Customer Rating: 
Summary: ESV Study Bible
Comment: I guess I've become a collector of Bibles, as I now have several. Some are study Bibles while others just have the scriptures. I keep adding to my collection as I expand my translation horizons. With this Bible I believe I've found a work of art.
This Bible has maps, 200 of them throughout the book and not just in a section in the back. It has a cross-referenced concordance, it has notes as few other Bibles have. And the price is very reasonable.
It is hard to call this Bible, or any other for that matter, "definitive," but this one comes close. It raises the bar on study Bibles that few future producers and editors will be able to match. While one can say "scipture is scripture" this Bible pushes the creative envelope to new heights.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I really like this Bible and recommend it to any student of the Bible. The notes will aid in comprehension. In the past I've resorted to Bible handbooks to fulfill my quest for interpretive notes. This Bible has good notes throughout. Note that I still will use my handbooks, but this Bible enablesme to bring it to my Bible studies without needing to lug my handbooks along with me.
But this Bible, you will not be disappointed.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Rasing the Standard for Study Bibles
Comment: I've been looking at and using various study bibles for a few months now. I'm trying to find one that I can recommend for anyone--new believers to seasoned saints. I haven't ever used a study bible until within the last year, so the whole concept is rather new and unfamiliar to me; but I have gained ground and am much more comfortable with one in my hands. I have examined the NIV Study Bible and the MacArthur Study Bible prior to this review. The recent publication (October 2008) of the ESV Study Bible has raised the standard by which all study bibles will be judged. Its many features are easily accessible and full of value for all readers. (ESV = English Standard Version)
The online study bible that is available only with a purchase, has little to offer in the way of anything new for online study. In fact, it is quite limited. However, for those who prefer to do all their reading from a screen, the complete text with notes and cross-references is duplicated on the computer. One can also add personal notes.But other tools associated with online study are glaringly absent. There is no interlinear or words keyed to Strong's Concordance, or any other form of word study tool. It is simply the ESV Study Bible produced and accessed online.
Only those who purchase a physical copy of the ESV Study Bible have access to the online version.
I have found one great benefit of the online version. All charts and graphs that are in the ESV Study Bible are easily copied and loaded onto a PowerPoint slide. This can be an invaluable resource for Bible teachers.
For this article, I am reviewing the hard-bound edition.
It is a weighty volume at 4.8 pounds, because of the sheer amount of material within. It is not too heavy, though, as this photo will show. Its physical dimensions are 2 1/4 inches thick, 9 1/2 inches long, and 6 3/4 inches wide.
Some of the features I find especially useful are:
Each book of the Bible begins with an introduction that is started on a new page. That leaves many blank pages for adding my own notes and materials.
The outline that is presented in the introduction is followed within the notes section.
Maps necessary to gaining an understanding of the locale of an event are presented right on the page--eliminating the need to turn to the back of the Bible.
Controversial topics are presented in an acceptable manner without condescension nor attack. Conclusions of the author are given with a reasonable basis.
From the first page to the last, the Bible lies flat without having to press the pages down.
It is printed on fine bible paper and I've found no bleed through from highlighting nor notes. More than 95 evangelical conservative scholars contributed to the notes and articles contained within the ESV Study Bible. After only a week of use, I am becoming quite comfortable with the ESV translation. It is readable, and I've found no conflict with previously understood passages the way I have with other modern translations. I would make one recommendation to the publication of this study Bible. The numerous articles could be published as a separately bound volume. The two could still be sold as a unit, which may add to the cost; but it would make the book somewhat thinner. The articles, as good as they are, are not something that many people will reference continually during their study. I'm not sure that I will be comfortable carrying the hard-bound edition with me to church or into the pulpit. Since I cannot afford a leather-bound edition at this time, I'm not exactly sure what I am going to do. However, it seems fairly certain that the ESV translation and the study edition will be my Bible of choice for a while.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Study Bible Available
Comment: I've had my NIV Study Bible since the early 1990's. My parents got it for me and it has become one of my favourite Bibles. In seminary I used it profusely since I was convinced the "dynamic equivalence" model of translation theory was the best one. I did not like the NASB (a popular edition when I was in seminary) as it seemed rather wooden in places. There were places I was not thrilled with the NIV but I was happy with it for the most part. And I really enjoyed the study notes.
Then, something rather amazing happened! Well, actually something rather common happened. Another study bible was released. This was the ESV study bible. I had only briefly looked at the ESV and thought it to be similar enough to the NASB that I really did not give it a second look. But so many people were coming to embrace it that I thought it should be something I should look at. And now since seminary I review many books, I can get most books I ask for to review, so I asked Crossway for a copy of the ESV study bible. All I can say is that this is my new favourite Bible!
