Customer Reviews

Today's Parallel Bible

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Given the inevitable shortcomings of translating from one language to the next, a serious Bible reader needs to consult more than one version in order to get the clearest rendering. This parallel Bible includes a complete translation of 2 word-for-word literal translations (the KJV and NASB, based on slightly different original-manuscript traditions), today's best-selling thought-for-thought translation (the NIV), and the most scholarly, up-to-date, readable paraphrase on the market (the NLT).

While only reading one translation, you have no way to know at what points modern translators might differ. But while reading two or more, differences are flagged, thus encouraging further study. I believe these are the four best translations to compare, if this is your goal.

In case you're wondering, this review is based on a reasonably thorough study of the Bible's original languages which earned me a Master of Divinity degree from Talbot Theological Seminary (Biola University) in 1982.

This is a long review, designed to justify the case for buying a Parallel Bible for oneself or as a gift, and then discussing the considerable merits of *Today's Parallel Bible*. I hope people who aren't quite familiar with the merits of a multi-version Bible will read it and benefit from the review.

I don't want to sound crass or irreverent, but at some level the buyer has to consider value, relevance and intellectual import when looking to buy Scripture outside of his/her home tradition and Scripture. Every denomination advocates a particular version of the Bible--and there are at least ten widely-distributed versions suitable for laity and pulpit alike among the various large American affiliations. (Tons of minor ones, too.)

With the very best of intentions, religion majors, seminarians and even Divinity School Ph.D. candidates can get set up for the fall by taking their various schools' dictates literally. With various degrees of authoritarianism, these groves of academe are almost obliged to parrot Denominational Doctrine and try to enforce use of Headquarters' preferred translation: the language used can be as blunt as "It is heresy to read any version other than that approved by the Holy [Headquarters] in [European City]; to the public-relations-friendly but equally authoritarian "Our denomiantion recommends the [New Blank] version because it has its roots in the [Blank] version, the most popular new book of 1953; also our newest version is fully [historically accurate, gender-neutral, etc.]."

Here's the irony: sooner or later, whatever the bureaucrats tell you, you're going to want to consult other translations. After all, that's all the Scriptures we have access to are: TRANSLATIONS. Most, if not all, of your teachers will be scholars and theologians, not disciplinarians and dogmaticians, and they have few scruples about consulting other texts. You'll probably even be asked to compare a few on your own. Inerrancy and doctrine is not the point for informed laity and clergy so much as further enlightenment and truth; and after all, Jesus had plenty to say about truth in the Sermon on the Mount.

In Exodus 3, God says to Moses, "And I am sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand." This is a tad difficult to understand, yet far from the most obscure KJV reference translatable into 21st Century English. Consulting the other versions in this volume--NASB, NIV and TLV--will open up that verse much more handsomely. It's important to remember that Moses didn't communicate in the 1611 English of the King James Bible. In America, we have freedom of religion, and if you want to hold the KJV the only inerrant version of God's Word, that's your privilege; nonetheless you or someone you know will eventually consult other versions, even if late at night in the dorm room with a flashlight (seriously!). And even the most straight-laced study groups, in my experience, develop curiosity and cross the fence now and again.

Ironically, buying a parallel bible at first looks like a waste of money, like buying four backpacks or four college pennants when you already have what you need. But it's a savings in the long run because of the consolidation effect, let alone the convenience of having four major translations laid out for you side-by-side (two on each side of the page). If you steal a march now and spend the money, I've a hunch you'll be glad you did.

Of course, the less duplication you already have, the better. In this case, if your denomination is Roman Catholic and insists on the NAB, or "Oldline" Protestant and joneses the NRSV, you're home free. 'Most everyone respects the NIV for its readability, authority and efficiency. (Don't be thrown by the assumption that a low "word count" in the NIV indicates that subject matter has been omitted--it hasn't, but has simply been rendered more idiomatically.) The KJV is, and probably always shall be, a cornerstone of Modern English ("For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.")

The NASB traces back to a pre-World War One ancestor; at that time its origin lay in theological schism but more recent versions have to do with accuracy, readability and exactness of thought. (While bibles like the NAB or NRSV can be called "Literal," the NASB is "Strictly Literal"; happily, though, while thorough it is felicitous and does not read like a clunker.) On the other hand, the TLV is a very successful paraphrase, an intelligent and thoughtful one that is nothing like some of the "dumbed down" versions we're getting these days that translate Shekels into dollar amounts or "afternoon" into "three o'clock" in a sorry attempt to housebreak everything to the American pre-adolescent reading standard. TLV is fresh, lively, makes no pretense to carry forward any pre-existing literary tradition, but can quite often and surprisingly shed extra light on the subject matter.

Students: Spend the money; you'll be glad you did in the long run. Grandparents, parents, girl/boyfriends: forget the scarves and CD's and gift certs and go for this one--it will truly grow in value as long as your cherished one owns it.

I have a couple of minor quibbles. The KJV is in the public-domain. The NIV is licensed to lots of different publishers. The TLV is owned by a particular publishing house but like the other two, beginner's versions are quite inexpensive. Considered simply as a combination of texts, this makes *Today's Parallel Bible* expensive--but I must say, that is well counterweighted by Amazon's generous discount and the book's usefulness as a study bible. For its size and weight, this tome is not spectacularly well bound, and it's better to use a book bag or backpack lest it develop "wiggle cover." Nonetheless few, if any, Christians who want to study various Bible translations in depth can go wrong here. Go for it! :)

This edition has complete translator's footnotes (as far as I can determine) for all four translations. Excellent format to compare all four translations.

