Customer Reviews

New American Standard Gift & Award Bible; Black Imitation Leather

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Perfect size, nice and simple, great translation, nice concordance in the back. Accessible, convenient, overall just what I was looking for. Color is not obnoxious like I thought it might be.

The NAS is the most accurate translation of the Bible available today. It combines the most reliable ancient transcripts with the historical integrity of the Hebrew and Greek languages while maintaining the beauty of the Psalms and Songs within.

I actually prefer the King James because it is more referred to (more quoted and used in studies), but the New American Standard Bible is also a word for word translation, completed in 1971 by a team of over 50 evangelical scholars with doctorates in Bible languages. I sought out this version as a supplement. Sometimes I find it refreshing to read other translations of the Bible to keep my interest fresh. Other good translations also make excellent cross references.
For many perhaps the King James Version is rather hard to understand. Translated in 1611, many of its words are not used in today's modern English or have changed meaning. I feel more modern translations (New American Standard Bible, New King James, New International Version...) to be great versions especially for new readers. It is also good to research your choice of translation on how true it is to the original text (word for word?, sentence for sentence? paragraph for paragraph?) and how many were involved in the translation as to keep true to the meaning of the scripture vs. one persons point of view.

This Bible is the new updated NASB translation. The translation is accurate, but this particular Bible has only the basics. The print is fairly cramped, and as far as extra perks go, there are a few B&W maps and a small concordance. A good economy Bible to own, but no special frills.

If you follow my reviews, you know that I am Anglo Catholic and that the 2 versions I use most are the "Good News" and the ORIGINAL "Revised Standard." I have respect for the "King James," the "New King James," the "Jerusalem," the "English Standard Version," and the "Holman Christian Standard." I do NOT like the NIV or the NRSV. Onto the subject at hand. The NASB is widely praised as the most literally accurate version. It does not contain the Apocrypha. But being that this is a Protestant Bible, we can't really hold that against it. The NASB is widely accepted in Protestant churches. For the most part, it is carefully literal. I consider it an interesting cross between the "Revised Standard" and the "New King James." My one slight complaint is that it is not quite as beautifully written as the "Revised Standard." But that said, the "New American Standard" is excellent.

The Bible that I purchesed is a great buy. The NASB is a great translation and is easy to understand. I recommend it to anyone who studies the Bible and really wants to learn.

I have been using the NASB Bible for years now, and it is my favorite. It is very easy to understand. It is also the most common used Bible among Bible Studies, and pastors.

I have noted some professional reviews on the Updated NASB. I thought it interesting that it still claims to be the most literal translation used commonly in churches. I will have to disagree. I compared the UNASB with the NKJV, the latter being, in my opinion, more literal than the UNASB, though not maybe moreso than the NASB of the 60's and 70's.

Both the UNASB and NKJV provide column referencing for more literal translation when the translators were less formal in the actual text. But what I found is that the UNASB had to do this far more often than the NKJV (I became fatigued with having to look over at the reference column). And I found that in more cases, the less literal translation was less supported by the original language and more interpreted by the translators. If I was to return to NASB use, it would have to be the earlier version. I never found it difficult to read or stilted in its flow. In fact, back in the 70's and 80's when I and many believers were using the NASB, I never heard a complaint about it being a stiff translation (I think the issue points more accurately to a lessening of literacy in our country).

I feet the update was not justified, for readability and certainly not for accuracy. And the earlier was certainly more accurate. For translations using Greek outside of the Received Text or Majority Text, certainly the UNASB would be the most literal, 2nd to its predecessor. But compared translation for translation, the NKJV is more literal and less interpreted in the text itself.

Finally, it sometimes takes on the words and phrasing of the NIV, which is dynamic equivalence (i.e., interpreted, not translated) in a high percentage of passages.

This Bible is a good value and it's compact; however, just know that the print is very small.

Very nice Bible. It's held up very nicely to a lot of usage. A very good value for the money.