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| The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World (Bible) | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Nelson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $26.78
You Save: $23.21 (46%)
New (27) Used (8) from $22.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 10603
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1824
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.7 x 1.7
ISBN: 0718003594
Dewey Decimal Number: 220
EAN: 9780718003593
ASIN: 0718003594
Publication Date: June 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Clean and Complete, No Writings or Markings, No Tears or Creases, Ships Within 24 Hours, Satisfaction or a 100% Refund.
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Product Description
The FIRST EVER Orthodox Study Bible presents the Bible of the early church and the church of the early Bible. Orthodox Christianity is the face of ancient Christianity to the modern world and embraces the second largest body of Christians in the world. In this first-of-its-kind study Bible, the Bible is presented with commentary from the ancient Christian perspective that speaks to those Christians who seek a deeper experience of the roots of their faith. Features Include:
- Old Testament newly translated from the Greek text of the Septuagint, including the Deuterocanon
- New Testament from the New King James Version
- Commentary drawn from the early Church Christians
- Easy-to-Locate liturgical readings
- Book Introductions and Outlines
- Subject Index
- Full-color Icons
- Full-color Maps
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 Good Intentions But... June 8, 2008
132 out of 192 found this review helpful
I have to admit that I'm quite disappointed with the ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE (OSB), especially since I'd read so much praise for its Patristic-based notes and commentary. As a previous reviewer points out, it's basically the New King James Version (NKJV) with the Anagignoskomena (i.e. the Orthodox Deuterocanon, or the Apocrypha).
While Orthodox Christians generally consider the NKJV an acceptable text for the New Testament, its use for the Psalter is completely unacceptable. However, I was surprised to find that this Bible, supposedly produced for Orthodox Christian study and devotion, retains the Protestant version of the Psalms, even down to its numbering system.
In addition to problems with the Psalms, there's the overwhelming non-Orthodox tone of the notes and commentary. Referring to the Mother of God simply as "Mary," or to the Second Person in the Holy Trinity simply as "Jesus" sounds as odd to most Orthodox as it does to this Roman Catholic. I don't know if it was the decision to use the NKJV text or because the publisher is Thomas Nelson, but to be frank, the ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE reads more like an Evangelical work than anything else. As the Archimandrite Ephrem said in his own much more detailed review of the OSB:
"It feels far too much like a piece of evangelical propaganda decked out in the trappings of Orthodoxy, like an eighteenth century New England chapel or meeting house with a golden onion dome stuck over the pediment of the porch."
Much needed Orthodox Bible. June 4, 2008
124 out of 128 found this review helpful
The "Orthodox Study Bible" is a much needed resource for Orthodox Christians, and anybody who wishes to read the Orthodox perspective on scriptural interpretation. It has the complete Orthodox canon of the Old Testament found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible that was cited in the New Testament and served as the original Bible of the Christian Church. Each book is accompanied with an introduction explaining who wrote the book and why the book was written, along with its spiritual significance.
The notes accompanying the New King James translation of the text are unlike notes found in other Bibles that I've come across. They emphasize the spiritual context of the passages in question, and relate the Old Testament narratives, prophecies, and prayers into a Christ-centered context. Events and people in the Old Testament foreshadow and prefigure Christ. This allegorical interpretation is not found in contemporary secular and "ecumenical" study Bibles, which focus on the bare historical meaning of the passages, devoid of any spiritual meaning they possess.
I have a few criticisms of this book, and they are about the format of the book, not the contents. First, the font in this book is too small. If the font was a point or two larger, it would be much easier to read. Second, margins are non-existent, which makes it frustrating writing notes while reading and reviewing the text. Third, the text runs nearly into the spine of the book, another aspect of this Bible which makes reading it a headache. And fourth, the pages are too thin. Most Bibles, granted, are printed on very thin paper--but the "Orthodox Study Bible" seems like it is printed on paper thinner than air. I wanted to read the "Orthodox Study Bible" cover to cover but couldn't get too far into Genesis because of the annoying format.
So basically, I absolutely recommend this Bible for any Orthodox Christian who wants to learn more about the Bible without resorting to non-Orthodox sources. There are no other single-volume Bibles containing the complete Orthodox canon of the Old Testament in addition to the New Testament. Hopefully future editions of this Bible will be printed that are more user-friendly.
This is basically the KJV with some Orthodox footnotes June 5, 2008
78 out of 86 found this review helpful
With all the growing biblical scholarship out there, all the English translations out there, there STILL is not an ORTHODOX TRANSLATION of the Scripture. The Orthodox Study Bible was presented to me at Seminary by Fr. Gillquist, for which I'm very thankful. But, there's so much more that could have been done with this work. My biggest critique of this Bible is that it is NOT a translation of the LXX, rather, it is a warmed-over KJV with apocrypha and some blurbs from Orthodox thinkers on the topic. What the Orthodox Church in our country needs is a standard, Orthodox-translated Bible...a TRANSLATION of the LXX, a translation of the NT (Byzantine Lectionary), and then add notes and such from the Fathers. This is just my own humble opinion.
Too little for too much. June 19, 2008
69 out of 73 found this review helpful
I don't own a copy, and probably never will. However, upon examining it several times I just have to voice my utter disappointment with the work as a whole. For one, the long-awaited Old Testament addition to the OSB is inadequate. It corrects "major" divergences from the Masoretic text, but you still get none of the subtleties that an actual translation from the Septuagint (the Church's canonical OT text) would render; and its many of these subtleties that the Fathers use to dive into the spiritual meat of the Scriptures.
The OSB had such a long period between its NT release and the complete release, and during that time the Orthodox community offered many many corrections, accessible online by merely googling "Orthodox Study Bible." None of these helpful critiques were heeded. To me, this is enough to create a presumption of willful, wanton, reckless indifference to the wishes of the Orthodox community.
Technical stuff is disappointing, too. Sure, we get little snippets of exegesis that are attributed to various Orthodox fathers and teachers-- Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian-- but there are no citations to the actual work being referenced!
Then there's the hype. We hear "finally we can know the authoritative interpretation of the Scriptures from the Orthodox Church!" This should not have been decked out with trappings of Orthodox Officialdom-- no local Church or synod has approved its publication or use.
But what are the alternatives for English-speaking Orthodox Christians? Several alternatives. First, if you want real patristic commentary, get a good set of the Orthodox commentaries on the Gospels by the Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria-- available from [...]. Several other works along this line are also available, and you get the in-depth patristic treatment instead of snippets. Second, if you want good translations from actual Orthodox texts, look no further than: the KJV itself (great for liturgical reading and based for the most part on the Byzantine canonical text), the EOB (Eastern Orthodox Bible) is available for free online which uses both the Septuagint and the canonical NT from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. For the psalter, I personally love the one from Holy Transfiguration Monastery because it's still in liturgical English, and is divided into the Kathismata. Also, it has the prayers for the dead in the back, for Orthodox who still care enough about tradition to read the psalter over their departed loved ones before burial.
My point with all this: you simply get too little for way too much money. Maybe next time we could have actual Orthodox theologians, monastics, etc., work on the translations and commentary, instead of the Orthodox version of Campus Crusade.
 An interesting study Bible June 21, 2008
69 out of 71 found this review helpful
I have found this Study Bible to be an interesting introduction to Eastern Orthodox Church theology and interpretation of Scriptures. It is easy to read and seems to be more of an introduction of Orthodoxy for Protestants than an in-depth study of doctrine. There are not as many notes as most other study Bibles I have used, but I found it to still be an interesting read.
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