Which study bible is the best

They provide scholarly insight that is designed to help the student develop a stronger grasp and understanding of the original texts, context, and meaning. They produce Christians who rightly divide the word of truth. The very first study Bible was called the Geneva Bible , written in a.

In , Dr. Frank C. Thompson published the Thompson Chain-Reference study Bible. Thompson believed the Bible should be presented in a simple, but a scholarly way. He saw the need for a well-organized reference Bible that would be of practical use to the layman as well as a minister. Using the RSV translation, the Harper Study Bible in was the first Bible to contain a wealth of additional information from a respected conservative Christian scholar, Harold Lindsell. Seven years later, the Ryrie Study Bible was published.

It contained the same features introductions, references, and notes as the Harper Study Bible, but this time from the most well known dispensationalist biblical scholar of the twentieth century, Charles C. When looking for the best study Bible for you, there are some things that you need to consider.

So here are some helpful tips to consider as you make this choice. All Bibles have one thing in common. They contain the word of God. There are 39 books in the Old Testament , and 27 books in the N ew Testament. Catholic and some Orthodox traditions include other books called The Apocrypha. The difference between an excellent study Bible and a regular Bible is the extra study helps that a study Bible includes.

The study Bible will have structural differences depending on the amount of additional material that it provides. They will be much larger in size and content because there will be more notes, references, and pictures. There will also be some differences in the way the text is laid out, including single column vs. It is also very common for study Bibles to be arranged around a theme or purpose. The Ryrie study Bible shows how salvation is by grace alone and teaches dispensational theology.

The Bible was not written in English. It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and a few small sections were written in Aramaic. Because of this, it is essential to understand how Bibles are translated. You need to understand the goals and methods used by the biblical translators so you better understand why there are differences in translations and which you should give more weight to.

There are also different manuscripts that Bibles are translated from. Or even Martin Luther or Thomas Aquinas? The Holy Bible is the most important book ever written.

But it takes study and effort to understand a book as insightful as the Bible. If scholars spent so much time to unlock its secrets, how will regular believers -like you and I- ever understand it? A study Bible is a special edition of the Bible with added study resources. We live in different times and places than the Bible characters , and our culture is much different.

We speak a different language than the people of Biblical times, and we have different traditions. When we speak, we use different idioms than people used in those days. I wrote this post The Handwriting on the Wall to explain an idiom we use in everyday language that comes straight from the Bible. This is where a good study Bible can make such a huge difference. So how do you choose a study Bible —especially when there are so many good ones?

The way to choose a study Bible is to match the Bible with your own personality, desires, plans and goals for learning. There are many good study Bibles, and you can benefit from more than one. Most study Bibles have maps, cross-references and short articles that comment on the true stories of the Bible. A good study Bible helps us connect the dots and gain much deeper knowledge. It has comments based on the work of distinguished scholars, linguists, archaeologists and other professionals.

For instance, when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, how far did he have to go? What direction was it? Then when Jonah booked a ship to Tarshish, which direction was it? And how far did he plan to go?

Why did Jonah do these things? It might be crystal clear to some folks, but others might find the story murky and difficult to follow unless they know other details. Where is Ur of the Chaldees anyway? Good study Bibles can answer questions like this. They give us a deeper picture of the great faith of Abraham and the great rebellion of Jonah —even though Jonah was a prophet chosen by God. These answers give us the context to apply Bible lessons to our own lives. This article is mostly about traditional Study Bibles.

It includes an Interlinear, you can take notes, and you can use many of the features off line. If you use the online version instead of your smartphone, you can read posts by Bible Scholar Don Stewart on many fascinating subjects!

Getting back to the smartphone App, you can read the Bible in many different English translations, plus other languages, such as Spanish, French, Russian, German, Chinese and Korean. You can take notes and do searches. You can download it onto your smartphone from the App Store and Google Play. A study Bible helps the reader understand the Bible more deeply and more completely. This supports the growing faith of the believer, and challenges the unbelief of a skeptic.

A student of the Bible will grow faster and understand more than he would without the resources of a study Bible. Have you ever had questions about a certain Bible character , place or story?

A study Bible usually has the answer. A study Bible can also open up your mind to questions you would never have thought to ask. Bible scholars have poured years of their lives into studying every detail of the Bible. They have dug deep for answers far beyond the questions many of us would even think to ask. Bible scholars have also spent centuries answering the questions of skeptics. This has confirmed the sure foundation of the Christian faith many times over.

Now the believer can go out into the world and be more confident and more effective than ever before at fulfilling the Great Commission to preach the Gospel to all Nations. What should you look for in a good study Bible? Many study Bibles have similar features, but they are all unique in other ways.

