The English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible | Mobilise

The ESV Study Bible

The ESV Study Bible has been dubbed ‘a study Bible on Steroids.’ It is a bulky, feature packed edition that is taking the pulpits by storm! But is it really a worthwhile addition to a library already stocked with Bibles? After six months of using it, Luke Davydaitis (Brickhill Baptist Church, Bedford) shares his thoughts on what this new study Bible has to offer.

1) The Text

Philosophy of translation

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a word-for-word translation. This means that for each word, the translation team have tried to give as accurate a rendition of the original language as possible. Other philosophies of translation give editors more freedom to explain and paraphrase within the text according to what they think the original author was trying to say. Although these ‘thought-for-thought’ translations can be easier to read, and thus have a more immediate impact, sometimes they go too far, or interpret the text in an illegitimate way. Having a word-for-word translation helps to mitigate against this somewhat. I also think it’s good to be as close as possible to the words which God gave to be put in His book.

Word-for-word translations can be weak when they are so literal that the sense of a passage is hard to discern. This can sometimes be the case with the ESV. Having said that, whilst looking at the Psalms I was attracted to the merits of this translation. Reading them felt like reading poetry, which is what they are! Some translations feel very flat but that is not the case here: a letter from Paul feels very different to the book of Proverbs. The books of the Bible were written in different styles, by different people, in different places, for different purposes. Capturing that reality in a translation is no small achievement.

ESV Study Bible

Annoying or endearing?

There are some idiosyncrasies that I really enjoy, such as the repeated use of ‘behold’ (1,101 times!) to translate the attention-grabbing imperative. Although I like it, particularly when reading aloud, I’ll admit that it can sound a bit archaic unless you spend a lot of your time reading The Lord of the Rings.

Then there’s the use of the word ‘kai’ in Mark’s Gospel. Mark started 101 sentences with it and although it can be translated a number of ways, ‘and’ is the best English equivalent. So passages such as Mark 1:21-28 can sound a bit repetitive, and the reader might long for greater variation. But the point is that this is what Mark wrote and so we are confronted with his style and choices. The urgency of his account really comes across, and I think that makes for a good translation.

So the text is very accurate and generally highly readable, and that’s the most important thing. Everything else is a bonus.

2) Study Tools

Study materials are, of course, what you buy a study Bible for (unless you just want to look a bit more pious at church). I have been really impressed with what is in here.

Introductions

Both testaments have helpful introductory essays, as does each genre of writing (i.e. the prophets, letters), and each individual book.

The books’ introductions contain information such as who wrote it, when and why, along with key themes and an outline. Questions of authorship and authenticity are discussed within an evangelical framework. There is also an interesting section called ‘History of salvation summary’, which fits every book into the big story of salvation. This is a great touch as it reminds the reader of God’s great plan and Christ’s great achievement in accomplishing it. There are also book-specific sections on key issues, such as ‘Genesis and science’ and the differing mainstream interpretations of Revelation.

Study notes

My concern with study notes is that they can make the reader lazy; rather than thinking, praying, and working out what a passage means, you just look for the answer in the notes. As a middle ground, to help avoid this laziness, I tend to read a passage without looking at any of the notes, have a think about it, and then go through it again but this time referring to the notes.

When reading the study notes, it’s easy to notice the absence of one’s own theological distinctives. To be fair, the notes are honest about uncertainties and disagreements within the evangelical viewpoint, often presenting a range of different options and not always drawing a conclusion. But you may on occasion find yourself disagreeing with the odd note here and there.

Elsewhere the notes helpfully point out what might otherwise be missed. For example, I read Hosea 1 assuming that the prophet married a prostitute, but this is apparently not what the text says. Furthermore, it is implied that the second and third children his wife bears are not his, but I had missed this implication until the notes highlighted it. I understood more clearly how Hosea’s marriage mirrored the relationship between God and Israel: it had started well but now the people were being unfaithful.

As you would expect, there is a substantial concordance, and detailed cross-references, both of which help you go on journeys of discovery through Scripture.

Pictures

Some people can read a description and immediately visualise what it looks like. I am not one of those people, and so I found the use of colour pictures and maps really helpful. These are particularly good in the Old Testament as tabernacles and temples come to life in full colour. New Testament images are helpful for setting scenes: for example, what did the temple look like when Jesus was there? Being able to visualise the scene provokes me to consider things in a way I probably wouldn’t have previously.

3) Other Resources and Online Version

So far this is all pretty standard for a study Bible; this is a good translation with excellent supporting resources that the make the most of recent scholarship. But there are many other features in the ESV Study Bible that legitimate the title, ‘A study Bible on steroids.’

Articles

This Bible contains over 250 pages of helpful articles on topics such as:

  • God's Plan of Salvation
  • Biblical Doctrine
  • Biblical Ethics
  • The Canon of Scripture
  • The Reliability of Bible Manuscripts
  • Archaeology and the Bible
  • The Original Languages of the Bible
  • The Septuagint
  • How the New Testament Quotes and Interprets the Old Testament
  • The Bible and World Religions
  • The Bible and Religious Cults
  • History of Salvation in the Old Testament

I know so many Christians who have questions, but aren’t sure where to go for help with them – the ESV Study Bible is a great first port of call. Some people may read an article on their chosen topic and think ‘That’s good enough for me’, and that’s great – they’ve got their information from a trustworthy source and they haven’t had to buy yet another book. Others will think, ‘Well that’s not enough, I need more information’, which is also great – now you’re motivated to go shopping!

Online version

To complement (and for the tech-savvy, supersede) the hard copy, buying the ESV Study Bible gets you free online access to the text, and all the other resources.

I really like the way the site is integrated. It is fully searchable, making it the ultimate concordance. For each passage you get the relevant study note, plus the notes for the section and sub-section it’s in and a link to all the other media, maps and charts relating to that passage.

What is particularly great is the ability to create your own private notes alongside the text and the study materials. You can also create weblinks in those notes. So if I hear a great sermon on a certain passage, I can then create a note in my online Bible with some of the highlights from that talk and a link to the download. This is absolutely brilliant for someone like me who loves finding and accessing information, and should be helpful for anyone who wants to remember the good things they are taught.

Another extra feature online is an audio option. Simply choose your chapter, click ‘Listen’, and away the narrator goes!

4) Practicalities

Practicality

The page layout is rather different to the two columns of Scripture format you get in most Bibles. A single column covers about three-quarters of the page width, with a side bar for cross-references and the Scriptures in a larger font size than the notes. Below is a double column for study notes. This means that the Scriptures themselves take precedence on the page. Some Bibles are so cluttered with other people’s thoughts that the word of God can seem rather incidental; that is not the case here. Only when a passage requires a great deal of commentary, or there is a large diagram in the notes does the main text feel squeezed.

The trade-off for the incredible amount of resources in one volume is this: it’s massive! Honestly, you might want to fit some wheels to it if you’re going to carry it around with you. But this is where the online version comes into its own for those with mobile internet access. It really is the best way to have this Bible and all its resources on the move.

Conclusion

Because I’m a bit of a geek, and because they help me in my job, I have a dozen different copies of the Bible. Were I only allowed to keep one, without a doubt I would choose my ESV Study Bible. It is an accurate and readable translation, and the amount of helpful resources it includes is staggering. On top of all this, it’s so heavy that if I keep reading it every day it will really build up my arm muscles, resulting in my having been built up in every way by this excellent book!

Luke Davydaitis
Brickhill Baptist Church, Bedford

Click here to purchase the ESV Study Bible from the Newfrontiers online store.