ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION STUDY BIBLE
Crossway Bibles. 2,752 pages. £39.99
ISBN 978 1-4334-0241-0
Do you like the ESV? Is your NIV Study Bible a bit long in the tooth? Are you on the same page as Wayne Grudem and J. I. Packer? Are you man (or woman) enough to carry a truly big Bible? Do you like it online as well as on paper? Then step right this way; this may be just the thing for you.
Lane Dennis and Crossway Bibles, with Wayen Grudem (general editor) and J.I. Packer (theological editor), are to be congratulated for bringing out this extremely impressive volume. The ESV text is set out in a single column, with cross-references to the side and a double column of study notes at the bottom. The type is fairly small, but clear and manageable. It has 2752 pages vs. the 2,145 of the NIV Study Bible, outweighs it by 40% but isn’t really too much bulkier. There is a plethora of charts, maps, diagrams and illustrations scattered throughout, usually in colour, in addition to detailed introductions to each book. At the back there are over 50 resource articles (theology, ethics, interpretation, critical issues, etc.) plus the usual short concordance and maps. I wonder how much the average user will read or refer to the resource articles, but the information is all there. It is all beautifully produced, though cramming in 2,752 pages results in a certain amount of bleed-through, and it looks to be a durable volume.
