Hot off the press is the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible, available through all Christian bookstores or from the Bible Society of New Zealand.

It is a high quality text with a number of special features – colour pictures, 290 word studies, 15 charts, 62 timelines and 59 maps.

I like the Holman translation. The contemporary English is easy to read but still an accurate translation that retains the reverence of more traditional texts. For Bible scholars, there is a lengthy explanation of the translation philosophy. This is followed by an excellent essay by George H. Guthrie with practical steps on how to read and study the Bible.

Then comes an essay by Jeremy Royal Howard on the origin, transmission and canonization of the Old Testament books, with a discussion on the apocrypha and why the Bible includes the books it does. Howard then takes the same approach in introducing the New Testament.

At the time I received this review copy I was reading Exodus in my NIV Study Bible, so I decided to read the same in the Holman translation and compare features.

While I find the study notes in my NIV Bible of limited value, especially with the Old Testament, the Holman has comprehensive notes on each page with user-friendly break-out boxes that explain the meaning of particular words. Chapter numbers, subheadings and verse numbering are all colour coded, which makes the text and accompanying notes easy to follow.

The chapter comes with a colour map of the Exodus route. There are some nice photos of geographical features in the Sinai, a break-out box of the Ten Commandments with references as to where each commandment can be found and related passages in both Old and New Testaments.

Next is a drawing of the ark of the covenant with explanation of how the tabernacle and its court were set up. Finally there is an artist’s rendition of a high priest in his garments with an explanation of each item of clothing.

The same pattern is repeated throughout the Bible, along with some scattered in-depth essays on biblical and theological issues. Each chapter starts with an introduction, a chapter outline and a rather intriguing timeline that gives useful information, such as the date of the Exodus and defeat of Pharaoh, and some rather odd items, such as the fact that children’s swings were invented in Crete in 1600BC.

The Bible concludes with bullet notes that explain frequently used biblical words or terms, an explanation of biblical weights and measures, a concordance, reading plans, scripture memory plan, and more maps. The pair of bookmarks is a nice feature.

This is a high quality product that is exceptionally user-friendly with easy-to-read type.

However, I can’t finish without also pointing out a less desirable feature. Because of the volume of information, a very light paper stock is used. This means when the book is first read some of the pages stick together – particularly the chapter introduction pages set on colour ink backgrounds. After a while it becomes quite maddening. This is a problem that will resolve itself once the entire book has been thumbed through, but on first reading be prepared for a bit of frustration.

– Duncan Pardon