The HarperCollins Study Bible : New Revised Standard Version With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If the Hebrew bible is indebted to any one biblical book for its daring historical argument, that book is Genesis..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With The New Oxford Annotated Bible ( New Revised Standard Version ) only four years old, the need for another annotated NRSV isn't readily apparent. Still, when the publisher of the Harper's Bible Commentary and the Harper's Bible Dictionary publishes its own edition of the NRSV, it merits the attention of any serious bible student. An impressive array of biblical scholars has assembled a completely new set of introductions to each testament and to each biblical book, a fresh set of annotations to the text, and a modified set of textual apparatus. The book has many strengths. Most helpful are the annotations, which serve to identify chronology and location and explain wordplay. Many of the comments themselves are both up-to-date (comparing Simon's nickname, "Peter," to "Rocky" in Matthew 16.18) and felicitous (noting the similarity between the story of Moses' midwives, Exodus 1.8-22, and fairy tales like "Snow White"). The annotations particularly do a good job of revealing the interplay between biblical books and actually begin to explicate the text of Revelation. Yet the volume's comprehensiveness can also be its weakness. Notes on the gospels refer to noncanonical works that the average reader will not know and is not likely to have ready access to. Notes on authorial patterns such as symmetry and acrostic poetry don't sufficiently explain the impact of form upon content. In light of the reach this edition attempts, these drawbacks cannot be ignored. Ultimately, the breadth and depth of this study Bible, matched with its superior scholarship, make it a volume worth having in any collection. However, it is close enough in most respects to the Oxford Annotated edition that, if funds are limited and your library already possesses that edition, the HarperCollins edition would not be a necessary purchase.
- W. Alan Froggatt, Bridgewater, Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Beautifully published, with an attractive type font, a soft paper finish, and a strong binding that nonetheless allows the book to lie open at any page, this edition of the Bible--newly annotated by the Society of Biblical Studies--is definitely for a wide audience. It is interdenominational, incorporates the latest in biblical scholarship, and is sensitive to unnecessary gender specificity. An automatic purchase for collections needing a good annotated Bible. Brad Hooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 2368 pages
• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (August 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060655275
• ISBN-13: 978-0060655273
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *The* Bible to Have, December 14, 2004

By	benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version (with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books) (Hardcover)

As another reviewer has written, I have bought two copies of this particular Bible and, should the need ever again arise, I would buy this edition again for a number of reasons.

First, as it is annotated by the Society of Biblical Literature (hereafter, SBL), every book, manuscript tradition and canon (more on this later) is contextualized in two ways: first and foremost in its original historical context (or at least its purported original historical context); second, its later Jewish and Christian canonical-theological tradition (up through about the end of the second century, when these canonical traditions began to really take concrete shape).

This type of "historical criticism" (as it is sometimes called) has the benefit of noting parallels and breaks with other texts of the same era. So, one will read in the notes references to something such as the Gospel of Thomas, early Christian writings and Rabbinic literature, Babylonian creation accounts, etc. The goal of this is not to erase theological understandings of the texts of the Bible, but to place the texts themselves in their original context and let them speak with their own voice as much as possible.

In this way, then, the NRSV is a very Protestant Bible. In keeping with its Protestantism, not only is the Old Testament in this Bible the same as the traditional Protestant Old Testament (39 books), but following Luther and later Protestant editions of the Bible, the "Apocrypha" (an intentionally disparaging term when originally used, which means "hidden" or "esoteric") - the books in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Old Testaments that were never included in the Jewish Bible and were then thrown out of the Protestant Old Testament during the Reformation - are included *between* the Old and New Testaments. Breaking with Protestant anti-Catholicism, however, these books are in no way disparaged but are, instead, recognized by the editors of the NRSV as being accepted as Scripture by a great number of Christians (more Christians accept these books, in fact, than dispute them). To not understand the Apocrypha is to miss out on a huge amount of the larger Biblical world!

The second major reason why I would buy this Bible is due to the fascinating historical essays that open each of the three sections - Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament - which are wonderfully helpful for understanding the larger theological canvas that the Scriptures have occupied for Jewish and Christian communities. There are several tables that note the differences between the major canons - Jewish, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant - and in reading these, it becomes clear that books are placed where they are in the Bible for specific theological reasons (the book of Daniel, for example, is considered by Christians to be a prophetic work but not so by Judaism, hence its exclusion from the Prophets and inclusion in the Writings section of the Jewish Bible).

