Review: A Reader's Hebrew Bible

General Editor: A. Phillip Brown II, Bryan W. Smith
Binding: Italian Duo-Tone
Page Count: 1680 Pages
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: March 2008
ISBN-10: 0310269741
ISBN-13: 9780310269748

Based on the success Zondervan had with A Reader’s Greek New Testament, you knew it was only a matter of time before they’d put together a similar resource for the Hebrew Bible. To the delight of many, A Reader’s Hebrew Bible was released this past March. I’ve been looking forward to writing this review and wanted to express a word of thanks to the folks at Zondervan for sending me a review copy. I’ll be breaking this review into two parts. Part one will discuss the physical characteristics and also the packaging for this Bible. Part two will take a look at what’s inside this Bible.

Let me start by talking about the physical characteristics of A Reader’s Hebrew Bible. It has a very appealing look about it; one might go so far as to say it’s beautiful. The binding is a light brown Italian Duo-Tone. You will find the title stamped on the front cover and the spine in silver lettering. The page edges match the lettering as they are also gilded silver. This volume measures 7.2 in. wide by 9.9 in. high by 2.1 in. deep, which makes it a bit larger than the other Hebrew Bibles I am familiar with. The paper used for this Bible is a bit thinner than the paper used in some of the other Zondervan Bibles in my library. It is slightly transparent as you’re able to make out some of the text on the other side of each page. However, this in no way hinders the readability of the Hebrew text. I felt that the decision to go with this paper was probably design-related as it lends to the overall elegant look and feel of the Bible. In addition to the great look and feel of this Bible, Zondervan went the extra mile by creating great packaging for it. This Bible comes in what I would consider a presentation quality box. The front of the box is windowed to show the front cover with the title in silver lettering. The back of the box has a well laid out list of information that will be important to someone who is looking to buy this Bible.

Next, I wanted to take a look at the inside of A Reader’s Hebrew Bible. There are 28 pages of worthwhile introductory material at the front of the Bible. This includes the Author’s Preface, a Quick User’s Guide, an Introduction, and Abbreviations & Sigla. I am very excited to note that all of the introductory material is written in English. Many of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles available in the bookstores of Bible Colleges and seminaries come from the German Bible Society. The difficulty for many American students is that the introductory material is written in German. Since most of the students are not fluent in German, they miss out on the introductory information, which will help them to make the best possible use of their new Bible. Following the introductory material is the actual Hebrew text. I really appreciate that the Hebrew text goes across the entire page, with all of the notes appearing at the bottom. This serves to make the text more readable as you don’t have any notes or references in the margins, breaking up the text as you’re trying to read it. I think this will be especially useful to first year students who are working on their Hebrew reading as it will minimizes the distractions on the page. When the reader comes across a word they’re not quite sure about, they can refer to the notes at the bottom of the page which contain glosses and definitions of Hebrew words occurring 100 times or less and Aramaic words occurring 25 times or less. These notes will prove very useful to the 1st year student as well as the more casual reader whose Hebrew skills may be a bit out of practice.

Let me summarize by saying that I think Zondervan did a great job with A Reader’s Hebrew Bible. It’s a very attractive and high quality Hebrew Bible at a reasonable price. The layout and notes will be invaluable for the 1st year student or the more casual reader. It will make a great gift for students, pastors, or the layperson interested in Biblical Hebrew.




A. Philip Brown II (PhD, Bob Jones University) is associate professor of Bible and Theology at God’s Bible School and College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the author for the 4th edition of Handbook of New Testament Greek, a publication for Bob Jones University.


Bryan W. Smith (PhD, Bob Jones University) is Bible integration coordinator at Bob Jones University Press.


You may download a PDF of this review here: LINK.

ESV Study Bible coming in October 2008

I wanted to take a few minutes to discuss my growing excitement about the upcoming release of the ESV Study Bible. I attend Bethlehem Baptist Church (Moundsview Campus) in Minnesota and we have a large pre-order campaign underway. I picked up one of the brochures last Sunday and paged through it. The brochure had example pages from the gospel of John and 1 Kings. At first glance, the following caught my eye:

• Very useful charts, diagrams, and maps
• Section summaries provide an overview of each section, corresponding to the outline of the book
  
• Beautiful illustrations (the brochure showed the illustration of Solomon's Temple

The list of contributors and editors are some of the best. (Wayne Grudem, J. I. Packer, Mark Futato, Walter Maier III, John Piper, Kent Hughes, and many others) One additional feature I'd like to note is that all who purchase the ESV Study Bible will have free access to the ESV Online Study Bible.

