Breaking down the choices

We discussed the basics of how to pick out a Bible in our last post, so now let’s break that down a bit deeper and talk about the different “types” of Bibles. Not necessarily the version of the Bible, such as KJV, NLT, ESV, etc., but the types and styles.

We are often blessed to help someone pick out their first Bible and it can become overwhelming upon realizing the vast array of options they have available.

As we did before, we will give the basics of the different types and styles. We hope you feel free to comment or message us if you would like for us to help you with further details.

The basic and most popular “types” are narrowed down to the following:

                *Text Bible – this is a Scripture only Bible. It typically does not include references, study helps in the back, header comments, and/or maps. It is what it says – it is text only.

                *Reference Bible – This type of Bible has references within the text to direct you to another passage relating to the same verse/topic. These type Bibles are further broken down by style…there is center-column reference, end of the verse reference, bottom of the page reference. Choosing this is just a matter of preference.

                *Study Bible – These type Bibles have study commentary in the footnotes. They typically have a larger selection of study aids in the back than normal reference Bibles. These study aids range from concordances, maps, topical indexes, and much more. The publishers use various pastor and teachers’ commentary for the study notes.   This would be an important deciding factor in choosing a study Bible.  Study Bibles can be found specifically for the general reader, for men, for women, and for teens and children.

Most “styles” of Bibles fall within one of the above categories, and a few of the many would be the following:

                *Devotional Bible – these Bibles add Devotional tidbits throughout the Bible that relates to the Scripture on that page. There are Devotional Bibles specific to men, to women, and to teens, as well as the general reader.

              *Promise Bibles -  works the same as the Devotional Bible, but uses God’s Promises throughout the outside edge of the appropriate pages.

                *Journaling Bible and/or Wide margin Bibles – both of these basically serve the same purpose. Journaling Bibles have ruled lines on the outer margins of the pages, where Wide margin Bibles only have extra wide space on the outer edge. Both are used for taking notes.

                *Coloring Bible – This style of Bible combines the Journaling and the Devotional Bible and adds an element of doodling or coloring to the page edges.

While this is just a tip of the iceberg to what is available, hopefully this will help to narrow down the most basic choices of Bibles. As always, we love to help pick out Bibles and would love to help you pick out one for you!

Blessings!