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Insightful commentary drawn from the Christian writers and teachers of the first ten centuries after Christ There were some things I didn't like about it. For instance, the fact that it used the New King James Version for the New Testament, rather than a more accurate translation. Commentary notes, or annotations, serve as the defining characteristic of study Bibles. The OSB is no different except that its comments originate not from the interpretation of modern Bible scholars, but rather from over 50 early church sources. These notes not only draw upon the biblical and theological understandings of individuals such as Athanasius, Irenaeus, and Chrysostom, they also gear themselves toward the life and practice of Orthodox Christians.
God the Father spoke to His Word and Only-begotten Son, through whom He made the light (AthanG). Since the Son, too, is Lord, He is coequal with the Father, and is His Coworker in making heaven and earth. The Old Testament is based on the Septuagint, the ancient translation of the Old Testament that Jewish scholars translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek. As such, the numerical assignment of verses differs from how they are assigned in other translations such as the KJV or NIV. In addition, other books considered by other branches to be apocryphal such as "The Wisdom of Sirach" and the 3 volumes of "Maccabees" for example are included in this version.The FIRST EVER Orthodox Study Bible presents the Bible of the early church and the church of the early Bible. Interestingly, since the New Testament of the OSB is paired with an Old Testament based on the Septuagint—the Bible used by the writers of the New Testament—when the New Testament quotes the Old, the quotations are worded identically, unlike most Bibles with Old Testaments based on the Hebrew text. The Orthodox Study Bible is great because it has a vibrant translation of the full Orthodox canon including books that Protestants don't have - like Judith, Tobit, and I, II, and III Maccabees. (Catholics have most of these books in their canon as well aside from III Maccabees.) I'd heard that Luther and others recommended it for devotional reading, and I definitely found that it strengthened my walk with God and my understanding of the rest of the Bible, particularly Maccabees and Judith. In fact, I'll say that without reading I and II Maccabees you really don't understand the New Testament as well as you could. Tobit was fun and faith building. We are pleased to announce the release of the Orthodox Study Bible Notes for the Accordance Library! This unique study Bible, offering insights and commentary from the early centuries of Christianity, will be of interest not only to Eastern Orthodox Christians but also to anyone interested in church history. In the end, the Orthodox Study Bible is a God-send (quite literally in many senses). If you're less interested in getting to know the "historical Jesus" as portrayed by scholars in most study Bibles, and more interested in meeting with Our Lord and Savior as understood by saints, "Highly recommended" would be an understatement.
Well, I actually did it. I read the entire Bible this year. It was something I decided to do on a whim 364 days ago, and I actually followed through with it. I’ve been measuring the passage of the year by crossing off each day’s line in the reading plan I’ve been following, and it’s a strange feeling to get to the end. I should probably have something more substantive to say, but I feel a bit like Forrest Gump after he ran across the country. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.”That said, it was a rewarding experience. I’d read most of the Bible before, but never all of it in one shot. This reading has reaffirmed my love for the Old Testament in particular. Those pseudo-Marcionite Christians (and there are sadly many of them) who ignore the Old Testament, thinking it has somehow been made irrelevant by the New, are frankly practicing a faith with little substance. The Old Testament is the content of our faith; the New Testament—the firstfruits of Scripture—is the spiritual light by which that content is illuminated. The New Testament is entirely submerged in the symbolic economy of the Hebrew Scriptures; and we ought to be as well. Plus, the Old Testament is a fantastic read in its own right: patriarchs, prophets, priests, kings, warriors, mystics, poets, court historians; tales of alluring darkness, mystery, sensuality, and violence; cosmogony, national epic, prophetic lament, and sage advice. It is a literary treasure-house, a gift for the entire human race. The OSB contains a number of study articles that will be helpful not only to Orthodox believers, but also to those outside the Orthodox Church who want to understand this faith tradition better. The Subject Index combines almost 50 article titles along with numerous subjects covered in the articles. Here is a list of the articles contained in the OSB:
Other reviewers have mentioned a distaste for the New King James Version and, as someone who also affirms most of the critical methods of modern NT scholarship, I can certainly empathize. Though the NKJV relies on the Textus Receptus (a Reformation Era-variant of Byzantine text-type manuscripts, compiled by Erasmus) and maintains such renderings in the body of scripture, its footnotes are the most comprehensive of any translation. In fact, all variations from the Majority Text as well as the Nestle-Aland/UBS editions (the "Critical Text" based on Alexandrian text-type manuscripts) are comprehensively documented. The overriding benefit to the selection of the TR is that the NKJV retains the same eloquent, familiar phraseology and literary grace that caused its predecessor to leave such an indelible mark on English language and literature ever after. And because it adheres to the principle of formal equivalence in translation, the NKJV maintains a vocabulary and style in accordance with high English--this is not a "dumbed-down" translation like many other popular ones out there. The result is that the Bible reads less like a contemporary novel or a daily newspaper, and more like dignified prose--which is befitting of sacred scripture. Separate from the article on the “Seventy” (from Luke 10:1-17) included in the bulleted list earlier, another section lists all 70 “sent ones” according to Orthodox tradition, the date on the church calendar in which each is commemorated, and references in the New Testament which refer to these early missionary-apostles. This is the Bible English translation used by the Orthodox Church. As such, those from other branches of Christianity may find it different from other versions with which they are more familiar. This image is filled with symbolism as one would expect in any Orthodox icon. Centered in the image, Jesus stands on the broken gates of Hades, which in their fallen state have formed a cross. Jesus is pulling the parents of humanity, Adam and Eve, from Hades by the wrists and not the hands because the work being done is all his and not theirs. But this Bible is not just for Orthodox Christians. Countless others will find the Orthodox Study Bible an invaluable roadmap for their spiritual journey. Those exploring Christianity for the first time and those Christians waiting to discover their own spiritual roots will see this Bible as a source of inspiration and challenge.For instance, regarding Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (SAAS), the OSB includes this note drawing on the teachings of both Athanasius the Great as well as the Canon of St. Andrew: The Orthodox Study Bible was the result of a collaboration between numerous Orthodox scholars, clergy and lay leaders. The initial draft was prepared by the academic community of St. Athanasius Orthodox Academy. Some of the credited contributors of the Orthodox Study Bible project include: There are some positives to take away from the Bible though. For starters, the English-speaking Orthodox people have a Bible they can call their own, instead of the NKJV or American Standard Version (ASV). I am a convert to Catholicism, but seeing that Orthodox and Catholics were/are the original and true Church (not getting into that in this review), I can't imagine either one of them not having an English Bible, but apparently that time did exist. Accordance users have always enjoyed the freedom to pair any translation or original language text of the Bible with any set of study Bible notes, and this remains true with the OSB. However, since the Old Testament of the OSB follows the Septuagint (LXX) and not the Hebrew Bible, included with every copy of the OSB is the St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint, a new English version of the LXX created specifically to accompany the Old Testament annotations of the OSB. The SAAS began with the New King James Version as its base, but changes were made at any point where the LXX differed from the Hebrew text. Moreover, brand new translations were created for the additional books (often referred to as Apocrypha or Deuterocanon) not found in the NKJV. The translation of these additional Old Testament books use the NKJV style and vocabulary as a template to maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the OSB. The content of the OSB–including annotations, introductions, and articles–is written at a vocabulary level of a high school graduate to communicate “the treasures of the Orthodox biblical tradition with clergy and laypeople desirous of understanding their Christian beliefs and making them accessible to others” ( Introduction). The notes and commentary emphasize the major themes of the Christian faith, giving special attention to the following:
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