|
Do you need a "special" version of
the Bible?
Let's say that you have decided,
after studying into the qualities of various Bible
translations, that the most useful Bible translation
for your own personal Bible study at this time seems
like it would be the New International Version.
If you walked into a Christian Book Store and
asked a clerk to get you a copy of the NIV, would
you expect her to reach behind a counter, pull out a
Bible, hand it to you, and ring up the sale? It
would be nice if it was that easy. But it isn't. You
will have to choose one among many different copies
of the NIV. And the differences among them will not
just be the color or quality of the binding. In
addition to perhaps deciding if you want a black or
a brown or a burgundy cover, and whether you want
leather or an artificial binding, there will likely
be two dozen or more completely different
editions of the NIV for you to choose from that
have varying content along with just the text of the
Bible itself. You will first need to decide which
one of these will best meet your needs.
Very few Bibles are sold which have
nothing between the covers but the Bible text. Bible
publishers realize that the average Bible student is
going to want at least some additional content, and
they have found ways to make a whole Bible
smorgasbord of two dozen or more choices out of just
one translation by seasoning them with extras.
Multiply this by the numerous translations
available, and the reality is that there are
hundreds upon hundreds of Bibles to choose from in
most Christian Book Stores.
Reference Bibles
Add an index of some of the places
in the Bible that you can find important words and
proper names, and suddenly you have a simple
"reference Bible." Most editions labeled as a
"reference Bible" have much more than just an index
added, however.
Many will have a center column
reference feature, in which a narrow band of
text between the two main columns of each page
contains references to other passages of the Bible
that may be related to the particular sentence or
paragraph you are reading. Tiny
superscript letters or numbers
next to words in the main text of the Bible
lead you to the same letter or number in the center
column, next to the references showing you the
location of passages elsewhere in the Bible that may
apply.
Many Reference Bibles include at
least a small selection of maps in the back of the
volume, showing the location of Bible lands of
ancient times. Some also include more detailed maps
covering such things as the location of battles and
the routes taken by famous Bible characters, such as
the "Missionary Journeys of Paul."
It is also common for reference
Bibles to have short introductions to each book of
the Bible, explaining some of the background of the
book, such as the author and the general time period
covered. Other features may include an abbreviated
"dictionary of Bible terms," charts of weights and
measures used in ancient times, and timelines of
important Biblical events. None of these features
can be too comprehensive, or else the size of the
volume would become unwieldy. But they eliminate the
need to carry around a whole stack of reference
books just for daily reading purposes.
Special Sizes
In fact, if you expect to regularly
carry your Bible with you away from home, you might
want to consider one of the special sizes of Bible
created for just this need. A regular standard size
Bible is often about 6.5 X 9.5 inches and 1.8 inches
thick. A compact Bible is one printed in
perhaps smaller type, and with thinner paper, and
can be as small as 4.6 X 6.3 inches and 1.4 inches
thick or less. There are even versions, usually
called something like a "thin-line" edition, that
are printed on such exceptionally thin paper that
they are under 1 inch thick. Thus some thin-line
editions are literally small enough to tuck into a
small purse or a suit jacket breast pocket.
If you would like to be able to make
notes to yourself while you are reading, but don't
want to have to carry around a notebook with you
everywhere, you can get a wide-margin version
of a number of translations. These provide a blank
column down one or more edges of each page that is
an inch or more wide.
Study Bibles
Bible editions that are similar to
reference Bibles but which contain much more
extensive extra materials are often called Study
Bibles. The introductory material to each of the
books of the Old and New Testament in these is
usually much more comprehensive, often including
even a detailed outline of the book and explanations
of the major themes covered. Extensive footnotes may
provide in-context commentary about the contents of
sentences, paragraphs, or chapters. Extra chapters
of commentary may be added to the beginning or end
of various books of the Bible, or to the end of the
text of the complete Bible. These may examine themes
that repeat throughout the Bible.
In this context, it is important to
recognize the distinction between commentary that
clarifies "facts" ... such as documentation when or
where an event took place or what some obscure
ancient animal or plant was like ... and commentary
that attempts to speculate about the intent of the
original author, particularly in matters of
"theology." This latter sort of commentary can be
affected by the personal opinions, point of view, or
prejudices of the authors of the commentary. While
it may be valuable as input for your own study, it
is best not to "swallow it whole" as the ultimate
authority on any matter. Once you have read the
Bible through for yourself and have examined some of
the debatable issues in the interpretation of
significant Bible passages, you will be more
equipped to come to your own conclusions about the
validity of the speculations of commentators.
Many Bible students and teachers
have found the NIV Study Bible to be one of
the most helpful one-volume reference works
available today. In addition to the usual maps,
indexes, and book introductions, its system of
footnotes is particularly comprehensive. Almost all
references to time, distance, weights and measures
in the Bible text are translated for the reader into
the modern equivalents in the footnotes. Unfamiliar
customs of ancient times are explained. Alternate
possible translations for debatable phrasing in the
Hebrew or Greek is provided. References to earlier
events in any given passage are often clarified by
pointing the reader to the earlier information. Even
"puns" or poetic elements in the original Hebrew of
an Old Testament passage, which often are lost in
the translation into English, are pointed out and
explained.
