Rating: 
Summary: Nothing else in a Bible cluttered market comes close to this
Review: The General Editor of The HarperCollins STUDY Bible, Wayne A. Meeks, a notable Pauline scholar and Professor of Biblical Studies at Yale, heads a group of scholars of impeccable academic credentials. Together they have produced the finest study Bible of the past ten years. The approach is rigorously critical and scholarly. Those searching for devotional or theological commentary (which asks "What does this mean for MY life?") are advised to look elsewhere. Meeks and company approach the biblical text as literature, and pay great attention to the cultural and social dynamics that form the character of the text. The belief is that only when the Bible is read as literature, can it be properly appreciated and understood. Thankfully no denominational, theological or religious persuasion prejudices the final interpretation of the text. Meeks has produced a Bible that acts as a paradigm for scholarly objectivity.
The annotations in the HarperCollins Study Bible are more detailed than those found in other "Study Bibles" that use the text of the NRSV (like the Oxford Annotated Bible, The Access Study Bible, or the Cambridge Annotated Study Bible). The reader is not merely offered annotations and one line remarks with sparse cross-references to parallel texts, but extended commentary.
I began testing the HarperCollins Study Bible by reading through the Book of Job, which is perhaps the most obscure book in the Bible. For the first time, the text became thoroughly alive and transparent. The annotations were detailed yet concise, always walking a fine line between excessive commentary and necessary elucidation. At no point were difficult questions left unresolved and they were always resolved in a scholarly and objective manner.
The translation used in the HarperCollins Study Bible is that of the NRSV, regarded by many scholars as the most accurate contemporary translation of the Bible. The language is gender inclusive, but only where the original Hebrew and Greek show no bias in favor of the male gender. The type font is bold, clear and perfectly sized - clearly readable - a pleasure when compared to other Bibles that use minuscule fonts. Each book of the Bible is prefaced by a useful critical introduction. Beautifully illustrated color maps can be found at the back of the Bible.
The HarperCollins STUDY Bible is only printed in an edition that contains the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books. When it was first published in 1993 it was also made available in an edition WITHOUT the Apocrypha, but that is no longer the case - a move which is desirable for Study Bibles which refer frequently to these Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books.
I have owned the HarperCollins Study Bible ever since its first came out. It made my reading of the Bible sheer pleasure and brought obscure books to light. Many rival publications have entered the market since then (I have reviewed most of these at Amazon), but none have ever seriously challenged this Bible's superiority. It is without question and without exaggeration the single most useful Study Bible in print. I say that without feeling the least bit as if I am resorting to hyperbole. Nothing else is a Bible cluttered market comes close.
As far as I aware the HarperCollins Study Bible only comes in paperback and a sturdy Hard Cover edition, and there is no leather edition for aesthetic enthusiasts.
Rating:
Summary: Best Study Bible Available
Review: The HarperCollins NRSV Study Bible is the best bible I've seen! It has numerous references for ease of use.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Study Bible Overall
Review: The HarperCollins Study Bible is one of the best study bibles for students and scholars of biblical criticism. Its best feature is the complete Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, a must for serious, historical Old Testament studies. On the down side, it lacks an extensive reading guide found in the Catholic Study Bible: New American Bible for gaining a better historical perspective on all books of the bible. Still, the New Revised Standard Version Translation, introductions and footnotes are easy to grasp and understand. This study bible is recommended mainly for those in serious critical bible study, rather than the mainstream Christian.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: The HarperCollins Study Bible is the best vehicle for understanding and using the Bible in daily devotion, personal study or formal classes. I found it to be much more detailed and usable than the similar Oxford Study Bible. As with any good study Bible the HarperCollins Bible gives detailed cross-references to other passages in the Bible. The introductory material for each book of the Bible as well as the running commentary explain in depth the cultural, historical and theological context of events, passages and people. This Bible also has many detailed maps within the text as well as at the back. I found this particularly helpful because you do not have to flip back and forth while reading a particluar passage. Perhaps the most valuable guide for students of the New Testament is the Table of Parallel passages in the Four Gospels found at the beginning of the New Testament.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, but could be improved
Review: The HarperCollins Study Bible offers a great interpretation of the sacred texts for pastor, layman, and scholar alike. There are many detailed commentaries throughout the book (in fact, nearly every verse), and the wonderfully colorful maps are a definite plus. The only problem that I found with the translation is that in an effort to stray away from the gender inclusive nature of the Bible the text can at points be quite unliteral, and subsequently loses the authoratative nature that a more literal translation would provide. Besides that the text of this Bible is quite literal and is based on the NRSV, which, as most of us know, is one of the greatest translations availible today.However, the major downfall of this Bible is its material construction. The pages are incredibly thin and are easily damaged. If this problem were rectified then I would definitely give this Bible five stars. All and all the Bible is worth the price payed for it, but if this Bible is to be purchased for highlighting then I would advise against it. The pages are much too thin and the highlighter would bleed through.
