Customer Reviews

NIV Quest Study Bible, Revised

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At 28 I have tried to read the bible many times during my life -- I've tried KJV and Living Bible and even NIV -- but simply reading verse after verse without ever really understanding what it meant or how it was applicable in my life, I ended up giving up. And then I'd try again months or years later, and give up again. I'm going through a challenging time in my life right now and decided that perhaps this is God's way of bringing me closer to him -- so I set out to buy a bible using something that wasn't available the last time I thought about bible reading... Amazon.com. After reading about the umpteen different bibles available I finally settled on the NIV Quest Study Bible in leather binding. I made the right decision. This is the first time that I read and understand what I'm reading. The explanations and questions and answers it offers are invaluable to me in my journey to become a better Christian by reading the bible. I am using the two-week "bible highlights" study plans it offers right now, and I actually look forward to my daily 20 minute bible reading sessions! This bible is going to be the gift I give to all my loved ones from now on. I highly recommend it. It could very well change your life -- it is already changing mine. God bless.

This newly updated version of the Quest Study Bible is the version I would suggest to anyone who wants to understand the Bible but has a minimum of Bible knowledge. Based on the New International Version it has over 7,000 sidebar notes written in a clear, comprehensible style. As a result it is easy to understand the background of the different passages. In addition to the sidebar notes it has almost 350 articles including many brand new ones since the last edition. Multiple timelines, charts, maps, book introductions, a dictionary, a concordance, and a reading plan add even more benefit to this book.

If you are into Hebrew and Greek word studies or other really detailed, in-depth studies then this book is probably not what you are looking for. On the other hand, this is one of the best versions available for the young Christian or anyone else wanting to gain a good, meaningful understanding of the Bible. Probably the best way to explain how this Bible works is to give an example or two. If you open it to Joshua 18 the sidebars have the following questions and the answers to them: "What was the purpose of the Tent of Meeting", "What were these seven tribes waiting for", "Why cast lots to divide the land", "Was this an advantageous placement for Benjamin". An example from the New Testament might be Acts 17 where it has the following questions: "What did the Epicureans believe", "What did the Stoics believe", "Why did the philosophers call Paul a babbler", "What was the Areopagus" and others. This is also an excellent resource for Sunday School teachers because it poses and answers all the most common (and many unusual) questions that people are likely to have.

This is simply the best version available for young Christians seeking to gain an understanding of the Bible, but it is also recommended for teachers and anyone else dealing with young Christians.

I am not at all familiar with religion in any sense, but have been feeling curious lately. I received the Quest Study Bible as a gift and was pleasantly surprised. I have never read the Bible and this version is very easy to follow and its side notes help you to better understand. I am so impressed with this Bible. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't know a whole lot about the Bible and are wanting to become more familiar with it. In the back of this Bible, suggestions for readings are given for if you are feeling hopeless, lazy, angry, etc. This is a really neat Bible! I highly recommend to everyone!

The revised edition of the Quest Study Bible is truly helpful to anyone who wants to understand the bible! This Bible contains 7,000 succinct notes right where you need them along side the text. The 350 articles are well written and are located near the relevant scriptures to which they refer. Each book of the Bible is introduced and there is a detailed index at the back as well as a concordance. This is not a scholarly Bible but it is designed to answers the questions most of us ask rather than to speculate on questions the average person would not even dream of! The Quest format is simple, inviting and easy to follow. This Bible is similar in format to a textbook and helps us learn many important lessons for living a faith based life. I can't recommend it too highly!!

I got the earlier version of the Quest study bible 10 years ago when it first came out. At that point, I hadn't read through the bible yet but I would get frustrated when I couldn't understand what I was reading. Since I got this bible I have made my way through the bible three times. The questions and answer style along the side are very user friendly. I would highly recommend this bible!

How did Gideon understand the Midianite language?
How do bronze bows work?
What drove the Assyrians to insult the Lord?
What was involved in ceremonial cleaning?
What does the wedding of the Lamb represent?

If you can answer these questions without looking them up in scripture, or some commentary, then I'm impressed. My guess is, however, most Christians, regardless of how long they have been walking in the faith, could not answer these questions. But the Quest study bible answers them and thousands more!

After reading many reviews of this bible, I noticed many people saying that this bible is perfect for "new Christians". Unfortunately, this leads the reader to believe that this Bible is basic or not beneficial for Christians who have been through many years of scripture study. This couldn't be farther from the truth as you can see from my sampling of questions at the beginning of my review!

Secondly, I've always liked the quality of Zondervan's bibles. The page layouts, color contrasts, reference materials, and overall design are aesthetically pleasing.

Like a previous reviewer said, I can't put the book down because there are so many "golden nuggets" of information on each page! I've been a Christian for 22 years and have not found a bible that has taught more great commentary than this one!

A big A+ to the Zondervan staff!!

I cannot begin to recommend this bible highly enough! I have searched for many years for the ideal bible for new christians and this is it!
I have been a christian for most of my life, and I absolutely can hardly put this bible down! It is a great Q&A refresher for seasoned christians too , IMHO.
On a side note, I purchased the Archaeological Study bible along with this Quest bible and that was the *best* decision I have ever made with regard to bible study materials! David W.

I lead a weekly bible study at my church. I absolutely LOVE this study bible - the notes always seem to answer the questions that come up in class. In fact, almost half the class has gone out and purchased this same bible after looking at mine! The notes are listed in question/answer format along the sides of the bible text. The verse number is written in blue if there is a note. Usually the notes will help you put things in historical perspective or further explain an idea that may not be clear.

I grew up with the older version of the Quest Study Bible and have always enjoyed it because of the questions that it asks about the text. Even when I wasn't mature enough or knowledgable enough to ask some of these questions it always gave me somethign interesting to think about. The questions are great because it helped me learn to ask questions while at the same it provided the answers.
Now I'm a youth minister in a Lutheran Church and decided that I want the kids in my church to have exposure to this Bible. The theology isn't always perfect, it sometimes focuses on our choice of God instead of His abundandt grace and his choosing to Love us! I was impressed that the study notes weren't merely answering questions, but often they focus on the possibilities, giving the reader context info which allows them to draw their own conclusions. I think Dr. Luther would have been proud of this attempt to encourage people to read the Bible and ask important questions.
Great Bible if you want to learn more!

I was interested in this edition because several other Christians who I admire use it. It is very interesting and informative - I find myself just scanning page after page of the sidebars, gleaning nuggets of information. Every page has sidebars with answers to questions one might ask of various details in the Bible text on that page. There are also larger paragraph-length sections on various topics.

I think this would have been a great Bible for me to have had when I was a teenager and a new Christian. It would certainly be a good choice for anyone just learning about the Bible - there are several useful aids in it, including several different (basic, medium, and extensive) "read through the Bible" plans, a concise synopsis of what each book of the Bible is about, and little maps, etc. I was pleased to see that one of the most valuable tools I've used, the "concordance" from the NIV Study Bible, is also included in this edition.

The only improvement I would suggest for a future edition is that the sidebars should be moved to the center of the page, so that the chapter titles could be on the outside corners to facilitate looking up verses as you flip through the pages.