Many different study Bibles have been designed with different approaches to Bible study. Concordance — a list of important key words and the locations in the Bible where they can be found. Most regular Bibles also include some very basic study helps, such as cross references the little superscript letters in the text that point to similar Scriptures and footnotes the superscript numbers that provide clarification about a verse or phrase. A regular Bible will often set the words of Christ in red, include a thematic index of Bible verses, and provide simple reading plans.

They often top it all off with a few maps in the back—which make it easier to follow along with the travels of Moses, David, Jesus, and Paul. A study Bible does all this and more.

In addition to the features of a regular Bible, most study Bibles boast several or all of the following features:. Study notes are similar to footnotes, but they bring more scholarly insight to the text. These range from explanatory sentences to more involved paragraphs exploring the subject matter. These are like expanded study notes. Articles cover a subject far more in-depth, and can be several hundred words long.

For example, the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible includes an article on ziggurats, an ancient type of building, right next to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. A lot of helpful insights get crammed into study Bibles. But another key differentiator is how much room is left for your own Bible study often involves note-taking and reflection—and it helps to have plenty of space in the margins or even dedicated pages and worksheets for you to fill in with your own observations.

Most Protestant study Bibles include a page or more of introductory information at the beginning of each of the 66 books of the Bible.

Far more comprehensive than a simple thematic verse index, a study Bible concordance allows you to look up the significant places a given word occurs across Scripture. The individuals making these decisions need to be both capable and trustworthy—so publishers will often partner with influential scholars, pastors, and ministry leaders to lend their authority and expertise to the final work.

Packer and Dr. Wayne Grudem. You can see why study Bibles are so bulky! But this is just the beginning. Because the most important factor in determining which study Bible is best is how you plan to use it. There are many study Bible options out there.

It all comes down to how you prefer to study the Bible. If you put those two sets of choices against each other, you get a general map that almost all study Bibles fall into. This is the true basis for finding a study Bible that will work for you. You might want to use a more autonomous study Bible for personal study so that you can draw more personal applications for yourself.

There are almost endless ways you could approach picking a study Bible, but as someone who has worked with a great deal of study Bibles, these are the five key factors that almost everyone should consider. You have many options when it comes to Bible translations—and while most people have their favorites, each one plays its part when it comes to better understanding the Bible. The Bible was originally written in the languages of Hebrew and Greek with a dash of Aramaic.

Over the millennia, these old documents were translated into the dominant languages of the time and place, and then re-translated, and so on. Translating ancient texts for modern readers is a tough and involved process. There are many ways it can be and has been done—but most English translations of the Bible fall on a spectrum from formal equivalence to functional equivalence.

While strict word-for-word translation is impossible outside of interlinear Bibles, versions on this end of the spectrum aim to choose words that directly mirror the words the original language uses as well as the structure of the original-language sentences. This can be helpful when it comes to recognizing and recalling word patterns across the Bible. These versions focus on conveying the idea behind the original languages. This can be extremely helpful when it comes to quickly absorbing the meaning of a text.

If you want a study Bible that you can use both for study and evangelism, Sunday school teaching, or mentorship, a thought-for-thought translation might be the way to go.

The downside of thought-for-thought translations, when doing serious Bible study, is it can be more challenging to dig into the original languages since even more of the original text has been translated for you. The Quest Study Bible is designed for readers with unanswered questions and for those who want to dive deeper into knowing God and his Word.

With articles and resources from today's most trusted scholars, you'll find answers to hundreds of popular and challenging topics. This study Bible also includes helpful sidebar notes that bring clarity to confusing passages. Book introductions identify themes, characters, and events. Whether you are a new believer or a seasoned Christian, the Quest Study Bible will give you the tools to intensify your understanding of Scripture. This study Bible is designed to give readers insight into their rich biblical heritage through study notes and commentary taken from the writings of famous early church fathers.

The Christian Standard Bible version provides a highly literal and reliable translation for serious study without sacrificing readability. The Ancient Faith Study Bible allows today's readers to glean wisdom for their modern lives from some of yesterday's brightest saints.

The concept behind the Compass Bible is just as the title implies. It was designed to help people connect with God by pointing them in the right direction and revealing how they fit into God's story. Compass is written in what is known as the Voice translation, a mix of "word-for-word" and "thought-for-thought" translation approaches.

Especially enjoyable is its translation of Revelation , one of the Bible's most difficult books to understand. Compass makes a great gift for a new believer, a seeker, or anyone who wants to take a fresh and meaningful journey through the Scriptures. This study Bible helps unlock the extensive vocabulary and elaborate structure of the original Hebrew and Greek languages.

Features include Strong's Concordance numbers, exegetical notes, lexical aids, and much more. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible has a unique reference system that allows readers to follow any subject, person, place, or idea, from the beginning of the Bible to the end.