NIV Essentials Study Bible Review

 

The NIV Essentials Study Bible helps you quickly and easily understand, interpret, and apply God’s Word to your life. 

The variety of features in this Bible presents a multifaceted, exciting format for studying Scripture. There are many different ways to explore God’s Word: question-and-answer studies; detailed in-text study notes; timelines, photos and charts; helpful devotional insights; and profiles of Bible characters. 

Now you don’t have to choose, because the NIV Essentials Study Bible provides you the chance to explore the Bible using all these study methods and more. With each of these lenses included in one Bible, you will discover how to best understand the essentials of Scripture. 

This edition includes the entire NIV Bible text with the world’s best notes for learning. It incorporates the finest content, images, and study tools from the most popular Bibles that are loved and used by Bible readers just like you.

My Thoughts:

There seems to be a new study Bible quite often these days which makes choosing a Bible a big task nowadays. When I first became a believer my first Bible was an NIV Study Bible. I still have it and it’s been well used and loved over the years. It’s pretty worn out and is falling apart literally.

I have a love hate relationship with study Bibles. I can appreciate all the research and references in a study Bible. They have been extremely helpful to me throughout the years in having a better understanding of certain passages. I really dislike it when a person quotes the notes in study Bibles as the final authority. It’s a commentary and man interpreting God’s word. There I said it! That aspect really bugs me as it seems to happen a lot.

Zondervan has put together amazing resources in this study Bible. They offer six lenses for “grasping the fundamentals of scripture” Keep in mind that it a brief overview from these resources. 

*NIV Study Bible

*NIV Quest Study Bible

*NIV Archaeological Study Bible

*NIV Student Bible

*The Great Rescue Bible

*The Essential Bible Companion.

Another aspect of this Bible is the different lenses, The lenses include:

1. Flyover Lens: Each boom of the Bible begins with an easy-to-read introduction that comes from the Essential Bible Companion.

2. Unpack Lens: Bottom of the page study notes and in-text charts are included from the NIV Study Bible.

3. Dig Deep, Look Close Lens: Articles and photographs highlight the historical significance of the Bible, courtesy of the NIV Archaeological Study Bible.

4. Q&A Lens: Concise and easy to grasp answers to life’s most challenging questions are provided throughout using the NIV Quest Bible.

5. Important People in Focus Lens: This lens enables the reader to view scripture from the perspective of the Bible’s most notable figures.

6. Guided Tour Lens: This lens provides a “bird’s-eye view” of scripture showing how the theme and topic run throughout the Bible.

7. Insight Lens: These are magazine-style articles that provide a deeper look at the topic being discussed, courtesy of the NIV Student Bible.

Overall, this is well thought out and flows nicely. I wasn’t sure if I would be overwhelmed with all the resources in one place that it would distract me from the actually scripture itself.

Each Bible book starts out with and introduction which contains key concepts, key verses, key teachings, key terms, timeline, and a map. Which really is a pretty standard layout of most study Bibles?

In the back of the Bible you have study helps which includes table of weights and measures, one year through the Bible, 60-day overview of the Bible, 20 not-so-famous Bible stories, 30 days of great faith, 30 days with Jesus, subject index and a concordance. There are also some nice colored maps included at the very back of the Bible. 

The font and size of the print is very nice. The lenses are appropriately placed within the context of the word. I wasn’t too fond of the choice of paper. It reminded me of a newspaper with the exception that the paper is good quality. Maybe that’s just a weird quirk on my end!

One of my favorite was the Archaeological Study Bible parts that are included in the notes. It’s a Bible that I have always been interested in but have never bought one before. Then again I liked several aspects of this study Bible.

This was a nice Bible for studying with. Zondervan has done a nice job making all these resources flow together nicely.

Disclosure of Material Connection: BookLook Bloggers-Thomas Nelson Publishers provided me this Book free as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have or my own.