Comparative Study Bible [Black & White] [Hardcover]

Zondervan Publishing (Creator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1985

"Size 6 7/16 x 9 1/4 inches. 3,120 pages."Each two-page spread contains a complete Scripture portion"from these versions: KJV, NIV, Living Bible, NRSV. Clear,"easy-to-read print. Printed on high quality Bible paper.Full-color Hardcover. White page ed

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Four popular translations in one convenient volume • NIV, King James Version, NASB Updated, and Amplified side-by-side • A powerful resource for studying God’s word • Clear, easy-to-read print

When you don’t want to lose anything in the translation, the Comparative Study Bible is a tool that lets you explore all the rich nuances and shades of meaning in the Bible text without having to learn the original biblical languages. It sets four popular translations side-by-side for you to compare and contrast: the trustworthiness and versatility of the New International Version, the time-honored authority of the King James Version, the word-for-word accuracy of the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition, and the scholarly detail of the Amplified Bible.

Passages and verses from the four versions are aligned in parallel columns on facing pages for ease of study. Each translation offers insight on different facets of meaning in the text, giving you the benefit of the work of different groups of scholars to help you understand and interpret the Bible for yourself. The Amplified Bible helps you take your study a step further, offering a format that gives you access to the shades of meaning in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.

A valuable resource for gaining insight into scriptural truths, the Comparative Study Bible helps you compare translations at a glance and is an excellent resource for in-depth Bible study.

Bringing New Meaning To Your Bible Study Features include: Each two-page spread contains a complete Scripture portion from these versions: New International Version King James Version New American Standard Bible, Updated Amplified Bible Double-column format 8-point type

You don’t have to take a Greek or Hebrew class to enjoy the benefits of understanding the nuances and meanings of biblical words and phrases. The Comparative Study Bible brings four popular translations together into one convenient volume. Featuring the bestselling New International version, the classic King James Version, the 1995 New American Standard Bible, Updated, and the Amplified Bible, this parallel Bible helps you compare and contrast the strengths of four of the most trusted translations. And the special features of the Amplified Bible help you unlock the original meaning of key words and phrases.

When you want to study the Bible in depth, comparing different Bible translations helps you discover the different nuances of meaning in the text. The translation committees for each Bible version chose different ways of translating the original Scripture texts into English. By comparing them, you can get a more complete understanding of what the original writers intended without having to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Emphasizing the importance of the words the original writers used, as well as their context, the Comparative Study Bible gives you access to translations that allow you to read the Bible without commentary, yet enables you to compare key words that expand on what the text is saying.

The word-for-word translations of the King James Version and the New American Standard Bible, Updated, let you see English rendering of the words the original Bible authors used, while the New International Version represents the best balance of word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation, communicating the meaning more clearly to modern readers. And the Amplified Bible’s unique system of punctuation, italics, and references helps you take your study a step further, allowing you to unlock subtle shades of meaning found in the original languages. The Comparative Study Bible offers easy access to four distinctive translations in clear, easy-to-read print.

Comparative Study Bible includes:

New International Version: Today’s bestselling translation, offering a unique combination of scholarly accuracy and easy readability. The balance of word-for-word and thought-for-thought approach to translation allows today’s reader to better understand and apply the intended meaning of the original Bible writers in contemporary language. The NIV is today’s most read, most trusted English translation.

King James Version: The classic, word-for-word translation, beloved by Christians through the centuries for its dignity, poetic language and timeless truths. Nearly four hundred years after it first appeared, the language of the KJV is still vivid, powerful, and pleasurable to the ear.

New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition: The most literal word-for-word English translation available, updated to provide greater clarity of meaning. Vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure have been carefully revised to improve readability. The 1995 version includes extensively revised notes with new information about the ancient manuscripts.

Amplified Bible: Using a system of parentheses, italics, and brackets this precise word-for-word version captures more the meaning behind the original Greek and Hebrew. With the Amplified Bible, you don’t need a scholarly background in the original languages to grasp the nuances and meanings of the text. Publishing in 1964 and updated in 1987, this popular version has helped thousands break through the language barrier and understand the hidden meaning of the original words. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 3103 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; VII edition (July 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310904102
• ISBN-13: 978-0310904106
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

164 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Buy, But Not Exactly a "Study Bible", October 3, 2002

By 

Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comparative Study Bible, Revised (Hardcover)

Comp-bibl

This "Comparative Study Bible" is a useful tool, handy, and cost-effective for any bible scholar who doesn't have most of the translations in hand already (King James, Amplified, New American Standard, and New International).

