The Lutheran Study Bible

The Lutheran Study Bible: English Standard Version
General Editor, Edward Engelbrecht

(Concordia Publishing House)

This is a significant, well done new study Bible. I have been really encouraged looking through this study Bible because of the faithful, reverent approach to the Scriptures. Since I am not a Lutheran, I will differ in places, but this is a really nice resource.

The Study Bible is based on the ESV text. It is truly an international project with contributors from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the US. As occasional illustrations it uses engravings by 19th century Lutheran artist, Julius Schnorr von Carlsfeld (who was influenced by Dürer and Holbein). As introductory matter helping people to read and understand the Bible it contains a nice summary essay on Bible reading and interpretation, an essay on Law & Gospel, Luther’s Small Catechism, and an essay on the unity of Scripture. It also has a copy of the lectionaries, a two-year reading plan, a topical index, and a significant “Biblical Chronology and World History.”

Within the Biblical text it keeps a running chronology and has four types of notes. First it has the regular study bible notes explaining various portions of the text. Second, there are “Law and Gospel Application Notes” which summarize sections calling for application and praise since Bible reading is to be a devotional act. Third, quotes from Church fathers are included in many places. Fourth there are extended articles in various places. Each book also has an introduction.

The notes are written from a clear, conservative, evangelical perspective. Kudos to Concordia for producing this useful study tool.

The Orthodox Study Bible

I mentioned previously the amazing number of new study Bibles coming out this year. Some are intended for a broad audience and others have a specific niche audience. As I reviewed them for Preaching Magazine, the most interesting niche study Bible was The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World(Nelson). It is the first full-length Orthodox study Bible in English including a new translation of the Old Testament from the Septuagint (since that is the version of the OT used by the Orthodox) and study notes written by leading theologians of the Orthodox Church.

I of course have differences with the Orthodox Church, but I found this study Bible stimulating in a positive way. I am especially intrigued by the OT section since you have here a translation of the Septuagint (Greek) text instead of the Hebrew Masoretic text as found in our standard Bibles. The differences are intriguing and the notes commonly point out such differences. These differences could be confusing to people who are unaware of such issues, but for trained pastors seeing such things can be helpful and challenging as you dialogue with another portion of the historic church.

The notes are theologically focused, thus aiming at the overall meaning of the text. Also, the notes often provide quotes from early church fathers. In this way this study Bible sometimes accomplishes in a more usable manner the goal of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series (ed. by Tom Oden).