Tools for Biblical Studies

Scholarly Annotated/Study Bibles

A scholarly annotated bible is a bible that contains the biblical text and annotations or comments on the text meant to aid the reader.   The the author of the annotations may comment on the translation, key terms, places or persons, cultural customs.  She may also point out related biblical passages.   There are also usually introductions to each book of the bible and to larger sections such as the Pentateuch (first five books of the Hebrew Bible) or the gospels of the New Testament.  Sometimes additional articles and maps are included.  Four excellent academic annotated bibles are:

The HarperCollins Study Bible : New Revised Standard Version With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books [HCSB] (Paperback).  Gen. ed. Wayne A. Meeks, Associate Eds. Jouette M Bassler et al.       HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.  ISBN: 0060655275 (also available in hardcover). This bible includes the the Christian Bible including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha or Deutero-canonical books (books included in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles as canonical and as informative, but not canonical in Protestant Bibles).  It was sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature, the largest scholarly society focused on biblical materials.

You can view a page from this Bible at http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060655275/ref=sib_dp_top_ex/102-6182108-5842559?ie=UTF8&p=S01E#  Click on "Surprise Me."
The Jewish Study Bible featuring the Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. Edited by Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler and Michael Fishbane. Oxford and New York:  Oxford University Press, 2003 or 2004.   ISBN13: 9780195297546ISBN10: 0195297547 college paperback7330.  This Bible is the Hebrew Bible with the books in the Jewish order:  Torah, Neviim [Prophets], and Ketuvim [Writings].  The scholars contributing to this annotated bible are all Jewish and offer annotations that reference rabbinic tradition.  The translation featured is a translation produced by a committee of Jewish scholars.
 
The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha (Hardcover). [NISB] Ed. Walter J. Harrelson.  Nashville:  Abingdon Press, 2003.  ISBN: 0687278325.  This bible includes the the Christian Bible including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha or Deutero-canonical books (books included in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles as canonical and as informative, but not canonical in Protestant Bibles). 
Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Hardcover)Amazon.com Zondervan NIV Study Bible Books Zondervan
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha NRSV. Augmented 3rd edition .  College Edition. [NOAB] ed. Michael Coogan et al. New York and Oxford:  Oxford University Press. 2007. ISBN 0-19-528883-1 -  This includes the Christian Bible including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha or Deutero-canonical books (books included in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles as canonical and as informative, but not canonical in Protestant Bibles).    

You can view a page from this Bible at http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/019528478X/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-6182108-5842559#reader-link  Click on "Surprise Me" several times to see various pages.

The page format of an annotated bible often looks something like this:

English Text

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes from the Translators, often indicated by letters.  These may indicate difficulties in translation, alternative translations, or which manuscripts offer a different reading of a passage.  Here are two typical examples from the NRSV:

a Meaning of Heb[rew] uncertain

b Gk [Greek] Mss [manuscripts]:  Heb lacks in Hebron. [This is a footnote on 2 Samuel 15:8.]
Annotations by a biblical scholar. 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes annotations are printed in a column to the side of the biblical text rather than below it.

 

For a description of study bibles from a conservative Christian perspective see the following article by John R. Kohlenburger, III. at http://www.equip.org/free/DB135.htm