Its chief virtue is that the two middle translations are somewhat difficult to find and very expensive to buy: the Amplified Version and the NASB. The Amplified is just that: if more than one word is necessary to get the nuance of meaning(s) of the original text(s) across, this version will indicate so, even at the risk of a "stuttering" effect: For example, the New International Version Chapter 1, Verse 2 reads: "Meaningless, Meaningless! Says the Teacher, Utterly Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless." The Amplified Version has it: "Vapor of vapor and futility of futilities, says the Preacher. Vapor of vapor and futility of futilities. All is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory)." (note the repetition of the "vapor" phrase; also, this edition contains a cross-reference to Romans)

The New American Standard Bible (NASB), on the other hand, does not try to synthesize text with synonyms but with a challenging, "strictly literal" or word-for-word methodology so difficult to read that most bible scholars rate at about grade 11. (At this point I should mention that the "reading levels" of the past were skewed much higher in, say, 1960 than they are today: today's college textbooks are written at level 10, editorials in prestigious newspapers at about 8, and news content about 6.

The price we pay for the strict literalness of NASB makes it unsuitable for general pew use (most of the time, anyway), the virtue is that it reveals shades of meaning through its complexity that are not available to the general reader of the New Revised Standard, King James, NIV and so on. For example, the New Revised Standard (NRSV) translates Genesis 1:11 as: "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." The NASB has it "Let the earth sprout vegetation; plants bearing seed and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them." A subtle but key difference, no?

In terms of the market value of its translations, our "Comparative Study Bible" has the advantage over its near-twin, the very similar "Today's Parallel Bible," which contains KJV, NIV, NASB, and a paraphrase, Today's living version (TLV). The TLV is a widely-circulated and admired paraphrase and is quite easy and cheap to come by. Instead, our version includes the more expensive Amplified version.

Like "Today's Parallel," our "Comparative Bible" here discussed is manufactured in the USA but the physical product is not, I fear, a sterling example of American workmanship. For the book's weight, the spine stitching is too slight. (I recommend the owner carry it around in a backpack or tote of some kind.)

More problematic is the fact that the "Comparative Study Bible" doesn't really qualify as a "study Bible," even within the slippery bounds of bible lingo (what constitutes a "concordance," what is "annotated," etc). Cross-references frequently are contained in braces after the relevant verse but don't come in the kind of flowing abundance we'd expect in a center-column bible, for example. Comment and annotated footnotes are rare. There are exceptions (see Amos 3:7) but they are exceptions.

This lack of study-worthiness from lack of full cross-references and annotation makes me downrate this otherwise useful and thrifty four-format Bible from a 5 to a 4. But considered not as a "study bible" but just as a cheap and convenient way to acquire new bible versions (especially NASB and Amplified), it's a bargain and highly recommended.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 in 1 Bible... If this is what you're looking for..., November 11, 2002

By 

Internet Guru "neoscion" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comparative Study Bible, Revised (Hardcover)

Despite the crushed expectations of some, I find these types of tools invaluable, and the product itself is outstanding. The intentions of the publisher was to put four translations side by side in one clearly labeled package, and they delivered (except for the "study" part of it... which is more commonly used today suggesting editor's notes... honestly, I'm pleased that piles of opinions aren't there).
These aren't the only four translations that will go great together, but they are definately good to compare, especially the NASB update (my favorite) and the NIV which are very popular translations. The KJV is significant considering it was a translation based on the TR text, and interesting to note some of the rather dated words that were used (that still cause "confusion" with certain groups that hold exclusively to this translation). The amplified translation seems a bit awkward, but still good because it causes curiosity.
If you are expecting this to be an exact literal translation or an "interlinear", then don't buy it, it isn't supposed to be. If you are expecting the Greek text, don't buy it, it's not a Greek testament either. If you want a parallel Bible, buy it, it is just that.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL BIBLE! One Of The Best 4-In-1 Bibles Made Today!, May 3, 2004

By 

Sheila Chilcote-Collins "Sheila Renee Chilcot... (Collinswood, Van Wert, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comparative Study Bible, Revised (Leather Bound)

The Comparative Study Bible takes the complete texts of four
popular Bibles each acclaimed for its distinctive translational features and sets them side-by-side for fast, easy comparison.

This revised version offers important updates that make it more useful than ever. Includes the beloved King James translation, Amplified version, New International version, and the Updated NASB with the words of Christ in RED in all translations.

This ASIN that I am reviewing is the leatherbound edition. It is bound in beautiful top grade burgundy leather with a satin bookmark & exceptional binding. Pretty endpages and gold gilded pages make this Bible a great gift for ANY occasion or a well-deserved gift for yourself.

Highly recommended!