Again, I'm very much looking forward to the release of the ESV Study Bible. The ESV tends to be my translation of choice for personal Bible reading & study. However, my ESV is a hardcover, ESV Classic reference Bible. This edition has minimal notes, so I find myself going to some of my other study Bibles (NIV Study Bible, Archaeological Study Bible) for additional notes and articles. I anticipate that these other study Bibles will get more "shelf time" after I get a copy of the ESV Study Bible. To see it for yourself, be sure to check out the Introduction to the Book of Revelation. and www.esvstudybible.org.

A Reader's Hebrew Bible

I wanted to extend a word of thanks to the fine folks at Zondervan for sending me a copy of A Reader's Hebrew Bible. As has been noted by several other bloggers, it is a beauty to behold. The Italian Duo-Tone binding and the actual box are quite attractive. This would make a fine gift for a 1st year Hebrew student or pastor. Time permitting, I'll be posting this review in the next few weeks. My review will contrast A Reader's Hebrew Bible against my trusty BHS from Deutsche Bibelgisellschaft. You can find out more about this book here: LINK.

ESV Study Bible Coming in October 2008

Crossway Books will be releasing the ESV Study Bible this coming October. Be sure to check out the content and features section. The layout and graphics look very appealing. Also take a look at the endorsements from some very respected Christian leaders. Although I love my current ESV, I may be tempted to upgrade. Well, in as much as you can be tempted to buy a Bible.

Crossway Releases ESV Spanish-English Parallel Bible

Press release from Crossway for 2/14/08:

Crossway Releases ESV Spanish-English Parallel Bible

Wheaton, IL—Crossway is pleased to announce the release of a new Spanish-English parallel Bible featuring the Spanish Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR) and the English Standard Version (ESV).

Randy Jahns, Crossway’s Senior Vice President for Bible Publishing, notes: “Because the RVR has been widely recognized for its fidelity to the original texts, exceptional accuracy, and elegant language, we felt that it would be a great partner for the ESV.”

This new parallel Bible, with its verse-by-verse alignment, will serve both native speakers of either language as well as bilingual readers. The Bible positions two columns of Scripture on each page: the Reina-Valera Spanish text on the left and the ESV English language text alongside it on the right. It also features textual notes for both translations in the back.

Jahns continues, “Our hope and prayer is that this new parallel Bible will help millions grow in their love for God’s Word and in their effective study, use, and application of it to their daily lives.”

The ESV is an essentially literal Bible translation that combines “word-for-word” precision and accuracy with literary excellence, beauty, and readability. More than 100 of the world’s leading Bible scholars and teachers were involved in creating the ESV, to bring us a Bible that is precise, powerful, and a pleasure to read. With its timeless quality and enduring relevance, the ESV is the Bible to treasure for life.

Crossway is an internationally recognized, not-for-profit publisher of the ESV Bible, significant Christian books, and gospel literature. For more information on Crossway, visit www.crossway.org. For more information on the ESV Bible, visit www.esv.org.

Read the Bible this year

My family has started working through the Bible in a year. I've been reading to the family every day during breakfast or lunch. We've been using the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Website. You can download and print a PDF of the plan in a bookmark format. LINK

The Bible Experience from Zondervan

When I was reading on Ben Witherington's blog this morning, he had a recommendation for The Bible Experience from Zondervan. I'm not much into audio books, but in this case I think I'd make an exception. I listened to a few of the clips from this dramatized bible and it is quite moving. This would probably be something better for my commute than listening to talk radio. Many of us are always striving to get more Bible reading time into our day. This could be helpful in that regard. This would certainly be a unique Christmas gift. You can buy the old testament, new testament or the entire bible. You also have the option of getting it in cd audio or mp3 format. You can buy each book of the bible in mp3 format for around $4.00 on the Zondervan site as well as in the apple store on itunes. Happy listening!