As with many study Bibles, this edition contains maps and diagrams interspersed throughout the text. Manuscript variances are noted clearly but unobtrusively throughout the text as well and the notes are helpful on historical, literary and linguistic lines. Each book contains an introduction, some of which are quite extensive and all of which are, like the other study aids, quite helpful.

It should be noted that unlike many Bibles, this Bible is neither translated nor annotated on a middle school (or lower!) reading level. For those that are genuinely serious about Bible study, though, I can think of no better Bible to begin - and end - with than this edition.

63 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Studiousness is next to holiness..., June 17, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is not a reflection on the text of the Bible so much as the usefulness of this particular edition. The Bible holds the record for the book with the greatest variation of editions, versions, and separate publications. The Harper Collins Study Bible is one of the few that has remained an essential part of my collection and study.

I was given a copy of the Harper Collins Study Bible many years ago as a gift. I had several versions, and my friend thought he was giving me one more (I like to examine the differences in translations to find deeper meanings in the texts, or misinterpretations based on faulty or incomplete translation). Alas, he was disappointed when I informed him that this was not a distinctively Harper Collins translation; it is in fact a study version of the New Revised Standard Version, one of the dominant translations at use in church and scholarship today. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an updating of the respected and established Revised Standard Version, which still has life as the preferred text of many senior scholars.

The Harper Collins Study Bible was compiled under the direction of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) who, with the American Academy of Religion (AAR) is one of the most respected academic bodies in the field today. The AAR/SBL annual conferences are attended by thousands, including in the book vendor area a large contingent from Harper-Collins publishing. Wayne Meeks, a noted and respected scholar (primarily of New Testament and early Christian era studies) was the senior editor for this edition.

Generously annotated throughout, practically every other verse has a footnote. Variants in source texts and translations are highlighted, as are competing traditions of interpretation of the text (and yes, taking the text literally is still an interpretation, and a tradition of interpretation, for which there must be justification in the interpretive framework). Brief essays establishing context, historical background, textual difficulties and transmission history appear at the beginning of each book. This book contains the apocryphal books which some Bibles exclude; these are included and their status explained for those who are unfamiliar with these texts.

Various maps, charts, tables, and indexes aid the student, scholar or general reader in making way through the text. If I were to have only one copy of the NRSV, this would be it--if I were permitted to have only two Bibles, this would be the second next to my King James Version. Fortunately, I have no such restriction and thus use this beside the Jerusalem/New Jerusalem text, the Schocken versions that are currently being released, the New Interpreters series which is also currently being released, the Tanakh, a publication of the Jewish Publication Society, and various other versions. The Harper Collins Study Bible, however, is the central key around which my study of all other versions revolves.

Peruse it sometime in the library or bookstore, and see, if you have any interest in Biblical studies at all, if this does not become an essential tool for you, too.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study Bible for Serious, Critical Study., January 18, 2002

By	Kerry Sullivan (Taylor, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version (with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books) (Hardcover)

This study Bible is an excellent resource for serious, critically-minded students of the Bible. The scholarship is excellent, and the notes provide excellent and objective historical, cultural, and literary background and context. This is not, however, a devotional or life application Bible. The notes do an excellent job of making the text understandable to a modern reader, but the reader is left on his or her own to work out the implications and applications of the text. Generally, I consider that a good thing. But like other reviewers, I like to balance the HarperCollins with more devotional or evangelical Bibles. Of these, I prefer the somewhat liberal-leaning Access Study Bible published by Oxford, but the NIV Study Bible and NIV Life Application Bible are excellent resources from a more conservative perspective.

Back to the HarperCollins, the format is beautiful and very easy on the eyes. But this comes at the cost of having no margin notes for cross references(contrary to the NIV Bibles). Because of this, all the cross referneces are contained along with the substantive notes at the bottom of each page, which can make these notes rather tedious. Still, the notes are well worth the effort they require.

The text itself is the New Revised Standard Version, an accurate translation that uses modern, inclusive language. I consider it the best translation available for the modern world.