Popular Study Bibles Today
Like everything in the 21st century, even the production of the modern study Bible is diverse and highly competitive. Fifty years ago, it was not complicated to pick the best study Bible. It was always some edition of the King James Version that had cross references, maps and a small concordance in the back. Hard copy or leather was the norm. Simple. It’s not that there were not other translations. It’s just that the King James was regarded as the “authorized” version of the Bible for fundamental believers and the choices in editions and styles it came in were very limited.
But simplicity was not to be the plan for the future when it came to study Bibles. New, more modern language versions of the Bible began to show up on bookstore shelves and with them came a mad rush by large publishers to turn out commentaries, concordances, study guides and a mad rush to see who could turn out the best modern study Bible. The newer translations were virtually all met with opposition and criticism from some sector of the Christian world, from accuracy and historical complaints to actually being accused of being “of the devil” (a not very intelligent argument). With everything from highly literal word for word translations to unscholarly, but very readable versions, to versions that tried to accomplish both accuracy and readability, everything became available, and available in all kinds of publications.
Now with publishing houses having responded to the many newer modern translations, there is a multitude of different types of study bibles available. Bible editions that concentrate on vast notes populating the pages of the Bible available on every page as you read the scriptures. There are modern study bibles that provide devotional type commentary rather than factual. And there are always the traditional editions with side page or center page cross references that connect scripture themes together. But whatever the case, choosing that translation and edition of a modern study Bible is no longer the simple task it once was.
Interestingly, when the number of special study Bibles peaked a phenomenon took place. People began to seek out more simple editions with limited notes and cross references. The sheer volume of information that was initially sought after was now making the process of choosing the modern study Bible tedious, and confusing. People were revolting looking for Bibles they could read and study from without the distraction of all the publisher content. Then the publishers had another dilemma in turning out editions of various translations without the information overload they had produced in others.
In just about any bookstore today, Christian or secular, you can probably find a modern study Bible that is just right for you. You can buy them inexpensively, or elegant, expensive editions with exotic covers and binding. You can find effective study Bibles that provide tons of information or clean bare pages within editions that contain only scripture. But whatever edition is purchased the bottom line for the reader is not how much the book cost or how many notes are present, but what effect it has on their life that counts.