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The Westminster Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition with the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books
The Westminster Study Bible
(WSB) is the first entirely new study Bible to utilize the recently released New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
Soon to be an essential tool for all religious studies contexts, The Westminster Study Bible includes interpretive materials from over eighty leading biblical experts who, as teachers in a variety of educational settings, are sensitive to how the biblical texts have been received, what their cultural and social consequences have been, and how readers might hear them now in multiple contexts.
The Westminster Study Bible also pays close attention to the interdisciplinary connections that contemporary students, teachers, and other readers from diverse backgrounds will find both useful and relevant. It is an ideal textbook for a range of biblical studies courses, as well as courses in religion, philosophy, and the general humanities, whether introductory or advanced. The Westminster Study Bible's emphasis on the cultural framing of the Bible's theological, historical, literary, and philosophical elements allows it to be useful beyond the university and seminary classrooms, aiding teachers in religious congregations and organizations with their ministries as well.
Reading and engaging the Bible today is not as simple as discovering what it meant in its time in order to determine what it means for all time. All readers—whether students or instructors, clergy or general readers, religious or nonreligious—bring their own perspectives to the interpretation of the Bible. The themes and ideas that matter to twenty-first-century readers tend to resonate with our present situations in some way. The Westminster Study Bible takes this interactive dynamic between historical and contemporary interpretations seriously. Through study notes, thematic excursuses, and a range of illuminating essays, The Westminster Study Bible delves into the ancient contexts of the Bible, its continually evolving interpretations, and its contemporary reading and reception, critically exploring both the worlds of the text and the worlds of its many readers today.
Please visit www.wjkbooks.com/WSB for additional information and a more in-depth look at this exciting, new study Bible.
General
Emerson B. Powery is Professor of Biblical Studies and Interim Dean of the School of Arts, Culture, and Society at Messiah UniversityStacy Davis is Professor of Religious Studies and Theology and Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at Saint Mary's CollegeMary F. Foskett is Wake Forest Kahle Professor of Religious Studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest UniversityBrent A. Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law at Duke University
Soon to be an essential tool for all religious studies contexts, The Westminster Study Bible includes interpretive materials from over eighty leading biblical experts who, as teachers in a variety of educational settings, are sensitive to how the biblical texts have been received, what their cultural and social consequences have been, and how readers might hear them now in multiple contexts.
The Westminster Study Bible also pays close attention to the interdisciplinary connections that contemporary students, teachers, and other readers from diverse backgrounds will find both useful and relevant. It is an ideal textbook for a range of biblical studies courses, as well as courses in religion, philosophy, and the general humanities, whether introductory or advanced. The Westminster Study Bible's emphasis on the cultural framing of the Bible's theological, historical, literary, and philosophical elements allows it to be useful beyond the university and seminary classrooms, aiding teachers in religious congregations and organizations with their ministries as well.
Reading and engaging the Bible today is not as simple as discovering what it meant in its time in order to determine what it means for all time. All readers—whether students or instructors, clergy or general readers, religious or nonreligious—bring their own perspectives to the interpretation of the Bible. The themes and ideas that matter to twenty-first-century readers tend to resonate with our present situations in some way. The Westminster Study Bible takes this interactive dynamic between historical and contemporary interpretations seriously. Through study notes, thematic excursuses, and a range of illuminating essays, The Westminster Study Bible delves into the ancient contexts of the Bible, its continually evolving interpretations, and its contemporary reading and reception, critically exploring both the worlds of the text and the worlds of its many readers today.
Please visit www.wjkbooks.com/WSB for additional information and a more in-depth look at this exciting, new study Bible.
General
Emerson B. Powery is Professor of Biblical Studies and Interim Dean of the School of Arts, Culture, and Society at Messiah UniversityStacy Davis is Professor of Religious Studies and Theology and Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at Saint Mary's CollegeMary F. Foskett is Wake Forest Kahle Professor of Religious Studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest UniversityBrent A. Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law at Duke University
2240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2024
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13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 15, 2024
My Own New Desk Reference Bible
I am sharing this review with Goodreads friends, because this is such an important milestone in Bible publishing from WJK Press, associated with the mainline denomination the Presbyterian Church USA.
