29 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
PLEASE, Do Not Buy This Bible, June 21, 2006
This review is from: NRSV Standard Text with Apocrypha Black French Morocco NR13A (Leather Bound)
I wanted a leather bound, smaller-sized NRSV w/Apocrypha (A lot of NRSVs are the size of laptop computers, with a large amount of commentary and wide margins and I wanted a small version the same size as my Book of Common Prayer because I travel a great deal). When this NRSV Bible arrived from Amazon.com, I was appalled (actually, horrified) to learn that this Bible was bound and printed in Belarus, a country known by the U.S. State Department as "Europe's last dictatorship." (Just Google the words "Belarus" AND "Human Rights" AND Google "Europe's Last Dictatorship" and read/learn for yourself). Perhaps it was less expensive for Cambridge University Press to print and bind this Bible in Belarus, but the maltreatment of workers in Belarus (and the blatant and ongoing repression and persecution of Jews, Christians, and other religious folk -- again, I encourage you to research this online yourself) glaringly, blatantly, and shamefully contradicts the human and spiritual values promoted so clearly in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. I do not speak or write Belarusian or Russian. I would really be the wrong person (I only speak English and French fluently) to edit and print a Russian or Belarusian Bible. Perhaps having this English language Bible printed in Belarus accounts for the many misspelled words in this Bible. If I lived with the anxiety and stress of being a citizen in a violent and cruel dictatorship, I imagine this would have a negative impact on my work performance. For example, the word "disciple" is rendered "dis-ciple," (hyphenated for no apparent or sensible reason -- the letters of the word are entirely on the same line of a sentence) in this Bible. Some verses are double numbered (2 Esdras 7:42 is also 2 Esdras "112" -- rendered in the confusing text as "2 Esdras 42 112"). And there are numerical overprints in the Psalms. I didn't feel like I was ripped off by the poor quality of this Bible. I actually felt very, very sad that my purchase of this Bible, a text I consider sacred, economically supported a cruel regime and nation where humans are maltreated and abused. I still respect Cambridge as a publisher (I just feel like some individual or department made a huge mistake with this NRSV). I just wrote a five-star review on Amazon.com of "The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible" (this one was printed in the UK and it is a work of art). I am not going to seek a refund on this NRSV Bible or throw it out. I'll keep it and use it. This Bible will be a reminder for me to pray for the people who live and work in Belarus and in other, modern repressive regimes. I do find it odd that my Cambridge Bibles passed down from the 1950s and 60s are free of error and that in 2006 Bibles are printed with so many textual, spelling and punctuation errors. Cambridge, you are a wonderful institution. When your print Bibles and other books, please take your work more seriously. You are capable of doing wonderful work. Don't support repressive regimes to make a profit. If you have any NRSV Bible in your possession, read Hebrews 13:3: "Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured." Among those in prison and those being tortured in Belarus are Dmitry Zavadsky, Yury Zakharenko, Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Anatoly Lebedko, Sergei Antonchik, and Yury Bandazhevsky.
Additional errors in this Bible:
The Psalter is divided into different different "books." Book II in this NRSV (on pg. 481 of this NRSV) is printed "Book II (Psalms 4272)" [with the number seven having a line through it]. I am familiar with subdivisions of the Psalter into "books," but I have no idea what the significance of the number "4272" (with the number 7 having a dash line through it). Book III has "Psalms 7389" with a dash or line through the number 8 on page 498). Psalm 76 is subtitled "Israel's GodJudge of All the Earth" "GodJudge (some sort of ecclesiastical neologism, I suppose) is printed as one word and there is a printed line through all of the letters spelling out the word "Judge." This is what I meant by "overprints" and errors. Don't waste your money on this very flawed Bible and please don't economically support the cruel dictatorship in Belarus by purchasing (and contributing to the Belrus economy via business taxes and bribes for industry in that nation) anything (including this Bible) manufactured in that nation. Boycott this product and let Cambridge publishing know what you think of their Bible printing operation in Europe's last dictatorship.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Bible!, September 6, 2010
This review is from: NRSV Standard Text with Apocrypha Black French Morocco NR13A (Leather Bound)
Thoroughly impressed by this Bible. After lots of research and looking around, settled on this and could not be more impressed. Great leather job, beautiful gilding and clean text. Published and manufactured in UK and didn't run into any issues and complaints.
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