I love the (Old) Jerusalem Bible. There are copious amounts of notes/study helps, cross references, parallel references, etc., and yet the paragraph layout and gutter-located verse numbering allows one to read quite enjoyably and easily, when the reader is not in intensive Bible study mode.
I chose the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible because they did the best job juggling single column text, cross references, commentary notes and other in text helps. For a clean page with little or no notes or anything else (for prayerful reading), I would choose the CSSI Large Print RSV-CE. The lager print with a nice clean page layout makes it very easy to read with little distractions.
I still like the 2-column page layout format better. It is easier to read without losing your place, and easier to pinpoint specific verses.
Among the editions listed here, the NOAB RSV has been quite useful to me because of the cross-references being built into the notes. It is also amazing how much information is fit into this medium sized Bible while still maintaining a large font size for the text.
Although I dislike some of the renderings in the NABRE, I do use it for study due to it containing a lot of cross-references to the entire Bible, including the deutrocanonical books, and also the many notes (although I don't always agree with them.) Due to the fact this is usually at least my third Bible open if I decide to use it, I most often use the World Publishing edition because it is very slim, is thumb-tabbed and has a ribbon marker. The St. Joseph leather edition still has the best layout of the NABRE available. The spacing of the text and notes, the opaqueness and thickness of the paper are just right. I actually would have bought that one instead had I known that the World edition no longer had the red letters!
My other two Bibles I use frequently for study are the Haydock, and the Oxford RSV mentioned above, although I find myself more often doing devotional reading with slightly smaller Bibles that I prefer to take on the go. The Baronius Press D-R has my favorite layout, as well as the almost identical St. Benedict Press edition, which is considerably more compact. Also, the hardback RSV-CE from Ignatius Press has proven to be great for devotional use. It is compact, lightweight, and the hardback cover stays open in one hand. BTW, my idea of "compact" is small enough to carry with a missal, yet big enough type to read without squinting!
New Jerusalem Bible, hands down and by a mile (original Jerusalem Bible and Confraternity Pocket NT use the same format, as does the NCPB). It actually looks like a book - y'know, to be read - and not a dictionary, to be consulted.
The RSV-2CE probably has the worst layout of the bunch of those that I've seen - plain two-column paragraphed - but the NABREs I've seen are even worse, with how lop-sided the pages get, as the notes are not evenly distributed across columns; they start in the right-hand column, until it's full, and then "spill" into the left column, so one can have a page that is one column of text parallel with one column of notes. And the verse numbers are too obtrusive.
I love the (Old) Jerusalem Bible. There are copious amounts of notes/study helps, cross references, parallel references, etc., and yet the paragraph layout and gutter-located verse numbering allows one to read quite enjoyably and easily, when the reader is not in intensive Bible study mode.
ReplyDeleteI chose the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible because they did the best job juggling single column text, cross references, commentary notes and other in text helps. For a clean page with little or no notes or anything else (for prayerful reading), I would choose the CSSI Large Print RSV-CE. The lager print with a nice clean page layout makes it very easy to read with little distractions.
ReplyDeleteI still like the 2-column page layout format better. It is easier to read without losing your place, and easier to pinpoint specific verses.
ReplyDeleteAmong the editions listed here, the NOAB RSV has been quite useful to me because of the cross-references being built into the notes. It is also amazing how much information is fit into this medium sized Bible while still maintaining a large font size for the text.
Although I dislike some of the renderings in the NABRE, I do use it for study due to it containing a lot of cross-references to the entire Bible, including the deutrocanonical books, and also the many notes (although I don't always agree with them.) Due to the fact this is usually at least my third Bible open if I decide to use it, I most often use the World Publishing edition because it is very slim, is thumb-tabbed and has a ribbon marker. The St. Joseph leather edition still has the best layout of the NABRE available. The spacing of the text and notes, the opaqueness and thickness of the paper are just right. I actually would have bought that one instead had I known that the World edition no longer had the red letters!
My other two Bibles I use frequently for study are the Haydock, and the Oxford RSV mentioned above, although I find myself more often doing devotional reading with slightly smaller Bibles that I prefer to take on the go. The Baronius Press D-R has my favorite layout, as well as the almost identical St. Benedict Press edition, which is considerably more compact. Also, the hardback RSV-CE from Ignatius Press has proven to be great for devotional use. It is compact, lightweight, and the hardback cover stays open in one hand. BTW, my idea of "compact" is small enough to carry with a missal, yet big enough type to read without squinting!
New Jerusalem Bible, hands down and by a mile (original Jerusalem Bible and Confraternity Pocket NT use the same format, as does the NCPB). It actually looks like a book - y'know, to be read - and not a dictionary, to be consulted.
ReplyDeleteThe RSV-2CE probably has the worst layout of the bunch of those that I've seen - plain two-column paragraphed - but the NABREs I've seen are even worse, with how lop-sided the pages get, as the notes are not evenly distributed across columns; they start in the right-hand column, until it's full, and then "spill" into the left column, so one can have a page that is one column of text parallel with one column of notes. And the verse numbers are too obtrusive.