What's new
By:
Filters
Christian Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Bible Study What is the best/widley used Study Bible?

I

I565

Guest
Hello,

I am in the process of buying myself a Study Bible and wanted to ask everyone what is the most widely used Bible and what is the "best" and accurate translation based back to KJV? Is the ESV becoming the most preferred? I would really appreciate any advice as I want to be as accurate as possible to God's Word :)

In Christ.....Tim
 
Well if you want to be as accurate as possible to God's word, meaning a very close translation to the original Greek and Hebrew texts, you could go with the Young's Literal translation Bible. If that is too hard to understand, then I would recommend the NASB (New American Standard Bible). It is pretty close to the original texts also, but is easier to understand.

The NIV is pretty popular now. Most Christians I know, use it to swap scripture back and forth during conversations.

Your best bet, after all the recommendations that are sure to flood this thread, is to go to one of those on-line bible sites that allow you to compare several versions at once.

I use the NASB. But when I need clarification for a certain scripture to make sure I am understanding it right, I will compare to the NIV and the NLT.
 
The ESV has a good one, or so I hear.

I like the Life Applications series. They come in a variety of translations and they are really well done.
 
I do not have it, but I would recomend the ESV, if I were to get one.

I personally do not use a study Bible. I used to study by looking at commentaries, study notes of others, etc. But I realized that everyone had an "opinion". It started to confuse me, because I would see something so clearly in Scripture and yet someone would state it to be something else.

I would recommend the ESV because it does not seem to focus on one individual. It states that there were 95 different people that helped out with the study notes.

I HIGHLY recommend the plain ole ESV Bible for reading and study though. It is a word for word translation of the Greek/Hebrew texts. Just like what King James ordered for his Bible. Its just written with our modern vocabulary.

So that is probably why I am biased toward the ESV study Bible. (Besides from the fact I do not like to read others commentaries, I am a tight wad and abhor the idea of paying a lot of money for God's words mixed in with human interpretations, but thats just me :))
 
nathanielhooper said:
I would recommend the ESV because it does not seem to focus on one individual. It states that there were 95 different people that helped out with the study notes.
Click to expand...

Actually, the NIV had over 100 people across many denominations contribute to the study Bible. The preface to the NIV Bible

I'm almost sure it's the best selling English translation in the world. Here's a commentary about it from the Christian Research Institute:

"A unique feature of this Bible is that the contributors represent no exclusive theological alignment. The notes often present more than one possible understanding. An example is Revelation 20:2, where three major perspectives on the millennium are summarized, as opposed to Ryrie and Scofield, which are exclusively premillennial. The 1995 revision enhanced the readability and graphics and added some notes. The Concordia Self-Study Bible (Concordia, 1986) is a specialized edition with additional materials from a conservative Lutheran perspective. Because of the thoroughness and quality of its features, the NIV Study Bible has sold nearly three million copies and is this writer’s preferred choice."

The Best Study Bible

This site doesn't set out to promote the NIV study Bible. It goes through various versions and offers commentary on all of them. It might be helpful to you. :thumbsup
 
Mike said:

Actually, the NIV had over 100 people across many denominations contribute to the study Bible. The preface to the NIV Bible

I'm almost sure it's the best selling English translation in the world. Here's a commentary about it from the Christian Research Institute:

"A unique feature of this Bible is that the contributors represent no exclusive theological alignment. The notes often present more than one possible understanding. An example is Revelation 20:2, where three major perspectives on the millennium are summarized, as opposed to Ryrie and Scofield, which are exclusively premillennial. The 1995 revision enhanced the readability and graphics and added some notes. The Concordia Self-Study Bible (Concordia, 1986) is a specialized edition with additional materials from a conservative Lutheran perspective. Because of the thoroughness and quality of its features, the NIV Study Bible has sold nearly three million copies and is this writer’s preferred choice."

The Best Study Bible

This site doesn't set out to promote the NIV study Bible. It goes through various versions and offers commentary on all of them. It might be helpful to you. :thumbsup
Click to expand...


ok, ok....you beat me by 6...lol. who's keeping count anyways
 
The NKJV has really good marginal notes when it comes to alternate translations. I use the NKJV to balance the NASB because occasionally it is more literal than the NASB, as I recently discovered in Leviticus 22:2 for example ("separate themselves from" [NKJV] vs. "be careful with" [NASB]).

Also the Bible with the most profuse notes ever made for any English translation is the NET Bible. You would be amazed at the number of translational/explanatory footnotes. It is free to download (here) and is also available online (here). I think I saw someone with a bound paper version once but I have no idea where they got it. Maybe available on Amazon.

God Bless,

~Josh
 
Thank you all so much for your valuable and helpful advice and insights! I look so forward to studying Gods Word more in depth:)

God Bless you all

Tim
 
Not taking a stand on which translation is better than the other, but one very helpful free tool you could use for your bible studies is:

www.e-sword.net

It is Bible reading program, but the reason why Im mentioning it in this topic, is the possiblity to load several different translations to it, and then look at the same verse from each different translation side to side.

For many times there are many different nuances to same word or even sentence and it can be translated in several different ways and all those different translation ways might even be correct ones, revealing something new from the passage.

So this way if there is some certain place in bible you are wondering, you can check how each translation have translated it, and maybe understand it better.
 
I use a pdf KJV.

When I want to study Greek/Hebrew translations, commentaries, parallels etc I use:

Bible CC

EDIT: The above webstite contains commentaries from a variety of denominational authors. Best to get balanced information rather than data from a single sect.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I565 said:
Hello,

I am in the process of buying myself a Study Bible and wanted to ask everyone what is the most widely used Bible and what is the "best" and accurate translation based back to KJV? Is the ESV becoming the most preferred? I would really appreciate any advice as I want to be as accurate as possible to God's Word :)

In Christ.....Tim
Click to expand...
Dear friend, The best study Bible may not be the most popular or widely used. Popular Christianity seems to be something of an oxymoron. Christ reminds us that the way to life is narrow, and there be few that find it.
The best study Bible among the currently available Bibles is:
Sparks, Fr. Jack N., Ph.D., ed. (2008). The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Bibles.
In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top