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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Bible review

BPS Wide Margin Bible, KJV (SKU 00000)

I have just purchased the Bearing Precious Seed Wide Margin Bible. I purchased several wide margin Bibles over the years. In the mid to late 80s I bought a KWM-14-5941 World Bible Publishers Wide Margin Bible. I was super-satisfied with it -- wore it down and even black duct taped the binding to get a few more years out of it. By the time I wanted to purchase another it was no longer available. Wearying of searching for it, in 2008 I finally succumbed and bought an Oxford Wide Margin Bible, KJV Reference Edition (ISBNs: 9780191179518/ 0191179515). It is a very nice well manufactured Bible. But it is monstrously large, thick and heavy. Any wide margin Bible is going to be larger than normal, but this one was larger than larger than normal! I have never been satisfied with the size. I was satisfied otherwise. The acid-free paper is thick, so there is no bleed-through from writing in it. There are 20 blank note pages before the maps, 20 pages of maps and 48 pages of lined paper after the maps. These nice effects, though, are part of the trade-off and cause for the Bible being so big. It is about 2-1/4" thick and weighs almost 4 lbs. (3.8 by my scale). It has nice wide margins that go all the way around. Many so-called wide margin Bibles only have wide margins at the top, bottom and outside edges, but not on the inside of the page. If you don't mind the bulk and weight, this may be the Bible for you.

A couple of years back I found the BPS Wide Margin Bible. My Oxford was still new enough that I just couldn't decide to purchase another Bible. Finally, my resolve strengthened and I ordered from BPS last week.

Initial reaction? I like it. Here are some things about it:
·        no cross-references
·        no book outlines or introductions
·        no marginal notes
·        no footnotes
·        no words of Christ in red

These may be negatives for some Bible purchasers, but those are things I was looking for. The Bible text is "normal size" (not large or small print). The text may not be quite as bold as the Oxford mentioned above. There is a 1" margin on the insides and outsides of each page, with about 1-1/2" margin at the top and bottom of the pages. The Bible weighs a little less than 2-1/2 lbs. (2.4 by my scale) and is about 1-3/8" thick -- much smaller than the Oxford Bible. It's dimensions are about 10" X 7".

The Bearing Precious Seed Wide Margin Bible is truly a "Study" Bible. No, it is not a "Study Bible" in the traditional sense -- not one in which you study someone else's notes.* Yes, it is a "Study" Bible in the purest sense -- it is a Bible in which you read and study the Bible alone. Then, if you wish, you can make your own notes!

A couple of reviews of Bearing Precious Seed Bibles I found on YouTube:

Note 1: A "Study Bible" is a Bible text with notes and references added. This includes (usually) cross references, a summary of the each book of the Bible, and explanatory notes or commentary on selected passages. It may also be called a "Reference Bible".
Note 2: I have no objection to "study notes" or commentary. I just think our initial encounter with the Bible should be with the Bible alone and not include the distractions men have added to it (as much as is practical).

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