*This review refers to the hardcover version.*
Rating: 
Summary: RSV is better, excepting the "thees" and "thous"
Review: The latest in a chain of KJV-revision Bibles-via the American Standard Version of 1901 and the Revised Standard Version of 1952-is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). The NRSV translators used knowledge gained from recent archaeological discoveries, such as the Dead Sea scrolls. Perhaps most obvious is an addition of four sentences between 1 Samuel 10 and 11. New critical editions of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament have much influenced the NRSV's text. NRSV translators did not try following the KJV scrupulously in this revision; instead, they gave preference to the original languages. The NRSV is the first translation mandated to do away with male-gender references if the text applies to men and women. However, the translators did not neuter God's masculine nature. This reviewer believes, however, that the NRSV's use of gender-neutral language has gone too far and has traversed into the area of paraphrase. NRSV translators used plural nouns and pronouns to avoid using the singular him, he, or his, shifting the focus from an individual to a group. Also, the translators neutered some passages that specifically refer only to males, for example, Acts 4:4 and 1 Timothy 3:2. Despite its shortfalls, the NRSV does read beautifully and has a liturgical meter the NIV lacks. In the NRSV 1 John 3:17 reads: How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet re-fuses help? (NRSV) The NRSV receives a C in accuracy and a C in readability.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Reference Bible for Research
Review: The NRSV translation is a great translation. The notes throughout the text are written by biblical scholars, which makes the text very trustworthy. I should note that this Bible is not for devotional needs, but for reference. If you want a good reference Bible then this is the Bible for you.
Rating:
Summary: Such a long journey
Review: There are inherent difficulties in reviewing a book such as this. First, one must expect a clamour of resentment that any human can presume to "critique" a tome penned or inspired by divine mandate. Superstition aside, there is the problem of which of the many versions of it. By one count, there are two dozen "Authorised" [by whom remains a mystery] English language editions alone. That number is further inflated by the "with Commentaries" appended to one or another of the versions. Why, then, choose this particular edition?
One reason is that this one has several advantages. It was put together by a committee. While that has "smeared" some of the terrible contradictions present in earlier editions, such as the once universal King James Version. The Genesis story is therefore little more than a proclamation of everybody and everything coming into existence at once. It would, of course, take far too much space to list the smoothings this committee has performed. They have produced as readable a text as could be achieved, given the material. This is the editor's declared intent, justifying his use of the New Standard Revised Edition [itself something of a paradox in terms] as the foundation for the commentary appended.
They have also provided as much of the material as was available. This means the addition of books left out of other anthologies due to doctrinal or theological disputes. On the other hand, text that has "stood the test of time" has been "smoothed" in another way in order not to offend the sensibilities [and they are many and easily irritated] of the "gender feminists". While that may enhance sales, it's questionable whether it's improved the narratives. Since the collection merges two vast collections of material, it's clearly a book aimed at a Christian audience, if not a predominantly Protestant, one.
The purpose of the book is informational. This theme is introduced with a brief synopsis of the effort at textual analysis occurring mainly in the 19th Century. The "Higher Criticism" evolved into deep investigations of the texts' origins, but also into the environments in which they were written. The fruits of those efforts fills the bottom half of nearly every page of the anthology and doubles the usual number of pages. Word origins in the books are explained, characters identified and events placed in historical context. While this feature might impair the reader seeking "inspirational" insights from the text, to the critical reader, it is an excellent mechanism for setting the stories in context. It is also helpful in assessing the literary styles and the logic applied by the various authors. While the product is hefty, it is extremely useful.
If study of the texts dominating the minds of millions is your interest, you would do well to start with this book. Many of those millions will not relate to what this collection portrays, since it is either not in their language or alludes to events or peoples unknown in their society. Even so, such a long journey as comprehending the roots of a superstition so widespread on the planet and pervasive in our culture must commence somewhere. It may as well start here. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Rating:
Summary: One of the best in its class
Review: There are so many study bibles on the market, it is a difficult choice.