The ESV itself takes a more literal approach to translation theory than I have preferred but makes valuable improvements in both the weaknesses of the NASB and the NIV. Where the NASB was overly wooden, the ESV is much smoothers. Where the NIV took too much liberty in interpretation, the ESV is more literal. I feel the ESV strikes a nice balance between both the NASB and the NIV. It is solidly conservative and easy to read. If I had to pick a new favourite translation, I think I am leaning more and more from the NIV to the ESV. But, what about the study notes? I had become accustomed to the ones in the NIV so the ESV had some hard work to convert me. At least I thought it did. Instead, it took less than a minute.
My only complaint at the outset is the paper that most bibles use in hardcover editions (the one I was sent). It is very thin and hard to turn the pages and can tear easily. In leather editions this is not as much of an issue, but this is my main issue with the hardcover edition.
The first thing that struck me about the study bible is the incredible amount of resources it contains. It contains 66 articles and essays ranging from topics on the Trinity, Bioethics, Reading the Bible as Literature, the Septuagint, and a History of Salvation in the Old Testament. These resources written by major Evangelical scholars are weighty but succinct providing just the right amount of helpful information that satisfy's the questions but prompts the reader for further study.
The next thing that strikes you is the full colour maps and illustrations. No study Bible I have ever had had full colour anything unless you count the maps that are put at the back of the bible. But every illustration and map throughout the bible is in full colour. This makes things really stand out and provides nice clear pictures to help aid in the study process.
When it comes to the notes themselves they are very thorough and balanced. They list major options of interpretation and usually let the reader decide. One of the most helpful items in the notes are what I will call the contextual notes. These, with a slight highlight, outline the sections in the text and give helpful brief notes focusing on the context of individual sections. So, not only are individual verses parsed specifically and given helpful specific information but even whole sections are given notes to help facilitate reading the text as a piece of literature. This helps the readers see the big picture of how each individual section fits into the work as a whole.
Before each book there is a helpful treatment of authorship, dating, and other common features. What sets the ESV apart from others are the literary features section which help to explain what is going on overall in the book and the history of salvation summary which put the content of the book in the context of the redemption story of the whole Scripture. This is a very helpful addition as it helps to put into context the book as a whole and helps to prevent moralizing the text but instead interpreting it in light of the rest of Scripture.
Obviously each note cannot be critiqued here in a brief review like this, but one will be looked at which always seems to generate much discussion, and that is the nature of the millennium in Revelation 20. Under Revelation 20:1-6 it describes this as "Interlude: The Thousand Years of the Dragon's Binding and the Martyrs' Reign." Each of the premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial, positions are described and represented fairly. It highlights different approaches to the next (literal versus symbolic) and the representative features of each position. The notes do not take a position on the issue but helpfully simply say, "Likewise, each of these views falls within the framework of historic Christian orthodoxy" (p. 2492). This is the sort of congenial attitude we need to have when discussing issues of debate that are not part of the fundamentals of the faith. While obviously this reviewer would take a particular position, he appreciates how fairly his position is described and would not hesitate to recommend this particular note to those of any eschatological persuasion.
Overall, I find the ESV study bible to be probably the best study bible on the market. Obviously, please continue to use your other study bible's but if I was to recommend just one, I would highly recommend the ESV Study Bible. Now I just have to wait to get my hands on the Black Genuine Leather edition!
Customer Rating:
Summary: a few more thoughts
Comment: The ESV study Bible is a fantastic study tool. I thought it was an incredible bargain at 50$, now I see it's for sale at 31$...amazing. The real bargain is the access you receive to the online edition. With the purchase you get a code whereby you can set up your own online study bible. It has everything the print edition has plus you can add your own notes. It's easy and with so many other online and software commentaries available, cutting and pasting in your own notes is great.
The only knock I have against this edition is that it's very non-commital in its notes. My old Ryrie is unabashedly dispensational, pre-millenial, etc. I don't always agree with it, but I like it that they make a firm statement rather than using the ESV's tactic of saying, "some scholars say..." In the end it's kinda like the Laodicean church in Rev. Seeing that my favorite sem. prof. T. Schreiner is the N.T. editor I was a little dissappointed (but he was sort of like this in class too... non-commital- yet very humble in his own opinion).
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Primo Study Bible
Comment: I had read many reviews of the ESV Study Bible before its publication, and had pre-ordered two copies. It fully lives up to the "rave-reviews" that preceded its publication. There is simply no comparison between the ESV Study Bible and other study Bibles - and I've owned three others, so I speak from actual use. The translation is superb - a literal, but readable translation.
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