The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version

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The result is a volume which maintains and extends the excellence the Annotated's users have come to expect, bringing new insights, information, and approaches to bear upon the understanding of the text of the Bible. The first edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB) was published in 1973, employing the RSV text. The notes appear by default in a font size that is about 11 if you used that for the text but a normal reading size for the text would be 4 or 5. However, since I'm not religious in any way, nor do I adhere to inerrancy of the Bible, nor do I, even if I were the aforementioned, would rely on a translation to convey the true meaning of the text, it's not a significant issue for me. For context, I would consider myself to be of a moderate, Church of England theological perspective; happy to affirm in a literal way the Nicene Creed, but put off by the excesses of both theological conservatism and liberalism.

The supplementary tables, charts, diagrams and maps are extremely helpful, although the latter, being in colour, don't come across well on a Kindle. This thoroughly revised and substantially updated edition contains the best scholarship informed by recent discoveries and anchored in the solid Study Bibletradition.While in many cases I remain fond of the more traditional translations, the NRSV attempts to be more exact and faithful to the original text, and that makes it helpful for personal study (though not necessarily for liturgical use).

In addition, section introductions have been expanded and the book introductions present their information in a standard format so that students can find what they need to know. Unless you're a Bible-as-literature student who can only afford this book on the cheap, I urge you to invest in the high-quality leather, signature-bound NOAB. Having to go to the beginning of the book and then proceed by page flipping until the required passage is not good enough.As a major bonus, this Bible comes complete with the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals - including books that do not appear in the Catholic Bible but do appear in the Greek and Russian Orthodox Bibles. This version of The Bible is great for anyone who is interested in the actual study of the book as opposed to just getting angry and saying stuff like "it's mysogynistic, homophobic, and obviously a work of fiction".

It is baffling why OUP have not created a sub-contents menu to provide this access as the ESV Study Bible and Harper Collins Study Bible do. May want a different translation and looking for a study Bible with more connections to related subject matter and background information. While it may be difficult to see this is the Old Testament, it does serve to establish a context for the "new" message of the New Testament. NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Hardcover, Comfort Print: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture : 5 stars. Extensively revised--half of the material is brand new--featuring a new design to enhance readability and brand-new color maps, the Annotated Fourth Edition adds to the established reputation of this essential biblical studies resource.

I haven't read any other edition of the Bible (besides what they gave us in religious ed when I was a kid) so I can't compare, but I would recommend this one! Not only great commentary but really gives you the context of the scriptures by setting up historical settings, customs, etc. I wanted to preface this by saying I'm going to be reading the Bible and Qur'an parallel to each other for academic and philosophical reasons. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book.