Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 52:2 (Jun 2009)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 52:2 (June 2009) p. 357

Book Reviews

The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008, 2,752 pp., $49.95.

The first printing of the ESV Study Bible (henceforth ESVSB) sold out before the 100,000 volumes arrived from the printer. Six months after being released in mid-October 2008, Crossway had printed 300,000 copies. An impressive list of evangelical pastors and teachers enthusiastically endorse the ESVSB, but the main reason it is so popular is its outstanding quality. Here are some of its key features:

Ninety-five evangelical Christian scholars contributed to the ESVSB, including Wayne Grudem (general editor), J. I. Packer (theological editor), C. John Collins (OT editor), Thomas R. Schreiner (NT editor), Darrell L. Bock, Mark Dever, Simon J. Gathercole, Grant R. Osborne, John Oswalt, John Piper, Daniel B. Wallace, Bruce A. Ware, Gordon J. Wenham, Peter J. Williams, Robert W. Yarbrough, and many more.

The 20,000 notes are clear, concise, and exegetically and theologically informed. They introduce each book of the Bible and then fill about one fourth of each page in the OT and one half in the NT.

Seventy articles scattered throughout the volume (including over 160 pages in the back) supply informed summaries of different sections of Scripture, OT and NT theology, systematic theology, Second Temple Judaism, ethics, hermeneutics, canon, textual issues, archaeology, original languages, historical theology (including world religions and cults), and salvation history. They could easily be published separately as a 700-page book.

Enhancing the learning process are over forty all-new engaging illustrations (e.g. the tabernacle, temple, and Jerusalem), 200 charts (e.g. genealogies in Genesis 5, the kings during the divided kingdom, Zechariah’s visions, and NT timelines), and 200 full-color maps (e.g. possible exodus routes and the allotment of land during the conquest of Canaan).

Adjacent to the ESV text are 80,000 cross-references (identical to other editions of the ESV), and the concordance lists 3,178 words and 14,161 verses.

The printed text and format are clear and readable: the cross-references are in the gutter, the ESV text is in a single column printed according to genre (e.g. paragraphs for prose) in a 9-point Lexicon font, and the notes occur in two columns in a 7.25-point Frutiger font.

The paper quality and Smyth-sewn binding are superb for each available edition: hardcover, TruTone, bonded leather, genuine leather, and premium calfskin.

An online version, available free with any purchase of a print edition, has many additional features and resources, including audio narration of the whole Bible and the abil...