Digging the Archaeological Study Bible

Ever since Zondervan released the Archaeological Study Bible in 2005, I’ve hinted broadly for a copy to read, study, and review. It’s not that I’m too cheap to buy my own but am apt to spend every discretionary dime on Bibles so thought I’d try a different approach and beg for review copies.

For ages, nothing happened. Then publication of the new New International Version took the original NIV off the shelf for new editions, which now means a great buy on the Archaeological Study Bible. Maybe Zondervan will do an updated edition with the new NIV, but not wanting to risk missing this highly recommended study Bible, I bought my own in top grain leather and will now hint for a review copy of the new NIV.

Format: Each book begins with the kind of background information I want to know: factual data to immerse me in Bible scenes and clarify the “Author, Place and Date of Writing,” “Audience,” “Cultural Facts and Highlights,” and “Timeline.” To bring the individual books into present day, the format also includes suggestions to notice “As You Read,” questions to consider in “Did You Know?” and “Themes” to look for in the text or the “Outline.”

Size: Big! This 6.5” x 9.5” edition weighs more than my ESV Study Bible, which has more than the 2306 pages (plus maps) in the Archaeological Study Bible, so the type of covering tips the scales.

Binding: I chose the thick, durable top grain leather, which I like and recommend, but the less expensive hardback edition (shown below) has the advantage of sitting up, nice and straight, on a bookshelf.

Type: As page numbers increase in a study Bible, font size usually decreases, which works for me since I’m myopic anyway. What does not work well is a lightly drawn font with lightly applied ink. Having noticed this in other Zondervan Bibles, I hope the company will reconsider and go for a chunkier font or thick ink.

Study Aids: From “A Chronological History of Palestine” in the front matter to the “Subject Index,” “Concordance,” and high quality maps in the back, this edition provides study aids that live up to the subtitle: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture.

Unique Features: In addition to the above-mentioned aids, the Archaeological Study Bible includes inserts throughout its pages to give a glimpse of “Ancient Texts and Artifacts,” “Ancient Peoples, Lands and Rulers,” “Ancient Voices,” “Archaeological Sites,” and more. For instance, instead of just describing the “Dress and Fashion in the Greco-Roman World” of Jesus’ time, illustrations show this, so we can easily see and perhaps even envision ourselves in each biblical setting where we, too, belong.

© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved, but pass it on! To see sample pages from this excellent study edition, click the pic below:





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