I find the NIV Study Bible (and it's Lutheran version, the Concordia Self-Study Bible) quite nice in many respects. For example, it boasts the largest concordance found in any bible. However, it has a more conservative and less ecumenical emphasis than any of the NRSV bibles. The NIV people had a token Anglican amongst their translators, but since they didn't translate the "apocryphal" (deuterocanonical) books, they obviously were not taking into account the needs of Anglicans, Catholics, and Orthodox. The NRSV, on the other hand, translates the entire canon, including some books used only by Eastern Orthodox christians.
The NKJV MacArthur Study Bible is popular amongst fundamentalists. John MacArthur is a preacher who used to teach the heretical doctrine of "incarnational sonship" (basically Arianism), so I have doubts as to how much his bible commentary can be trusted by anybody who cares about orthodoxy. Plus the NKJV is also missing the apocrypha (although the original 1611 KJV did have it).
Next up is the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB), which is the first serious competition for the Harper Collins Study Bible (HCSB). The first edition was RSV, and they are now up to their 3rd edition, the second one to use the NRSV. The notes in the NOAB are scholarly but more brief than those of the HCSB. This can be nice if you think the HCSB is just too huge to hold comfortably.
This also brings up the question of quality vs. quantity. If you want a bible that can double as a boat anchor, the bigger the better. However, more is not necessarily better, and if you have a need for really in-depth notes, you might be better off getting a separate commentary.
Although the HCSB has very extensive notes, it still manages to avoid controversial or difficult topics. For example, it doesn't say anything about John 14:6 other than referring the reader to parallel passages. By contrast, the NOAB does not gloss over this passage, nor does it go with an overly liberal interpretation. In addition, with the space saved in having more concise notes, the NOAB is able to add a concordance, a welcome feature if you ask me. It also has in-text maps and other nice features that were missing from the first edition.
The Access Bible, also from Oxford, has similar features to the NOAB, but it is designed to be more user-friendly for the average person. It has notes placed within the text instead of at the bottom of the page, helpful side articles, in-text maps and diagrams, and a concordance.
The next big competitor of the HCSB is the Interpreters Study Bible (NISB). Although the NISB does not gloss over difficult passages, the interpretation of certain passages such as John 14:6 are beyond liberal. Regardless, the NISB does have the distinction of being the one NRSV bible that has slighly more in-depth commentary than the HCSB. The NISB also has numerous side-articles called excurses which make for more interesting reading. As with the HCSB, the extensive notes do come at the price of sacrificing the concordance.
There are also some very good bibles which are more geared to a Roman Catholic audience. Oxford publishes one called the Catholic Study Bible, for example.
Changing the subject a little, many people seem to be bothered by the secular nature of Harper Collins, which also owns Zondervan, the publishers of the NIV. Some people are put off by the fact that Harper Collins also happens to publish the Satanic Bible under its Avon label. While this is an indisputable fact, it is up to the individual whether one will applaud Harper Collins for their dedication to free speech and freedom of religion or criticize them for promoting satanism. In any case, this has no direct bearing on the quality of the HCSB itself, so I didn't consider it in my rating. In addition, Zondervan has a reputation in some circles of being more interested in making money than in spreading the gospel, and I think that reputation would reflect equally upon Harper Collins. Once again, though, this says nothing about the quality of their products, so it is up to the individual whether or not they choose to spend their money elsewhere due to such considerations.
Overall, I would say this book is an excellent choice for serious bible students, but I would give a slight preference to the NOAB or the Access Bible for overall usefulness.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Bible and Excellent Study Notes
Review: This Bible has everything a person who is seriously into either Bible study or theology in general. Not only does this version of the Bible (NRSV) include the deuterocanonical books accepted by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but its large translating team is perhaps the best in both scholarship and wide-ranging appeal in that they come from several branches of Christianity and one Jewish team member. The study notes are superbly done and it is quite obvious they've done their homework in not just history, but archaeology, linguistics, and other important fields besides theology and philosophy. In addition, the New Revised Standard Version is perhaps the best translation of the Bible out that comprises a large multi-denominational team of translators, no forced belief-statements to keep them honest to scholarship, all the canonized and deuterocanonized books (and they are a great read even if you aren't Catholic or Orthodox!), and gender-neutral when acceptable. I would highly recommend this word for word translation to anyone who is serious about the Bible and who wants to get the most out of it. This is truly a miracle of God on Earth!
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