For about 30 years at least one person in every Bible study group I’ve participated in has brought a Life Application Study Bible (LASB.) Sometimes we met in church fellowship or parish halls, but often we met in homes where members of most denominations came together regularly to study the word of God.
What first impressed me was how people almost always found something helpful or interesting to add to our discussions, thanks to the extensive footnotes in the LASB. What did not impress me was how the notes sometimes went a bit far in telling readers what to think or how to act with each “must” or “should.”
So while I kept looking for a study Bible that might better suit my needs or preferences, I couldn’t help but notice that Christian friends were buying new editions of the LASB when theirs fell apart from heavy use. Or they began buying editions of the Life Application Study Bible in additional translations -- and there are many!
A quick search on Amazon, for example, shows that the LASB comes in the New Living Translation (NLT), New American Standard Bible (NASB), King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV), New International Version (1984 NIV), and the newer NIV that, yes, I finally bought. Other versions may exist, but you get the picture. The LASB comes in many translations for one reason. People like it! And it helps.
Although I really do not want anyone to tell me how to think, I do want to know what other people think, and the LASB helps me to hear those voices and hopefully respond to those needs in my writing. For example, those of us who heard “Jesus Love Me” in early childhood have probably responded to that song from our earliest memories. So when we study Matthew and read the LASB footnotes, we’re reminded that everyone has not had our blessed experience. Some children grow up hearing nothing about God or only hear of Jesus as a baby born at Christmas, and so they may need to hear the footnote for Matthew 21:44, which explains what Jesus meant when He applied to Himself the metaphor about “the stone the builders rejected,” then ends by saying, “He offers mercy and forgiveness now and promises judgment later. We should choose him now!” True, and perhaps a reminder to us lifelong Christians to choose Christ again in the now of every day.
As I became familiar with what the LASB actually says instead of staying locked into first impressions, I discovered a spiritual depth rarely found in study editions of the Bible. Since childhood, for example, I’d loved the Bible story about Solomon and even thought it’d be cool to be wise, which led to a lifelong love for the Bible that I’ve continued, now hoping to get into the mind of Christ. I don’t recall ever having this discussion with anyone before, so I’m doing some soul-baring here, but I cannot tell you what comfort and blessing I found in the LASB note on Ecclesiastes 1:16-18: “The more you understand, the more pain and difficulty you experience. For example, the more you know, the more imperfection you see around you; and the more you observe, the more evil becomes evident. As you set out with Solomon to find the meaning of life, you must be ready to feel more, think more, question more, hurt more, and do more. Are you ready to pay the price for wisdom?” Wow!
No matter what level you’ve reached in your life in Christ, the LASB helps each reader get closer to God. Sometimes, then, the footnotes won’t be for you but for the person next to you or, perhaps, a means of better understanding Christians still new to the faith. Most of the time, though, the footnotes make me feel as if a dear, wise, spiritually mature, well-informed, older friend is responding, explaining, and encouraging me as we read the Bible together.
Special Features: In addition to the extensive footnotes in this hefty edition, each book has an overview or Introduction with a timeline across the top of the page to get you into the era or historical setting. The sidebar, “Vital Statistics,” lists the purpose for each book, the most likely author and date, and the audience first intended. An outline of each book and list of “Megathemes” aid study, too, as do clear black and white maps that show the places mentioned as they're mentioned throughout the text.
Other special features include “A Christian Worker’s Resource,” which provides a teacher’s guide or a way to instruct and edify new Christians. For topical research or Bible studies, an extensive Dictionary/ Concordance helps you find biblical references to a particular subject.
Covers: The quality or type of cover depends on your choice of translations. Most LASB editions come in paperback, hardback, and colorful covers that feel like real leather but may be apt to curl and wear out sooner. However, with the newer NIV available in LASB, you may still be able to find a huge discount on high quality leather covers in the original NIV (1984.)
With copies of the other translations already on my bookshelves, I ordered my LASB in a large print edition of the newer NIV, which I’ll refer to here and feature in the ad below. Instead of the typical leather Bible with one color or piece, this one has a two-tone cover with saddle stitching all around the outer edges and down inner margins, attractively reinforcing areas where hands hit and wear typically occurs.
Format, Font: With its ample size and ink, the large font feels easy on the eyes, but footnotes have a readable font, too, in about the size normally used for the main body of a text. I especially liked the bold type for the chapter and verses to which each footnote refers, making a note quick to find during a discussion. Added subheadings also provide a quick way to scan for information and keep track of where we are as we get closer to God and each other in our search for an ever-deepening life in Christ.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Life Application Study Bible in the new NIV
~~
Reviews study Bibles, new translations, large print editions, children's Bibles, commentaries, and other Bible resources
June 20, 2013
June 15, 2013
The Complete Jewish Bible
If you have an edition of the Bible with cross-referencing to indicate the connections between the Old Testament (OT) and the New, you have probably noticed how Jesus fulfills prophecies and embodies the Word of God – literally and figuratively – in His own being. This translation of the Bible not only emphasizes that but helps us to understand the Jewish family of God to which Jesus belonged and of which Christianity is close kin.
