ESV Study Bible | English Standard Version

Boundless.org and Monergism.com are both giving away some ESV Study Bibles for free. To find out how you might get a copy, visit their respective websites.

We’re posting today just one of the 200 or so full-color maps found throughout the ESV Study Bible. Each of the maps comes with a title, date, and description, and is placed alongside the relevant biblical text.

This one is found in 2 Kings 15-16. To see the map, go here. (Just click to enlarge it.) The description found in the ESVSB is as follows.

Syria and Israel Attack Judah
735 B.C.

As the Assyrian Empire expanded westward, Syria and Israel sought to compel Judah and the other nearby states to form an anti-Assyrian alliance. Judah refused, leading Syria and Israel to attack Jerusalem. Syria also wrested Elath from Judah and gave it to the Edomites. The Edomites may have also raided Judah and taken captives at this time (see 2 Chron. 28:17). The Philistines, who may have been part of the anti-Assyrian alliance, attacked Judah as well, capturing several cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb (see 2 Chron. 28:18).

Lane Dennis (President and Publisher of Crossway Books and Bibles; Executive Editor of the ESV Study Bible) and Wayne Grudem (Research Professor of Theology at Phoenix Seminary; General Editor of the ESV Study Bible), hold an early copy of the hardcover edition of the ESV Study Bible:

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.