I won't rewrite what other reviewers have said about the text. Having all four excellent translations are wonderful. I consider the KJV a classic, which is sometimes more poetic to read than to actuall understand. Then we've got two of the best modern translations available today, the NIV and NASB, which are very similar to one another but each excel in certain areas. For example the NIV translation of the OT is superb, whilst the NASB translation of the NT is equally wonderful. That doesn't mean the NIV does a dodgy job at the NT or the NASB the OT, just these are the strengths of these two translations. Recommended by many in Bible school. Then we have the new contemporary wonder, the NLT, the New Living Translation. I love it. Actually the only thing that could be better than having the NLT would be having "The Message" translation instead. The contemporary language of the NLT is popular with lots of believers who need to hear and read the words in words that are common to them now, and I think that helps.

Having these scriptures in a 4 column layout is wonderful because it brings new meaning to the texts. We can see what some passages are translated as in some translations and see various parts were translators had differing opinions or expressed concern about their chosen translation of word, which is usually footnoted. Seeing contemporary words explaining our popular belief of what some classic scripture meant is just as wonderful. I recommend this Bible to all my friends. The only thing that could make it better is if it was cross referenced and contained a concordance. But I'm also glad it doesn't contain that as well, as I started the bible is worth its weight in gold - and at 2861 pages, that's alot of weight. If you're considering a comparative bible, this is the one to get.

Zondervan publishes two major parallel Bibles: Today's Parallel Bible (this one) and the Comparative Study Bible, which is simply a parallel Bible featuring NIV, KJV, NASB (New American Standard Bible, 1995 updated edition), and Amplified Bible. Both contain NIV, KJV, and NASB (updated). The only difference between these two is NLT (New Living Translation, 1st edition, 1996) in this one vs. Aplified Bible in the Comparative Study Bible. I prefer this one because the Amplified Bible is very unreliable, giving meanings of the words unfound in the original language. There are much better word-study references available.

Another excellent parallel bible is the Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible published by Oxford. It features NKJV, ESV, NLT (2nd edition, 2004), and the Message. Personally I like the Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible better.

If you can afford to buy both Today's Parallel Bible and Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible, you will have pretty much all major conservative English Bible translations at your hand, with the exception of Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). HCSB does have, in my opinion, more accurate translation of some verses that none of the above-mentioned versions do.

Nelson will publish a Parallel Study Bible in later 2006. It will include NKJV, New Century Version, the Message, and abridged study notes from NKJV Study Bible.

This bible is finally everything I have been looking for in a study bible. It has all the versions I was interested in comparing and is more than just the New Testament. At the Christian bookstores near my house, this bible runs almost twice the cost of what Amazon.com carries it for, so even if you're paying for shipping, this is a great deal! Open anywhere in the book and find all four translations looking back at you so you can easily compare line to line, verse to verse. Also included, being a study bible, are notes and references that lead you elsewhere to learn more about what you just read. This is a must have for anyone delving further into their studies and having some limited room on their bookshelf!!

I own both the Life Application NIV (1991) and the NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible (1991), and I bought Today's Parallel Bible (TPB) to give me additional interpretations in an easy-to-access format. While I appreciate the breadth of comparison the TPB affords me, I'm glad I have my other Bibles with their copious explanatory footnotes, essays, maps, in-depth introductions, cross-references, timelines and concordances; by contrast, the TPB is downright Spartan, containing only the text of Scripture with a few alternate words and phrases noted but no maps, no chapter intros and no study notes.

The paper of the hardcover edition also suffers from weaker opacity and exhibits greater bleed-through (ink showing through the backside of each page) than more expensive Bibles. I suspect this is because the paper had to be very lightweight to fit four translations into less than 3,000 pages. But when you couple this bleed-through with the 8 pt. type on tight leading, you have an extremely dense typographic page, and it's definitely harder to read than most single-translation Bibles.

My recommendation is: don't make this your first or only Bible. First buy a study version of the Bible that has lots of supportive material in it. After that, Today's Parallel Bible will make a worthy supplementary Bible for alternate interpretations to deepen your understanding of Scripture.

I call this, my FAVORITE bible, the "clunker" because it's FAT! Other than the thickness, the bible is normal in size and will fit in a XL bible case-which you will want to purchase because the binding is glued. (YUK!)Also the print is kind of small but if they made it large, this bible would not be comfortable to carry. I love having these translations next to each other because I was raised on the KJV but I like to compare it with the NIV for clarification. When I am just so tired and want the big basic picture, I read the NLT. When I am feeling super studious I read the NASB side. 95% of the time I am so into reading the bible that I read all four translations!! Get this bible! You won't regret it!

I found this bible to be just what many people are looking for; understanding. When comparing the 4 translations you can basically understand the text better. Very good choice.

I purchased the leather covered version of Today's Parallel Bible based on the reviews of the hardcover version being a glued binding. I purchased it from a Amazon seller and saved $30 off the $90 price. I would pay $10-15 more for the leather cover over the hardcover price of $50. The layout is great and the mix of the 4 versions that I really wanted to study from is fantastic. It is just so cool to read along in your favorite version, but be able to check out how the others read as well. It is really helping me get understanding of the KJV as well.