As the translator of this fine work, David Stern explains in the Introduction, “I wanted to produce a single book that would deal with all the ‘Jewish issues’ I could think of in connection with the New Testament – questions that Jews have about Yeshua (Jesus), the New Testament, and Christianity; questions Christians have about Judaism and the Jewish roots of their own faith; and questions we Messianic Jews have about our own identity and role in the light of two thousand years of separation and conflict between the Church and the Jews.” Before bringing us the Complete Jewish Bible, however, he wrote the Jewish New Testament Commentary, which I viewed on Amazon and immediately added to my Wish List.
Special Features: In addition to introducing us to the translator’s Jewish background before he became a seminary-trained Messianic Jew in Israel, the Introduction describes the 7 sections of the Bible with the Hebrew scriptures arranged in the sequence Jesus would have known with their original Hebrew names:
The Torah (the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible which reveal and express God’s law or will)
The Prophets (early and late with most of the historical books included in this section as in the Jewish canon)
The Writings (wisdom literature with the remaining historical books such as Ruth and Chronicles)
The Gospels (Mattityahu/ Matthew, Mark, Luke, Yochanan/John)
The Acts of the Emissaries (of Jesus aka Apostles)
The Letters (to the early churches or Greek and Jewish Christian communities who met in common-union)
Revelation
The Introduction also includes 4 pages of Hebrew prophecies fulfilled in Christ and gives us a peek inside a Jewish synagogue such as Jesus would have regularly attended.
Other Special Features include a Glossary in the back of the book with a pronunciation guide and maps with their true Hebrew names (“Natzeret” instead of the Anglicized “Nazareth” or “Yerushalayim” for “Jerusalem.”) Several blank pages follow with room for “Notes.”
Covers, Size, Font: My copy of the Complete Jewish Bible is slightly smaller than the one I found on Amazon (see ad below), but both have a hardback cover unless you prefer the Kindle edition, also available on Amazon. The font might have changed with the newest edition too, but my copy has a thin but readable font with a little less ink than I prefer. However, the many, many OT scriptures quoted in the New Testament have been set in bold type for easy identification and emphasis, offering us frequent reminders of our spiritual roots and connections to one another in the Family of God.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler welcomes review copies of new translations of Holy Scriptures into English, new study editions, new children’s Bibles, and new treatments of older translations of the Bible. May God bless this work and that of David Stern, who saw a schism in God’s family and wanted to do what he could to resolve this as a “contribution to tikkun-ha’olam (repairing the world.)” Amen! and Shalom.
Complete Jewish Bible
Jewish New Testament Commentary
~~
As the translator of this fine work, David Stern explains in the Introduction, “I wanted to produce a single book that would deal with all the ‘Jewish issues’ I could think of in connection with the New Testament – questions that Jews have about Yeshua (Jesus), the New Testament, and Christianity; questions Christians have about Judaism and the Jewish roots of their own faith; and questions we Messianic Jews have about our own identity and role in the light of two thousand years of separation and conflict between the Church and the Jews.” Before bringing us the Complete Jewish Bible, however, he wrote the Jewish New Testament Commentary, which I viewed on Amazon and immediately added to my Wish List.
Special Features: In addition to introducing us to the translator’s Jewish background before he became a seminary-trained Messianic Jew in Israel, the Introduction describes the 7 sections of the Bible with the Hebrew scriptures arranged in the sequence Jesus would have known with their original Hebrew names:
The Torah (the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible which reveal and express God’s law or will)
The Prophets (early and late with most of the historical books included in this section as in the Jewish canon)
The Writings (wisdom literature with the remaining historical books such as Ruth and Chronicles)
The Gospels (Mattityahu/ Matthew, Mark, Luke, Yochanan/John)
The Acts of the Emissaries (of Jesus aka Apostles)
The Letters (to the early churches or Greek and Jewish Christian communities who met in common-union)
Revelation
The Introduction also includes 4 pages of Hebrew prophecies fulfilled in Christ and gives us a peek inside a Jewish synagogue such as Jesus would have regularly attended.
Other Special Features include a Glossary in the back of the book with a pronunciation guide and maps with their true Hebrew names (“Natzeret” instead of the Anglicized “Nazareth” or “Yerushalayim” for “Jerusalem.”) Several blank pages follow with room for “Notes.”
Covers, Size, Font: My copy of the Complete Jewish Bible is slightly smaller than the one I found on Amazon (see ad below), but both have a hardback cover unless you prefer the Kindle edition, also available on Amazon. The font might have changed with the newest edition too, but my copy has a thin but readable font with a little less ink than I prefer. However, the many, many OT scriptures quoted in the New Testament have been set in bold type for easy identification and emphasis, offering us frequent reminders of our spiritual roots and connections to one another in the Family of God.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler welcomes review copies of new translations of Holy Scriptures into English, new study editions, new children’s Bibles, and new treatments of older translations of the Bible. May God bless this work and that of David Stern, who saw a schism in God’s family and wanted to do what he could to resolve this as a “contribution to tikkun-ha’olam (repairing the world.)” Amen! and Shalom.
Complete Jewish Bible
Jewish New Testament Commentary
~~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)