The authors of the commentary do,
indeed, sometimes insert their own speculations
about the interpretation of some debatable areas of
Biblical thought, so it is wise to take those types
of comments with a grain of salt. But otherwise, the
commentary in the NIV Study Bible is most
often exceptionally objective and historically
factual, more so than that in many other Study
Bibles and in most stand-alone commentary volumes.
Targeted Group Bibles
Some editions of the Bible are
targeted directly at specific groups. For those with
poor eyesight, there are both large print and
giant print editions of many translations.
In recent years there has been an
extreme proliferation of editions targeted to one
age or gender group. Teen Bibles often have covers
and illustrations with a deliberately "exciting"
look to attract the attention of young people who
might think that Bible study has to be boring, with
material interspersed within the text of the Bible
and in separate chapters that addresses topics of
interest to teens such as peer pressure, sex,
dating, anger management, and TV.
Children's Bibles most often are
abridged versions of a particular translation. But
some do include the whole Bible, attempting to make
it more "accessible" to children with appealing
illustrations, and study materials focusing on the
interests and concerns of pre-teens, such as making
friends, fears and phobias, and dealing with
parental expectations.
Devotional Bibles are volumes
with inspirational thoughts, comfort, and
suggestions for meditation interspersed within the
text of the translation. These are most often
targeted to specific groups, with the added material
geared specifically to the interests and concerns of
each specific group. There are devotional Bibles
aimed at Women, Men, Mothers, Fathers, Couples,
Grandparents, people involved in Twelve-Step
Recovery programs such as AA, members of the Armed
Forces and their families, and even sporting
enthusiasts (that one has inspirational insights
from professional athletes, coaches and
commentators).
Life Application Bibles
Some study Bibles also come in what
are often termed life application Bibles.
They have some of the usual reference materials to
help in understanding the text. But they go beyond
this to provide, interspersed within the text,
insight and suggestions by the authors of the
edition into ways that the principles you are
reading about might be applied to your daily life.
The quality and soundness of the advice in these
Bible editions are connected directly to the level
of wisdom and spiritual understanding of the author
or authors. Although such volumes can be very
helpful to some readers, it is important to note
when the author is drawing a sound conclusion that
obviously is present in the text, and when he or she
might be indulging in highly speculative ways to
apply a certain passage.
Parallel Translations
It is possible to purchase Bible
volumes with two or more different translations
included, printed side-by-side so that you may
compare the choice of wording of each passage. Since
two or more complete versions of the Bible are
within the covers, this leaves very little room for
any reference materials at all. In fact, especially
for those which contain more than two translations,
the size gets pretty unwieldy to carry around. So
although this might be a convenient way to get
multiple versions for study, and it is a useful way
to quickly compare translations, it is probably best
not to choose one of these for your primary Bible
that you use for in-depth study.
Interlinear Translations
An interlinear translation has a
section of the text of either the actual Hebrew of
the Old Testament or the Greek of the New Testament
printed on each page, with a literal translation of
each word or phrase printed below it. Since such a
"bits and pieces" translation often makes the
overall meaning almost incomprehensible, since it
may not render the thoughts of the writer into
understandable English grammar, such translations
often have the interlinear material on the right
hand side of each two-page spread, and a standard
English translation on the left hand page of the
same material.
For instance, the Interlinear shown
above has the interlinear on the right-hand pages,
with a column of NIV and a column of KJV on the
left-hand pages. Such a procedure would make a
volume which attempted to include both the Old and
New Testaments totally unwieldy, so it is necessary
to purchase separate volumes for each if one wants
to have the whole Bible in this format.
Computer Bibles and Computer Bible
Software
The latest entry into the field of
Bible versions are computer Bibles and
computer Bible software programs.
A computer Bible, as a stand-alone
item, is a small electronic computerized device that
has the text of a Bible version stored in its
memory, which it displays on a small screen. Most
have at least a limited ability to search through
the memory to find specific passages or specific
words.
As you can see from the picture
above, trying to read long passages easily and
comfortably with the limited screen vision on one of
these would be impossible. You would need to keep
scrolling down every few lines. Many people do find
them handy and helpful for specialized situations,
such as sitting in a church service and quickly
looking up a short passage that the speaker has
referred to, or taking along to visit someone in the
hospital and being able to look up a passage you
need to comfort them by using a search word such as
"peace." But for just personal daily reading of
whole chapters of books of the Bible while sitting
in an easy chair, or for in-depth study of a topic
or a passage, it would be much more suitable to have
an actual printed Bible on hand.
But what about computer Bible
programs that have Bible versions you can read on a
large computer monitor or on a laptop? That is
another matter, and deserves a section of the
Bible Study Tool Box all of its own! That
section will come later in this series of Toolbox
articles. For now, suffice it to say that it would
be most helpful for you to at least have one version
of the Bible in an actual book volume form. After
all, there definitely are places where you can't
take a laptop that you might want to take a Bible!
Once you have chosen the Bible
version you plan to use to start your regular plan
of Bible study, see the next installment of the
Toolbox for tips on ...
Finding Your Way Around the Bible
 Return
to the Index for the Bible Study Toolbox
|
