132 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Probably the best King James study Bible you can get, May 15, 2003
Right up front you should know that the commentary in this edition is "fundamentalist" and mostly Baptist, heavily biased in favor of the literal truth of everything in the Bible. If you share that point of view, you'll love everything about this edition, and you'd probably give it five stars.
I'm not a Baptist or a fundamentalist. I'm a lifelong Lutheran, and I don't see any need to waste ink insisting on the literal truth of the Creation story or the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. But, putting aside my doctrinal prejudices, I find this edition so useful that I wouldn't be without it.
Aside from the small core of Baptist dogma and fundamentalist apologetics, the real mission of the commentary is to help you understand the Christian Bible on its own terms. In that it succeeds much better than "liberal" study Bibles, some of which seem mostly interested in endless and useless speculation on text sources. Whatever your position in the Christian spectrum, from far right to far left, you'll find all the help you need to understand the text itself--historical background, outlines, comparisons with other illuminating passages in Scripture, and genuinely helpful translation notes.
If you love the King James Version, this is the edition that best helps you read it with complete understanding. Its great strength is that it gives you the tools you need for drawing your own conclusions. If you happen to disagree with the editors' ideas of doctrine, you can still thank them for illuminating the text so thoroughly that you have a good basis for disagreeing with them.
In short, you probably can't find a better King James study Bible than this. My only reservations have to do with its fundamentalist bias, and I find that bias easy to forgive for the sake of the many virtues of this edition.
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162 of 179 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional value!, June 2, 2001
1. GENERAL EVALUATION: The intent purpose of a Study Bible is to give the reader assistance in understanding the scriptures through cross references, comments and exegesis carefully compiled by a board of theology scholars. There are many Study Bibles available, as you likely discovered [....] Each version and publisher differs to varying degrees. I own and use four Study Bibles. All my Study Bibles are very helpful.
The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers is an outstanding value. [....]
2. FORMAT: The binding is genuine leather with gold color stamped letters. The page are also gold edged. The paper is high quality Bible paper and thin but not so thin that the printing on the reverse pages is distracting. This Bible is quite thick. The flexible leather covers are very helpful in holding the pages open for easy reading. A stiff cover might make the inside printing somewhat hard to see. The type font is large and very easy on the eyes.
The page format is the standard two column Bible arrangement with a third column between the main texts. The center column is a wealth of information. In the middle column, references to related scriptures are given. Also if an original Greek or Hebrew word has more than one meaning, that meaning is printed in the center column. There is more information in the center column that is too lengthy to describe in this review but a complete, clear explanation is given in the front section of this Bible. Suffice it say that the center column alone can indeed greatly expand the meaning of the texts.
Icons are used to clarify to what a note or comment refers. Doctrinal Footnotes Icons are used for systematic Biblical teachings. Personality Footnotes Icons give descriptions and information on persons in the Bible. Archeological Footnotes Icons refer you to information about places in the Bible and recent discoveries. These footnotes and icons are of significant help to the reader.
The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible differs from many Study Bibles in the format the notes are presented. The notes are, as with most Study Bibles, on the lower part of the scriptures pages. However, in many Study Bibles, you will see: See notes on Mt 4.16 as example. Turning to that reference can cause one to lose the train of thought. This is not so in The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible. In well over 90% of footnotes, all the information pertaining to the text is on that page – complete.
The expositors did an exceptional job of a running account of clarifying each verse! There are many references to the original meaning of Greek in the NT and Hebrew words and thoughts in the OT. This, alone, should help the reader gain a better understanding of the Bible.
Maps are included on the pages to which they relate.
3. CONCLUSIONS: Nelson’s comment, “The most comprehensive KJV Study Bible ever printed” is indeed accurate. The study notes and comments are, to say the least, profuse and in depth.
A word, if you will, on the debate over the King James Version. Some folks claim the King James Version is not an accurate translation. This is simply not true. This version is, in reality, quite precise. The basis of this opposition may well be in the language used in the 1600s when the King James Version Bible was translated. The word archaic language pops up in most debates. Archaic is not the proper word. POETIC is! The wording in the King James Version is lilting, flowing like a Mozart symphony. Archaic, no. Beautiful, yes. If you are one who thinks the King James Version is archaic, try reading the lines as you would a poem. Allow the words to sing the message.
- 4 – CONCLUSION: No mater what translation a person selects and/or prefers, they all tell the same time proven, enduring message.
To augment understanding of the Bible, I would suggest reading whatever version you prefer with a copy of The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. This book has Greek and Hebrew dictionaries. You do not have to know Greek or Hebrew to use the dictionaries. The words you want defined are looked up in the concordance in English and referenced by numbers in the Greek or Hebrew dictionaries. While the words are in Greek or Hebrew, they are also transliterated into English. [...], this book is a real bargain.
I have no reservations in giving this exceptionally well-done Bible five stars.
I hope my comments are of some value to you.
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