I'm a journalist who has covered religious diversity for more than half a century and my choice of standard Bible reference for my desk is an important discernment process. I have always tended to follow mainly the Revised Standard Version, then the New Revised Standard Version, and I appreciate how widely those earlier editions were used across mainline Protestant churches as well as in some Catholic publications as well.
(And, yes, of course, as a journalist I often need to quote from other translations as well, particularly if they are directly quoted by a source I'm citing in a story. So, despite my personal preference for this translation and edition for its clarity and accuracy, I also have a dozen other English translations on my library shelves.)
The RSV and NRSV history is one of rigorous scholarship and the new "UE" in that series follows with the same authoritative attention to accuracy. In addition to working as a journalist, I also run a publishing house myself. We recently began working with a Jewish scholar on a book in English—and we agreed with this Jewish author that the renderings of the Hebrew Scriptures from the NRSVue are ideal for our readership. They are not only accurate in rendering the original meaning, but there also is appropriate attention to gender references to make readers feel welcome in the sacred text. Having just had that experience with the rabbi, who favorably compared the NRSVue with other contemporary translations, I'm convinced that there really is broad consensus on the value of this translation.
Then, you may have noticed: The NRSVue text also is available online "for free," but this new WJK Press volume brings everything together between two covers and adds lots of context. I did not count myself, but the publisher says that 200-or-so helpful "sidebars" were added, discussing issues relevant to lots of passages. And, yes, if you care about this: There are color maps as well.
I'm so impressed with this particular edition of the NRSVue that I've also purchased copies as Christmas presents for a couple of loved ones who enjoy daily Bible reading.
I am sharing this review with Goodreads friends, because this is such an important milestone in Bible publishing from WJK Press, associated with the mainline denomination the Presbyterian Church USA.
I'm a journalist who has covered religious diversity for more than half a century and my choice of standard Bible reference for my desk is an important discernment process. I have always tended to follow mainly the Revised Standard Version, then the New Revised Standard Version, and I appreciate how widely those earlier editions were used across mainline Protestant churches as well as in some Catholic publications as well.
(And, yes, of course, as a journalist I often need to quote from other translations as well, particularly if they are directly quoted by a source I'm citing in a story. So, despite my personal preference for this translation and edition for its clarity and accuracy, I also have a dozen other English translations on my library shelves.)
The RSV and NRSV history is one of rigorous scholarship and the new "UE" in that series follows with the same authoritative attention to accuracy. In addition to working as a journalist, I also run a publishing house myself. We recently began working with a Jewish scholar on a book in English—and we agreed with this Jewish author that the renderings of the Hebrew Scriptures from the NRSVue are ideal for our readership. They are not only accurate in rendering the original meaning, but there also is appropriate attention to gender references to make readers feel welcome in the sacred text. Having just had that experience with the rabbi, who favorably compared the NRSVue with other contemporary translations, I'm convinced that there really is broad consensus on the value of this translation.
Then, you may have noticed: The NRSVue text also is available online "for free," but this new WJK Press volume brings everything together between two covers and adds lots of context. I did not count myself, but the publisher says that 200-or-so helpful "sidebars" were added, discussing issues relevant to lots of passages. And, yes, if you care about this: There are color maps as well.
I'm so impressed with this particular edition of the NRSVue that I've also purchased copies as Christmas presents for a couple of loved ones who enjoy daily Bible reading.
July 25, 2025
Finally having some proper academic leaning study bibles for the NRSVue coming out and I think that Westminster John Knox Press has released a good one. The NRSVue is a great set of updates to the gold standard of translations, the print is high quality here as well.
As far as text notes/explanatory texts/inserts/and ending articles they are of a fairly good quality. As with any work taking such a breadth of authors the quality is not even but, outside of 1 or 2 really high notes and 1 or 2 that made me seriously consider skipping the notes, it's all well within an acceptable middle band of content and readability.
Otherwise, it's the bible.
As far as text notes/explanatory texts/inserts/and ending articles they are of a fairly good quality. As with any work taking such a breadth of authors the quality is not even but, outside of 1 or 2 really high notes and 1 or 2 that made me seriously consider skipping the notes, it's all well within an acceptable middle band of content and readability.
Otherwise, it's the bible.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews