The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World

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The notes to the New Testament are on the whole straightforward and some readers will find them a help in understanding many of the words and ideas in the text. Most of them though are dull and many of them jejune in the extreme. As a friend put it to me, they remind one of the notes to some school editions of Shakespeare. ‘King Lear plans to divide his kingdom between his daughters’, or ‘Hamlet wonders if it would be a good idea to commit suicide.’ In this book we find similar notes all too often, such as that on Luke 16:11: ‘True riches signify spiritual treasures’, or that on Luke 16:25 ‘This conversation is not between God and the rich man, but between Abraham and the rich man.’ The level is that of a not very bright Sunday School class. Critical questions are avoided by simply not being discussed at all. This is unsatisfactory, since many readers will be seeking help on just these questions. What should have been provided is an article setting out clearly how an Orthodox reader of the Bible should approach these problems. The solution adopted here is a further instance of what I call the attitude of the double-headed Byzantine ostrich." [2] Next year I plan to do some “extra-curricular” reading: I’ll read some of the Apocrypha, and I’ve got a collection of gnostic texts that I’ll work my way through as well. I also plan to do a long reading of the Quran at some point. Well, I actually did it. I read the entire Bible this year. It was something I decided to do on a whim 364 days ago, and I actually followed through with it. I’ve been measuring the passage of the year by crossing off each day’s line in the reading plan I’ve been following, and it’s a strange feeling to get to the end. I should probably have something more substantive to say, but I feel a bit like Forrest Gump after he ran across the country. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.”

it found in a number of Orthodox theological dictionaries (e.g., Polny Pravoslavnyy Bogoslovskiy Entsiklopicheskiy However, in this case, it might have been better to just keep the New Testament. The Old Testament translation was supposed to be a more accurate translation of the original Septuagint. What it ended up being was a different story. The translators basically took the New King James Version (NKJV) and tried to make it match up to the Septuagint. I have been told, since I don't read Greek (sadly) that they didn't even do this well.For instance, regarding Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (SAAS), the OSB includes this note drawing on the teachings of both Athanasius the Great as well as the Canon of St. Andrew: Insightful commentary drawn from the Christian writers and teachers of the first ten centuries after Christ Throughout the text are notes at the bottom which explain key points in the verses based upon the consensus of leading Orthodox Bible scholars. These are easy to understand, and, in reading them one can better understand the doctrines and practices of the Orthodox Church --- which I do recommend for anyone interested in learning more about the Orthodox faith. The Orthodox Study Bible is the fruit of over twenty years of labor by many of the best Orthodox Christian theologians of our time. Here, by the grace of God, you will find the living water of His Word with comprehensive study guides and teachings that bring to our modern world the mind of the ancient Christian Church. It is the first ever full-length (Old and New Testaments) Orthodox Study Bible in English.

This is the Bible English translation used by the Orthodox Church. As such, those from other branches of Christianity may find it different from other versions with which they are more familiar. An “Overview of the Books of the Bible” presents introductory material about the various sections and kinds of biblical literature. “Introducing the Orthodox Church” will be especially helpful to non-Orthodox readers of the OSB. “How to Read the Bible” presents an Orthodox understanding of reading and interpreting the Bible. In the past few years, I've been trying to read through a different translation of the Bible each year. The Orthodox Study Bible is interesting in that it includes the Apocrypha (some neat stuff in there!), and the OT translation is taken from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew OT). The NT is, rather disappointingly, the NKJV. I found myself scratching my head a few times, wondering at NKJV's translation of the Greek. The OSB contains a Lectionary section with personal readings for those who follow the church calendar throughout the year. Date are listed according both the New/Gregorian and the Old/Julian calendars. The OSB also contains 10 full-color biblical maps. As with any image in any Accordance resource, these may be exported for personal use and in preaching and teaching contexts.

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Other reviewers have mentioned a distaste for the New King James Version and, as someone who also affirms most of the critical methods of modern NT scholarship, I can certainly empathize. Though the NKJV relies on the Textus Receptus (a Reformation Era-variant of Byzantine text-type manuscripts, compiled by Erasmus) and maintains such renderings in the body of scripture, its footnotes are the most comprehensive of any translation. In fact, all variations from the Majority Text as well as the Nestle-Aland/UBS editions (the "Critical Text" based on Alexandrian text-type manuscripts) are comprehensively documented. The overriding benefit to the selection of the TR is that the NKJV retains the same eloquent, familiar phraseology and literary grace that caused its predecessor to leave such an indelible mark on English language and literature ever after. And because it adheres to the principle of formal equivalence in translation, the NKJV maintains a vocabulary and style in accordance with high English--this is not a "dumbed-down" translation like many other popular ones out there. The result is that the Bible reads less like a contemporary novel or a daily newspaper, and more like dignified prose--which is befitting of sacred scripture.

Commentary notes, or annotations, serve as the defining characteristic of study Bibles. The OSB is no different except that its comments originate not from the interpretation of modern Bible scholars, but rather from over 50 early church sources. These notes not only draw upon the biblical and theological understandings of individuals such as Athanasius, Irenaeus, and Chrysostom, they also gear themselves toward the life and practice of Orthodox Christians. The Old and New Testaments edition, subtitled "Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World" came out in February of 2008. It includes a new translation of the Psalms by Dr. Donald Sheehan of Dartmouth College. In the end, the Orthodox Study Bible is a God-send (quite literally in many senses). If you're less interested in getting to know the "historical Jesus" as portrayed by scholars in most study Bibles, and more interested in meeting with Our Lord and Savior as understood by saints, "Highly recommended" would be an understatement. How can one review a Bible? For me it was a way of getting some insight into the way the Eastern Orthodox Church handles exegesis and theology. And for the most part, the experience was positive. The OSB contains a number of study articles that will be helpful not only to Orthodox believers, but also to those outside the Orthodox Church who want to understand this faith tradition better. The Subject Index combines almost 50 article titles along with numerous subjects covered in the articles. Here is a list of the articles contained in the OSB:

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For all that you're getting, the OSB's price point is just right for both bonded leather and hard-bound. Also, the publisher has more or less recently come out with a red, genuine leather edition that is significantly pricier, but which sports a beautiful and ornate gold cover design. The Orthodox Study Bible is great because it has a vibrant translation of the full Orthodox canon including books that Protestants don't have - like Judith, Tobit, and I, II, and III Maccabees. (Catholics have most of these books in their canon as well aside from III Maccabees.) I'd heard that Luther and others recommended it for devotional reading, and I definitely found that it strengthened my walk with God and my understanding of the rest of the Bible, particularly Maccabees and Judith. In fact, I'll say that without reading I and II Maccabees you really don't understand the New Testament as well as you could. Tobit was fun and faith building.