What About The ESV Study Bible?

[Mark]

Just curious about this study Bible. Does anyone have any information about it?

[heb13-13]

Hi Mark,

Hope you have been well.

You can google "KJV vs ESV" or "Compare KJV and ESV"

I found this today when researching your question.

ESV - Full of False Doctrine

I don't agree with all of this person's inferences and beliefs. Better if he just compared without injecting his own beliefs but he only did this a couple of times. There are enough important comparisons here for you to get the idea about KJV vs ESV.

I just skipped all of his editorial and went straight to the verses. Very revealing. I saw some other sites and comparison charts that do a very good job, too. You should google and do some research. There are many comparisons out there.

[sheep wrecked]

(11-09-2009 10:23 AM)heb13-13 Wrote:  Hi Mark,

Hope you have been well.

You can google "KJV vs ESV" or "Compare KJV and ESV"

I found this today when researching your question.

ESV - Full of False Doctrine

I don't agree with all of this person's inferences and beliefs. Better if he just compared without injecting his own beliefs but he only did this a couple of times. There are enough important comparisons here for you to get the idea about KJV vs ESV.

I just skipped all of his editorial and went straight to the verses. Very revealing. I saw some other sites and comparison charts that do a very good job, too. You should google and do some research. There are many comparisons out there.

I agree that the comparison charts are quite revealing. Vic has a great one on her website, too:

http://www.seekgod.ca/chart.htm

I surfed around too, to get a better understanding of what the ESV Study Bible was all about. I went to their website which has an extensive list of commentators, professors, pastors, and theologians all of which contributed to either in the footnotes or oversaw the whole project. It's pretty impressive if one is looking for that kind of thing

I clicked on the website that you provided and noticed immediately that they focused in, from a denominational bias, what was wrong with the ESV, but really missed the main issue. Not only did the "translators" interject their own thoughts, they also used the wrong or corrupted base texts. It is a well known fact that the modern versions use the Alexandrian manuscripts [3 mss - corrupted and do not match each other] for the NT versus the Byzantine/Received Texts [5,000+ mss which compare quite nicely] for the NT like the King James does. The modern versions leave out/delete many words, phrases and entire verses. As someone once said to me, are you going to trust 3 witnesses or 5,000?

All that said, I was thinking about masterpiece artwork. For me the Bible is the ultimate Masterpiece. Beautiful and perfect. Just as it would be unthinkable to mess with revered artwork, why do Christians feel the need to mess with God's Word? The rather immense list of "professionals" gathered to assemble the ESV study Bible seems a bit over the top to me [a different person commentated on each book]. If we understand that God's Word was designed by God to be perfect and understood by the work of the Holy Spirit in us - making it a Living Word - then why do we depend on the imaginations of men to "clear it up" or "tell us what it really means"?

I noticed from the list of commentators, etc that some were affiliated with the contemplative movement which is new age repackaged. That troubles me considerably. I am not sure I want to trust such a packaged deal to give me God's truth, as I fear the opposite is likely

What happens is that people start to understand the Bible from man's perspective instead of God's. The commentaries are based on denominational "bias" and that is inserted to clarify the text. Does it seem that people are too lazy to just read the Word and trust God to show them the truth and wait, if necessary for Him to reveal things in His time? I love to discuss the Word with others, but to depend on commentaries seems to defeat the whole purpose. The Word of God is a "stand alone" Masterpiece - the ultimate miracle that has withstood thousands of years and is still the same today no matter how much man has tried to rewrite it, and satan has tried to destroy it.

Psa 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psa 12:7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

[Mary]

"just read the Word and trust God to show them the truth and wait, if necessary for Him to reveal things in His time?"

I like this - I used to be afraid of the waiting, sure it meant there was no meaning, or the wrong meaning I'd been presented with was the true one, or I was just unable to understand; but He has always led me to understanding, and when I have understood, the waiting time melted away. In many instances the waiting is relevant to the understanding. Now it's quite exciting to be in a waiting time, looking forward to what He is going to do or reveal next!

[Solo Christo]

I haven't read the ESV's Study Bible, however I find the NIV's often frustrating (I don't like the NIV in general). I guess they can be useful for extensive cross-references & footnotes (e.g. manuscript variations). In general I don't read just one translation, but find it much more helpful to read a few in parallel - usually the ESV & HCSB (& since being on this forum, also the KJV). I find the Concordant Literal Version or Young's Literal Version good to have on the side for reference, although they are harder to read at length.

I've only recently become aware of the complexities of textual criticism, canonisation, etc. so I don't feel I'm qualified to make any insightful comments about the Majority Texts vs the Minority Texts debate, however as I view the Bible as extremely important/critical, it's something I am researching more.

Having said that, I'm confident that God is powerful enough to be able to reveal the important things about Himself despite our mistakes in translation (please don't get me wrong, I still want to see the most accurate translation possible!).