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible" edited by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates. I have it in KJV but it's available in multiple translations. It includes notes mainly around the translation of the text, has gramattical marks throughout, and links a great portion of the words of the text to Strong's and then has a concise Strongs dictionary in the back.

In some ways, Bible software is better, but I like having the printed form available.

I remember my Greek professor from years ago, David Alan Black, saying he was not too impressed by Zodhiates's handling of the Greek text.
 
Later this year there will be a Spurgeon Study Bible in the CSB translation. I'm looking forward to that.

That sounds fascinating. Could you provide a link, or some more information?

Not to derail the thread on a textual war -- this is merely an observation: given Spurgeon's esteem of the AV, it's a bit ironic that an eclectic textual base like the HCSB utilizes (and I assume, the CSB as well, given its lineage) is being utilized.
 
That sounds fascinating. Could you provide a link, or some more information?

Not to derail the thread on a textual war -- this is merely an observation: given Spurgeon's esteem of the AV, it's a bit ironic that an eclectic textual base like the HCSB utilizes (and I assume, the CSB as well, given its lineage) is being utilized.

Spurgeon was happy to occasionally use the RV, after it was published in 1881, to correct the KJV where he felt it necessary. Just sayin'.
 
I believe John MacArthur has announced that there will be a second edition of the MacArthur Study Bible published by the end of the year.
 
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