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The Oxford Annotated has been recommended in a number of situations where a good study bible was needed.

-bigbrotherinlaw

I'm not familiar with them. But ANYTHING done by Bruce Metzger will be great. And this is irresponsible, but the name, "Society of Biblical Literature" sounds like a good organization. Anyway, I bet both are fine. Really, you only want to avoid something that was done by the Southern Baptist Convention, for example. You know, a group with a hard edged doctrinal axe to grind.

lol

Keith, I thought about this only after. I should have started with a disclaimer. Don't buy anything just yet. sorry about that.

Nah, real learning's never tidy. And I didn't get over to B&N anyway--I figured out how to keep the toddler dry, but Daddy and the book would have been mush by the time we got there. Maybe tomorrow after the day gig.

I had another paragraph here about a non-Amazon website to buy books, but on re-reading, I realized it could take sales away from Viva. Duh. Sorry about that!

I don't know it. I don't want to give the impression that I sample and review materials like this. I don't even use study bibles myself. You generally use the best tools you have, and mine are considerably beyond that. But I will say that the Zondervan name doesn't exactly inspire confidence, though they probably put out some good stuff here and there.

I am also a proud owmer of a Zondervan NIV study bible, which okay, I bought because the cover looked kinda progressive and cool, foggy oak tree image said "smart and edgy". So I did the test with Isaiah and sure enough this bible claims one author and to deny this is to deny 'the supernatural element of God's revelation". Whoa. Thanks for the insight. I'll be more discerning in the future. Are their some publisher names you can shout out that are more scholarly than others? Forgive me if you already did this, I had a two year old on my lap while watching the last clip. Thank you for this and where were you during my Sunday School years?

Avoid zondervan. You can start there. Um, I suggest the Learning Bible by the American Bible Society.

FYI, the reason we know that Isaiah was written by at least two people is that the first part (1-39) appears to be before the exile, and the second half after. Actually, some have suggested perhaps three authors. The thing is, the book itself seems to clearly be written by more than one person. The only reason to deny this is out of some presumption that only a single author can be possible if one is to have faith or have a high view of scripture or inspiration. But that's just an idea that has no basis in itself.

Here is a link with more info:

http://www.crivoice.org/isaiahunity.html

My impresion of Zondervan is that their aim is to please the conservative, evangelical wing of Christianity. And they do so in a hyped, marketed, slick kind of way. Just my opinion. Zondervan will never take any theological risks. They are not a publishing house that is looking for excellence, scholorship, or truth. They are cranking out the stuff that "Precious Moments Christian Bookstores" are begging for.

Look, I don't dispute their right to exist, and I'm sure they sometimes do some good stuff. But when I see their name on a book, I don't expect to see anything edgy, new, or risky. How ironic, considering the fact that Christianity is meant to be all of those things.

the tniv is good, but they got such a beating from the NIV audience that they don't seem to advertise it much. As for series, I think anchor is good. But the best stuff can usually only be found in single volumn commentaries.