The Holman Illustrated Study Bible: Holman Christian Standard Bible Hardcover – Illustrated, January 1, 2006

Repeat buyer here. Gave my first copy away to a friend as a gift. Good for those who appreciate photos of actual location to inspire them to read through the Bible. It did with me.

I am a bit of a Bible collector, and the Holman Illustrated Study Bible is my favorite. The one I purchased recently is actually a replacement of one I have had for a number of years. I like this Bible not only because it is filled with informative charts and maps and beautiful photos, but what makes this particular Bible better than any of the others is the fact that it includes variant readings in footnotes and bracketed sections, rather than simply leave them out, as most modern versions do today. Among several others, this includes as Acts 8:37 (which they include in the text but is bracketed), and Romans 14:6b (which they have included as a footnote), and Deuteronomy 32:8, for which they show a variant reading in the footnotes from the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls. All of this is very valuable information which should be included in all Bibles, as not all of us agree that the oldest manuscripts are necessarily the best, as it is entirely possible that the best and most accurate manuscripts were the very ones which were used, wore out, and regularly replaced (as I did with this Bible), rather than those that were set aside and unused due to their inferiority (like other Bibles on my bookshelf). But whatever opinion is held in regards to this, the text which you prefer is here in the Holman's Illustrated Study Bible, in one way or another, just as it should be.

I bought this bible to use mostly for comparison to my KJV and my NIV Study Bible. Plus, I like the Idea this version restores the Name of our Creator God, YaHWeH, in selected verses, something most modern versions are afraid to do -- for some reason? The Bible I purchased for $20 is leather bound and is a fantastic copy. I love this Bible and find I am refering to it more and more. I read a review where one found the yellow highlighting of the notes disturbing. I, on the other hand, find the yellow highlighting of the notes at the bottom of the pages rather cool, and guess what, it makes the small print easier to read -- the illustrations and photo presentations are excellent. It has the usual, small concordance in the back. It has a brief 22 page Appendix packed with information. What I particularly like is the 6 page "Millennial Prespectives on Revelation" -- this feature give a comparison of the different points of view concerning the interpretation of the Book of Revelation by the various groups at odds with one another -- under the headings, "Amillennial", "Historical Premillennial" and "Dispensational Premillennial". For the most part this division explains the majority positions being taught and fought over among the Evengelicals and others. The print is easy to read and in laid out in reader style (single column across page), notes and references at the bottom of the page -- bullets are used to mark certain times and you will find these in the back of the bible as definitions of the term, or word marked by the bullet mark. Illustrations throughout, most in color. I would recommend this Bible as a good reading Bible -- it is not a full blown STUDY Bible, like the New King Games Study Bible or the NIV Study Bible, just keep that in mind.

For some reason, when Holman decided to drop this edition in favor of the HCSB Study Bible, they dropped that section on the history between the Testaments (I have two versions of the HCSB Study Bible). That is really too bad, and then they added it back in the newer CSB Study Bible I think. BUT, anyway, this older edition is much easier to hold and read, and it does have so many pictures, charts, maps and other little articles inside. All in the right places. I find it is my favorite bible, and believe me I have seen and have owned and do own Bibles. After owning this several years, I just bought another copy used here on AMAZON in order to have a backup, as the hardcovers seems to rip at the top of the spine, like so many heavy books will do after awhile when you shelve them. Sometimes the HSCB rendering is a bit awkward, but in general I like it, and I don't quibble about certain passages etc., because the average reader is interested in the overall picture. I have to say that for everyday reading and not anything study-wise, I love the NLT bible as well, and for poetry and accuracy, there is the NASB, and just for old time's sake, the KJV, but more and more the KJV is dated and so many words are not remotely the same after all this passage of time since 1611. :)

I'm working with a group of homeschooling students to do an overview of the books of the Bible. The Holman Study is a great resource for us. It gives wonderful summaries of each book and includes things like key verses and how Jesus is related to each one. Very helpful for our class!

I should have thought of print size and need a magnifying glass to read it. I purchased the book to take a look at the New Testament and love the history behind the words. It’s quite lovely.

The Illustrated Holman Study Bible in a Bonded Leather,Thumb Indexed format is hard to put down.Pages are filled with maps,colour photos and fascinatingly intricate diagrams.This is one Bible you will read.The notes are primarily textual HCSB notes but there are also explanatory inserts throughout the text as well as comprehensive introductions to each book. I would think a young person(or someone visually oriented) would cherish the Illustrated HCSB just for the illustrations alone,but the text is very readable,like the NIV but more literal in the fashion of the NASB.As far as the Bible quality,excellent!The leather is very durable,the binding is tight (smyth sewn?)and the paper is non-bleed thru of very fine quality.I am thinking this edition is out-of-print as it is getting a bit hard to find,though at the time of this review it was still available on Amazonmarketplace at good prices.Though not overly academic,it is wonderful in it's ability to work with images integrated into the text.I know of no other Bible that does this so well.Good job,Holman!Prov.2:1-11