38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Gift Bible - NAB Compact Edition, February 16, 2006
While this is technically a "gift bible" I actually purchased it for myself, mainly because I wanted a good quality, yet compact Catholic Bible for personal devotional use (I already have the hardcover Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha for study). I purchased this at a local Catholic bookstore rather than ordering it from Amazon, but this is the same black leather product. It came in a carboard box with instructions on care for the leather. The Bible itself is rather plain looking on the outside with smooth black leather (sealed in plastic wrap). Zippered up it is quite protected and very solid (not bendable). The "miraculous medal" feels to be made of cheap metal (it's not pewter or gold but for this price one can't expect more than this). Mine had a simple miniature relief of the Virgin Mary, standing with arms slighty raised at her sides with the inscription, "O Mary concieved without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." Apparently some others have different saints on them, so it might be random what you get. On the cover in gold Letters it says "Holy Bible," "NAB" and "Oxford." There is also a small serial number in gold on the lower back of the cover.
Inside there is one color illustration, a painting of Christ the Teacher done in the style of an Eastern icon. There's space (as is common in gift bibles) to put in your wedding date, confirmation or baptism records, name dedication, etc. It has a listing of some traditional prayers (many of which are quite moving) as well. A lot of fine little extras for such a small volume.
The translation of course is the New American Bible, of 1970, a literal scholarly translation in "modern" english using some of the best documents available at the time. This edition of course is approved by the Roman Catholic Church for liturgical use in America as well as for personal devotional reading and study. The style is somewhat formal (and does not include extra gender-inclusive language as some other modern translations do), but not so archaic-sounding to modern ears as the King James. As with all "proper" Catholic Bibles, this contains seven "Apocryphal" books (known as "Deuterocanonical" to Catholics) - Judith, Tobit, the Additions to Esther and Daniel (Song of the Three Holy Children/Young Men, Prayer of Azariah, Susanna and Bel & the Dragon), Letter/Epistle of Jeremiah, Baruch, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus/Wisdom of Ben Sirah), Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon), and 1-2 Maccabees... all of these books are placed in the traditional Catholic order among the Old Testament books (with the "additions" and Letter of Jeremiah being incorporated into the books to which they traditionally belong). So you have the entire Western Bible in both Testaments in one compact sized edition. You will not find the additional books accepted by the Greek and Slavonic churches herein (for those you should look to the Oxford Annotated NRSV, such as 1-2 Esdras, 3-4 Maccabees, Psalm 151, etc. those are NOT included here).
The text is a bit small but I'm not in the habit of writing in the margins (and this bible is probably too nice for that, beyond the places one is expected to write outside the scripture writings themselves). People with poor eyesight may need a magnifier to see.
Other niceties of this edition include gilt edge pages, table of lectionary readings and lectionary use note, and a concordance. Pages are rounded off to help prevent paper cuts. The chapter and section headings the NAB likes so much are somewhat crammed into the text in this edition, but it's a minor complaint of an otherwise well organized edition.
As a correction, this edition does NOT have the following:
-'words of Christ in red' OR
-ribbon bookmark,
These two features are in a lot of similar bibles, so if you miss these (I especially miss the built in bookmark) too much you may want to consider another Bible.
There is a copy of the Vatican document on scripture "Dei Verbum" (Word of God), table of weights and measures used in the Bible, and introductions to the various sections. Footnotes are grouped at the end of a particular book or section rather than in the text itself. This can keep them from distracting one who is doing devotional reading, but may be an annoyance to the one who is doing study, who has to flip back and forth.
I worried somewhat about the zipper that it would become a hindrance, and in a sense it could (holding the Bible in your hands for a long time could become uncomfortable. It does not interfere with page turning, thankfully. It would take some "breaking in" to get the Bible to lay flat, but it can prop itself open to avoid this. The care insert recommends not leaving church bulletins, sermon outlines or writing implements inside the bible which could damage the binding or pages.
Overall this seems to be a fine Bible for the devotional Catholic and would make a fine gift for confirmation or other similar event. It is probably also good for light trips (the metal might set off the airport metal detector, but I haven't tried it yet).
A few small quibbles as mentioned above prevent it from being a full 5 stars, but I would give it 4.5 if it was an option. For what appears to be a durable volume at a bargain price, I'd say it's definately worthwhile, unless something better comes along.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compact/Travel/Gift Bible - NAB Translation, July 13, 2006
ISBN: 0195282914 (blue/black "Pacific Duvelle" cover version)
This is a very nice compact bible - soft, suede-like cover, gold edge, ribbon marker, etc. Like most compact bibles, the print is a bit tiny (around 5-6 pts, the notes at the end of the chapter are even smaller) so you might not want to use it as your main reading bible at home. Oxford Press makes a larger "Reader's Edition" that may be more suitable for that purpose. This bible feels very nice in your hands. The only downside to this is that it is almost too nice and I sometimes find myself handling it very gently to avoid damaging the delicately thin pages. The leather version with zipper might be better if you travel a lot with your bible since this particular size is hard to find a nice fitting cover for.
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