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Recommendations

Recommendations

King James Version Oxford Revision (KJV-OR)

King James Version Oxford Revision (KJV-OR)

Scholarly Study Bibles

Scholarly Study Bibles

All of these edi­tions of the KJV-OR are 66-book bibles.  The pri­mary fault I found with most of these study bibles is the inclu­sion of very def­i­nite sec­tar­ian bias and considerable com­men­tary.  My order­ing favors lack of bias above other con­sid­er­a­tions.  Listed in order of rec­om­men­da­tion.

Edition CAR Pros Cons
Edition CAR Pros Cons
Ryrie Study Bible 4.50
  • “Wide” mar­gins.
  • Com­pre­hen­sive con­cord­ance.
  • 10 point font size
  • (1994 Edi­tion) Exten­sive cross ref­er­ences in both side mar­gins, placed next to the rel­e­vant verse.
  • (1994 Edi­tion) Exten­sive notes include expla­na­tion, anal­y­sis of the text, and con­sid­er­a­ble num­bers of alter­nate read­ings and lit­eral ren­der­ings.  Very nice to have all the notes for each verse in a sin­gle loca­tion!
  • (1994 Edi­tion) Notes devoid of sec­tar­ian bias and com­men­tary.
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Because there are no online sam­ples of the 2008 Edi­tion, some points of this eval­u­a­tion are based on the 1994 Edi­tion (and so noted).
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
Nelson Study Bible 4.51
  • 10 point font size
  • 128-page con­cord­ance.
  • Many edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Mod­er­ate-length (1-page) book intro­duc­tions.
  • Exten­sive (1-page 2-col­umn) book out­lines.
  • Exten­sive notes include expla­na­tion and anal­y­sis of the trans­la­tion..
  • Con­sid­er­a­ble num­ber of cen­ter-col­umn cross ref­er­ences.
  • Mod­er­ate num­ber of alter­nate read­ings.
  • Con­sid­er­a­ble num­ber of lit­eral ren­der­ings in the notes.
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Alter­nate read­ings bur­ied in the cross ref­er­ences.
  • Notes have a very obvi­ous con­ser­va­tive bias.
  • Notes include biased com­men­tary, some­times of con­sid­er­a­ble length.
  • In addi­tion to com­men­tary within the notes them­selves, fre­quent addi­tional com­men­tary is added in boxes at the bot­tom of the page.
Sco­field Study Bible III 5.00
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • 9 point font size
  • Exten­sive explan­a­tory notes.
  • Notes offer mul­ti­ple inter­pre­ta­tions.
  • Mod­er­ate num­ber of cross ref­er­ences, located on both side mar­gins.
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Brief (one-page) book intro­duc­tions.
  • Notes divorced from trans­la­tion.
  • Despite mul­ti­ple inter­pre­ta­tions, notes are still clearly biased.
  • Few lit­eral ren­der­ings.
  • Few alter­nate read­ings in the mar­gins, though addi­tional alter­nate read­ings are found in the foot­notes.
Old Sco­field Study Bible, Large Print Edi­tion 4.50
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • 10 point font size
  • Exten­sive notes, both explan­a­tory and ana­lyz­ing the trans­la­tion.
  • Mod­er­ate num­ber of cen­ter-col­umn cross ref­er­ences.
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
  • Updated and expanded notes avail­a­ble in the Sco­field Study Bible III.
  • Brief (half-page) book intro­duc­tions.
  • Notes are very biased, occa­sion­ally includ­ing con­sid­er­a­ble com­men­tary.
  • Few lit­eral ren­der­ings.
  • Few alter­nate read­ings in the mar­gins, though addi­tional alter­nate read­ings are found in the foot­notes.
Old Sco­field Study Bible, Stand­ard Edi­tion 4.48
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • 9 point font size
  • Exten­sive notes, both explan­a­tory and ana­lyz­ing the trans­la­tion.
  • Mod­er­ate num­ber of cen­ter-col­umn cross ref­er­ences.
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
  • Updated and expanded notes avail­a­ble in the Sco­field Study Bible III.
  • Brief (half-page) book intro­duc­tions.
  • Notes are very biased, occa­sion­ally includ­ing con­sid­er­a­ble com­men­tary.
  • Few lit­eral ren­der­ings.
  • Few alter­nate read­ings in the mar­gins, though addi­tional alter­nate read­ings are found in the foot­notes.
Old Sco­field Study Bible, Clas­sic Edi­tion 4.43
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • 9 point font size
  • Wide vari­ety of edi­tions avail­a­ble.
Old Sco­field Study Bible, Pocket Edi­tion 3.50
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • Exten­sive notes, both explan­a­tory and ana­lyz­ing the trans­la­tion.
  • Mod­er­ate num­ber of cen­ter-col­umn cross ref­er­ences.
  • 6 point font size
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
  • Updated and expanded notes avail­a­ble in the Sco­field Study Bible III.
  • Brief (half-page) book intro­duc­tions.
  • Notes are very biased, occa­sion­ally includ­ing con­sid­er­a­ble com­men­tary.
  • Few lit­eral ren­der­ings.
  • Few alter­nate read­ings in the mar­gins, though addi­tional alter­nate read­ings are found in the foot­notes.
Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible 4.50
  • 10 point font size
  • “Wide” mar­gins.
  • Book intro­duc­tions.
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • Annotated Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dic­tion­a­ries with addi­tions.
  • Strong’s num­bers on key words in bible text.
  • Gram­ma­tical codes on key words in New Tes­ta­ment bible text iden­tify under­ly­ing Greek gram­mar.
  • Cen­ter-col­umn ref­er­ences.
  • No online sam­ples avail­a­ble.
Stamp­ley Fam­ily Study Bible —
  • 10,000+-entry con­cord­ance.
  • Dic­tion­ary.
  • 125+ color illus­tra­tions.
  • Lit­tle infor­ma­tion avail­a­ble about this bible.
Dick­son’s New Ana­lyt­ical Study Bible 5.00
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • Cross ref­er­ences.
  • Detailed pro­nun­ci­a­tion mark­ers.
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
  • Lit­tle in the way of study notes.
  • Out of print.  Due to its enor­mous pop­u­lar­ity, used edi­tions are very expen­sive.  Thomas Nel­son owns the pub­lish­ing rights.
New Defender’s Study Bible 5.00
  • Con­cord­ance.
  • Cross ref­er­ences.
  • Notes divorced from the trans­la­tion.
  • Out of print.  Thomas Nel­son owns the pub­lish­ing rights.
Matthew Henry Study Bible 5.00
  • Cross references.
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
  • Out of print.  Due to its enormous popularity, used editions are very expensive.  Thomas Nelson owns the publishing rights.
Defender’s Study Bible 4.75
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
  • Replaced by the New Defender’s Study Bible.
Bullinger’s Companion Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Hebrew-Greek Key World Study Bible, 6th Edition 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
New Scofield Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
  • Replaced by the Scofield Study Bible III.
Rainbow Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Full Life Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Prophecy Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
First Scofield Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
  • Replaced by the Scofield Study Bible III.
1967 Scofield Study Bible 4.50
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
  • Replaced by the Scofield Study Bible III.
Thompson Chain Reference Bible 4.04
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Bar­bour Sco­field Study Bible 4.00
  • 96 pp. con­cord­ance.
  • 42 pp. top­i­cal helps.
  • Addi­tional 72 pp. of index/ref­er­ence mate­rial.
Dake Annotated Reference Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Nave’s Topical Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Bible Word Study Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Cornerstone Master Study Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
Word Study Bible 4.00
  • Notes divorced from the translation.
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