ESV Study Bible | English Standard Version

Fred Sanders, Associate Professor of Theology at the Torrey Honors Institute (Biola University) and blogger at The Scriptorium Daily, has a helpful post today: Let Us Now Praise Study Bibles. He explains his high hopes for the ESV Study Bible, his experience with various Bibles in the past, the dangers of using a tool like a Study Bible, as well as the ways it can be of help. Here’s the conclusion:

There are other ways of distinguishing text from commentary. These ways involve careful page design, typography, and shading. The ESV Study Bible excels in precisely these areas. The text of Scripture is compactly placed on the page in a way that enables you to read straight off the page without being dragged off into commentary unless you choose to go there. The best thing in any study Bible is still a good, thoughtful selection of marginal cross-references, and the great system of references from the ESV Classic Reference edition is apparently expanded considerably for the Study Bible edition. Becoming fluent in the use of those cross-references is the fundamental skill needed by all serious Bible students: habitually perceiving those canonical interconnections produces a discipled mind, able to read Scripture holistically. It also unties the mental knots that keep us from seeing the reality that Scripture is deeply self-interpreting. A study Bible that goes about its work humbly and helpfully can do the same. I’m hopeful that I might end up with a new “main Bible” this season.

Trevin Wax recently interviewed ESV Study Bible Managing Editor Justin Taylor.

The first part talks about the history and features of the ESV Study Bible.

The second part focuses on the maps and illustrations found in the ESV Study Bible.

We are now making available the last full-book sample from the ESV Study Bible, the Book of Esther.

The introduction and notes are by Barry Webb, Senior Research Fellow in Old Testament, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia.

Gordon Cheng of Matthias Media’s Sola Panel blog recently interviewed Dr. Webb about his work on Esther. Here are the questions:

• Barry, how long have you been a student of the Old Testament?
• What’s the book of Esther about?
• Tell us a bit about the flawed heroes of the story, Esther and Mordecai.
• You’ve said in your ESV Study Bible notes on Esther that it is a humorous book. Can you give some examples of what you mean?
• You also said in your notes on Esther 6:1–13, “Events now move so tellingly in favor of Esther and Mordecai that a presumption of God’s providential involvement becomes unavoidable”. Can you say more about that? Can we read providence in our own circumstances of life?
• What tips would you give for someone who is trying to preach through the book of Esther for the first time?

We are now making available the whole book of 1 John from the ESV Study Bible. It’s a 14-page PDF. We hope that you find it helpful in your study of God’s Word.

Paul R. House, associate dean and professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, authored the ESV Study Bible essay, Introduction to the Prophetic Books.

Here are the section headings from the 4-page essay:

• Introduction
• The Prophets in Israel’s History
• Prophetic Books
• Unifying Themes in the Prophetic Books
• Scholarly Issues and the Prophetic Books
• Pronouns in the Prophets

There is also a chart at the end, entitled, “Activity of the Writing Prophets during the Reigns of the Kings of Israel and Judah.”

Here’s a one-minute overview of the online version of the ESV Study Bible, which will be free to whoever owns a print version of the ESVSB:

More information to come.

For more video clips, interviews, and endorsements, see the ESV Study Bible Video Resources page.

“I can’t imagine a greater gift to the body of Christ than the ESV Study Bible. It is a potent combination indeed: the reliability and readability of the ESV translation, supplemented by the best of modern and faithful scholarship, packaged in an accessible and attractive format. A Christian could make no wiser investment for himself, a pastor could recommend no better resource for his congregation.”

C. J. Mahaney, President, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Gaithersburg, MD

The ESV Study Bible has about 50 essays in the back of the Bible, addressing a number of issues that people inside and outside the church have questions about (e.g., the reliability of the Scriptures and their manuscripts, the canon of Scripture, world religions, how questions of ethics and theology relate to God’s Word, etc.) In addition there are a number of articles throughout the Bible, introducing major sections (e.g., the Pentateuch, the Gospels, etc.).

We thought it might be helpful to list all of the articles, in the order that they appear in the ESVSB: (more…)

The full Interview with Vern Poythress on Biblical Theology is now available online as a PDF. The interview is in conjunction with Dr. Poythress’s introductory Survey of the History of Salvation for the ESV Study Bible.