The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version [Paperback]

Michael D. Coogan (Editor), Marc Z. Brettler (Editor), Carol A. Newsom (Editor), Pheme Perkins (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195284852 | ISBN-13: 978-0195284850 | Publication Date: January 25, 2001 | Edition: College

Students, professors and general readers alike have relied upon The Oxford Annotated Bible for essential scholarship and guidance to the world of the Bible for nearly four decades. Now a new editorial board and team of contributors have completely updated this classic work. 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 new edition includes a full index to all of the study material (not just to the annotations), and one that is keyed to page numbers, not to citations. And, to make certain points in the text clearer for the reader, there are approximately 40 in-text, line drawing maps and diagrams.
With the best of the Annotated's traditional strengths, and the augmentation of new information and new approaches represented in current scholarship, the Third Edition will serve as the reader's and student's constant resource for a new century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From reviews of the previous edition:

"The New Oxford Annotated Bible with its excellent footnotes and concise introductory materials has a thoroughness and clarity that should prove invaluable to the lay reader and scholar alike."--Frederick Buechner

"I know of no other annotated Bible that is as rich as The New Oxford in both the precision of its textual notes and the clarity and helpfulness of its introductions. It will be and extraordinarily useful edition to have on one's library shelf."--Andrew M. Greeley

About the Author

Michael Coogan is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, and director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum. Carol Newsom is at Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 2180 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; College edition (January 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195284852
• ISBN-13: 978-0195284850
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Apocrypha

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

303 of 318 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Top-Quality Study Bible, February 25, 2001

By 

George L. Beiler (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Third Edition (Hardcover 9700A) (Hardcover)

Oxford has greatly improved its New Annotated Study Bible. The notes are far more extensive than in previous editions. In addition to including the complete text of the NRSV in an easy-to-read typeface, this new edition contains notes pointing out information and meanings which are not obvious from just reading the text and, in places, indicating meanings from the underlying Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts which are not evident in the NRSV translation.

The notes are entirely scholarly and do not attempt to teach any religious doctrine.

In places, the NOAB Third Edition is less thorough in its notes than the competing HarperCollins Study Bible, but the notes are better written and far less tedious to read.

435 of 460 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best study bible for "seekers", July 8, 2003

By 

Eric Krupin (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Third Edition (Hardcover 9700A) (Hardcover)

When the Oxford University Press labels this an "ecumenical" study bible, it's not kidding. The Apocrypha are included, naturally. (You don't have to read them, of course, but you will have to pay for them.) But the Old Testament is also respectfully referred to as "The Hebrew Bible". And all dates are given as BCE/CE rather than BC/AD. The annotations are just as scrupulously free of denominational bias. Of course, the only way it can manage that is by avoiding religious interpretation altogether. This makes the book less useful to those looking for an in-depth treatment of their particular faith, I suppose. But that's also what makes it invaluable to those of who are still "waiting in the hall" - as C.S. Lewis put it. That, combined with the title's decades of acceptance by men far more learned in the subject than I (and just the general classiness of the OUP), means I *trust* this Bible as I do no other I've seen on the market - as one can only trust someone who isn't trying to sell you anything. And, without wading too far into the muddy and turbulent waters of the translation issue, let me register my opinion that the New Revised Standard Version used here strikes me as the most literal translation that can still be considered good English. (It doesn't read with the absolute clarity of a good thought-for-thought version like the Good News Translation, but it far excels the New American Standard Bible - generally considered the single most literal English version - and the mega-popular but lamentable New International Version, which doesn't even have all-out-literalism as an excuse.)

Furthermore, as a specimen of book manufacture, the New Oxford Annotated Bible is a giant among dwarves. The uncluttered double columns of text [11-pt. Times New Roman, I'm guessing] and single column of annotations at the bottom of the page, set with half-inch margins, printed on opaquer-than-average paper, is more readable than any non-Giant Print Bible I've ever seen. The words of Jesus are not printed in red, but if you're afraid you'll lose track of them, you can always highlight them with a red marker and draw pointing arrows labelled "Over Here!"

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll admit it, I bought it for school., November 15, 2003

By 

LKN (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Third Edition (Hardcover 9700A) (Hardcover)

I've read a couple of Bible translations now, and with most of them, they're written for religon. Which makes sense. That was never why I was reading them, however; I've always looked at the Bible in a more literary or philosophical way.

This particular version marked the end of my search for a Bible. I bought it for a class this semester, but found myself reading up on the Apocrypha and the neglected books in my precious spare time. The translation is fully detailed in the copious footnotes and introductions at the beginning of each book. Nuances in language, shifts in dialouge, it's all explained nicely, so you don't need to speak Greek and Hebrew to get it all.

Whether you're doing what I did, and studying the Bible, or if you're looking for a religious text, or both, this is definitely the way to go.