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Student Study Bible (ESV version)
A review of the recently-published Student Study Bible which is a substantial addition to the range of one-volume resources containing the Word of God along with explanatory notes, guides, charts and maps.
 Sitting at an affordable price point amongst the current and extensive range of study bibles is the recently-published Collins' ‘Student Study Bible’ using the English Standard Version (ESV) translation.
The cover notes state that the publication is ‘ideally suited to students who are serious about God’s Word – who want to learn more about what the Bible teaches and how the Bible applies to all of life. It contains 12,000 study notes along with maps and the customary references to associated passages on each page'.
The use of different-coloured panels to delineate related information is very helpful in terms of easily identifying the nature of the information which each panel contains – green for ‘Did you know?’; blue highlights key verses; and yellow denotes profiles of 120 important Bible characters.
These panels which variously appear on almost every page are supplemented by illustrations and charts which further explain the passages to which they relate.
Each Bible book has an introductory page giving the author/date and key themes along with a timeline of the period to which the book applies. The appendices in the ‘Articles and Resources’ section includes – in common with any respectable study Bible - a concordance, glossary and maps. However this section also contains notes on the authority of the Bible, aids to reading, understanding and applying God’s Word, along with key Christian doctrines and derivative Christian ethics.
Printed on a quality paper which has a durable feel, and bound in hard-back form it constitutes a very useful and readable one-volume coverage of God’s word in a modern English translation. (The ESV is a revision of the Revised Standard Version which was used by a committee – working under J.I. Packer – as the English textual basis for this contemporary translation. The most recent revision was issued in April 2011.)
Any study Bible is, of necessity, a compromise on content, production quality and price, but the ESV Student Study Bible published by Collins is a very significant addition as a affordabable single-volume resources for anyone who – in our sound-bite age – wishes to apply themselves seriously to the Word of God.
The Student Study Bible: English Standard Version (ESV) [Hardcover] is available from bookshops and online retailers from around £15.00
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Christians Together, 19/04/2012
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