Post Published on January 16, 2012.
Last Updated on April 28, 2016 by davemackey.
Introduction
This post is a review of the currently available study bibles. These are English translations of the Old and New Testaments found in the Christian Bible that include notes, maps, cross-references, and other features that delineate them as a “study” bible. At the time I performed this aggregation (1/16/12) there were 1,127 results for study bibles on Christian Book Distributor’s website.1I also utilized Amazon’s site. A search for “study bible” on the same day filtered down to include only books returned 10,309 results. I reviewed 528 of these results, after which time I was fairly confident I had located most of the major study bibles and a few of the smaller ones. I have attempted to compile almost all of them below – excluding study bible’s which differ only by translation or are foreign language. I’ve also excluded a number of others which I include at the bottom in a list for anyone interested in performing further research.
Options
| Bible: | Versions: | Notes: | Visuals:(1) | Cross-Refs: | Concordance: | Book Intros: | Published: |
| MacArthur Study Bible | NKJV, NASB, ESV | 25,000 | 140+ | 80,000 | Yes | Yes | 1997 |
| ESV Study Bible | ESV | 20,000 | 440+ | 80,000 | 2009 | ||
| Zondervan Study Bible | NASB, NIV | 20,000 | 80 | 100,000 | Yes | Yes | 1999 |
| Life Application Study Bible | NIV, NLT, NKJV, NASB | ||||||
| Archaeological Study Bible | NIV, KJV | ||||||
| NLT Study Bible | NLT | ||||||
| Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible | |||||||
| NASB New Inductive Study Bible | NASB | ||||||
| Scofield Study Bible (Original) | KJV | ||||||
| Scofield Study Bible (Revised) | |||||||
| Scofield Study Bible (III) | NIV | ||||||
| NRSV New Oxford Annotated Bible | NRSV | ||||||
| C.S. Lewis Bible | NRSV | 2010 | |||||
| ESV Reformation Study Bible | ESV | ||||||
| Transformation Study Bible | NLT | ||||||
| The Orthodox Study Bible | |||||||
| HCSB Study Bible | |||||||
| Serendipity Bible | |||||||
| Ryrie Study Bible | NASB, KJV | ||||||
| The Jewish Study Bible | 2011 | ||||||
| The Literary Study Bible | |||||||
| NET Bible | |||||||
| The New Interpreter’s Study Bible | NRSV | 2003 | |||||
| The Wesley Study Bible | |||||||
| The Harper Collins Study Bible | NRSV | ||||||
| The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible |
Other Notes About Versions
- MacArthur Study Bible – Written by Rev. John MacArthur. MacArthur is well-known for his evangelical commentaries and controversial position on lordship salvation. This study bible takes a premillennial eschatological position and a limited atonement interpretation.
- ESV Study Bible – Includes 50 articles.
- Zondervan Study Bible – Includes articles.
Other Options
The following for various subjective reasons where not included in this list…if you believe these offer some distinctive feature which should be included please let me know and I will reconsider…
| The Chronological Study Bible | KJV Study Bible | The New Defender’s Study Bible | New Spirit Filled Life Bible (aka FIRE Bible) | The Charles Stanley Life Principles Bible |
| Rainbow Study Bible | Life in the Spirit Study Bible | The American Patriot’s Bible | HCSB Apologetics Study Bible | The Geneva Bible. |
| Quest Study Bible | Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible | Thompson Chain Reference Bible | The Evidence Bible | Prophecy Study Bible. |
| Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible | Cambridge Study Bible | Lutheran Study Bible | African Heritage Study Bible. | The King James Study Bible, 400th Anniversary Edition (Thomas Nelson, 2010). |
| Faith in Action Study Bible. | The Matthew Henry Bible. | HCSB Life Essentials Study Bible. | The Case for Christ Study Bible. | The Maxwell Leadership Bible. |
| The Master Study Bible. | The Revival Study Bible. | Living Water Bible. | NRSV Access Bible. | Life Lessons Study Bible. |
| The New American Catholic Study Bible. | Mission of God Study Bible | Harper Study Bible. | Stewardship Study Bible. | Blackaby Study Bible |
| Comparative Study Bible. | Andrews Study Bible. | Full Life Study Bible. | Life for Today. | Praise and Worship Study Bible. |
| Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. | The Inspirational Study Bible. | The Journey. | Little Rock Catholic Study Bible. | Faith in Action Study Bible. |
| Reflecting God Study Bible. | Discover God Study Bible. | The Everyday Study Bible. | Disciple’s Study Bible. | The Discipleship Study Bible. |
| The People’s Study Bible. | The Life Plan Study Bible. | Prophecy Study Bible. | The Legacy Study Bible. | The Henry Morris Study Bible. |
| The Experiencing God Study Bible. | The Discover Study Bible. | The Living Insights Study Bible. | The Expositor’s Study Bible. | Cambridge Annotated Study Bible. |
| The Message Study Bible. | The A.W. Tozer Bible. | Concordia Self-Study Bible. |
Amplifications
- The Expanded Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2011).
- Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible (Kregel Publications, 1994).