NKJV Word Study Bible

NKJV
Word Study Bible

Publisher

Thomas Nelson

A Review

Not quite a study Bible, but more than a devotional Bible, this version belongs in the church library and on the layman’s desk.

The major feature of this book gives it its name - 1700 short and brief descriptions of key Hebrew and Greek words that will help the reader better understand the meaning of scripture. The major drawback is that the descriptions are all too brief to be of use to the preacher or scholar without further study in more formal sources (i.e. Bible Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, etc.).

Though the provided word studies are too brief, the accompanying indexes do give significant value to the work.

1. English Word Index
2. Scripture Passage Index
3. Strong Number Index for both Hebrew and Greek Words
4. Concordance (typical to that found in most study Bibles)

Also included, throughout the text, are cross-references pointing to a scripture reference where a word study can be found (see “create” and “male” in the image above). What is missing from the basic definitions provided are descriptions of antonyms and synonyms that might help justify the use of one word over another, or a comparison of Hebrew and Greek words used to express similar ideas or which are tied together by their parallel use in the Septuagint. The inclusion of these three pieces would provide a more complete study Bible and one more helpful to the pastor and scholar.  

Bottom line: Thomas Nelson has made a great first start to what could become an extremely useful Study Bible. With the contributions of a few additional scholars and a willingness to allot more editorial space to the definitions, this could become a wonderful reference book. For now, it has not quite reached that level.

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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own. I actually had pre-ordered a copy of this book prior to receiving notice that I was going to be allowed to review the book. I retained one copy. I passed the second copy to my pastor for either his own use or to pass onto a lay member of the church in need of a Study Bible.

The Biblical Hebrew Companion - A Review

The Biblical Hebrew Companion

by

Michael Williams

A Review

It has been 40+ years since I sat in my first Hebrew language course. Since that time I have learned and used more Fortran, COBOL. Basic, Pascal, Lisp, Assembly Language, etc, than Hebrew. Now 40 years later, I have returned to the pulpit wishing I could remember some of that early Hebrew (and Greek) that I had learned years ago.

This reference book serves part of that purpose. In fact, I wish I had it by my side while learning Hebrew - as it takes each major part of speech, each verbal conjunction, each grammatical construction and gives insight to the reader on its role in the language. The entries try to address three questions:

1. What does it look like?
2. What does it do?
3. How it might effect the exegesis of the passage?

A number of appendices add value as they bring together lists of topics that don’t fit elsewhere: vowels, consonants, Syllables, Pronunciation, ect. Also included are a scripture index and  suggested bibliography for further study grouped by topic.

The book will not serve as a Hebrew textbook, but as a great reference tool to set on the desk of the student or pastor working with the original languages. I cannot  but hope that a similar volume will be forthcoming from the publisher for the Greek student.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinion are mine alone.