I read a different translation of the bible every year in a 1 year study. This translation has very comprehensive study notes, loads of maps, weights & measures, doctrine overview, canon of the scripture, history of salvation, etc. It's the best study Bible I've read so far. It digs in deep without being opinionated & follows each passage. ( )

I love the ESV translation and based on what I've seen and heard, it's the most accurate "non-wooden" translation available in English today. Sadly, however, I don't care as much for the commentary in the ESV Study Bible. I find it to be lacking in depth, sometimes so obvious as to be redundant, and sometimes wildly interpretive. I hope some different study versions emerge to go along with the excellent translation. ( )

The Best study Bible! ( )

Incredible resource which sets a new standard in study helps and scholarship. 100-page section in the back provides lots of top quality articles on theology and Christian living. Great full-color illustrations. Edited by Wayne Grudem and J. I. Packer. ( )

The English Standard Version with helpful articles and running commentary on the text.

The ESV is an excellent formal equivalence English translation of the Bible. It faithfully renders the words and concepts of the original texts but does so in clear and easily understood English. As such, the ESV is an excellent primary Bible for reading and preaching, and well-suited for everyday use.

The study Bible has many additional resources. The quality of the maps and diagrams are superb: if you really want to get a good rendering of the installations described in Exodus, 1 Kings/2 Chronicles, and Ezekiel, the diagrams in the ESV Study Bible prove extremely helpful There are introductions to each testament, each section of books within each testament, and for each individual book; there are also articles at the beginning, between the testaments, and at the end regarding the history of the Biblical text, the theology of the OT and NT, the history of the intertestamental period, matters regarding various religions, denominations, the history of Christianity, Biblical ethics and morality, and such like. Within each book there is a running commentary at the bottom, explaining the meaning of the text in sections and verses. The ESV Study Bible also highlights literary aspects and themes present within the texts, which is most helpful.

There are many great strengths to this study Bible; many of the comments are extremely good and useful for general understanding. There is an unevenness about the commentary since each book is commented upon by someone different. Occasionally a commentator will focus a bit much on a particular line of argument in a way that distracts from the text, but most of the comments are relevant and useful.

On the whole, I felt the OT commentary was much stronger than the NT commentary. The OT is more even-handed; in matters regarding eschatology, multiple interpretations are suggested, and primacy is not inherently given to any particular eschatological plan. It is in the New Testament where it becomes plainly evident that the commentators are conservative Evangelicals with a Calvinist bent. For better or worse, far too many of the NT comments attempt to explain what the text is "not" saying, which can sometimes be useful but can also be problematic. Baptism is relegated to symbolic status; faith only and especially substitutionary atonement are magnified; the commentators' adherence to "once saved, always saved" is so obvious that they resort to minimizing the texts which show the challenge with such a view (Hebrews 3:12-14, 6:4-6, 10:26-31, 2 Peter 2:20-22, etc.), attempting to say that they don't say what they clearly say because of other passages that in no way deny what is being said. The commentators do recognize that multiple elders over a single congregation was the original organization of NT churches. Some commentators have more sympathy for dispensational premillennialism but it is not as prevalent as might be expected.

So, as with any commentary, caveat emptor: test all things. Nevertheless, when it comes to cultural background, making general sense of the text in context (especially in the OT), maps, diagrams, and other such things, the ESV Study Bible remains a great resource and worth consideration. ( )