Rating: 
Summary: Should be called "The Comparative Bible"
Review: As a bible student I know that finding a good translation is hard some often don't render some verses clearly and some are bias and others give the wrong impression from their wording. Some say just buy the KJV but most people can't read or understand its archaic langauge. From multiple translations you can really understand what a verse is saying and the meaning behind it therefore the Comparative Study Bible is a great buy. It takes four different bible translations and puts them side by side one in each column for you to compare and contrast. It saves time because you only have to find one page rather than going through four different books its a great idea this bible!Zondervan also produce a Today's Parallel Bible it is almost identical to the Comparative Study bible except for the middle translation the Parallel uses a New Living Translation (NLT) a bible that translates the verse using a different wording that best presents the meaning the verse is trying to express. This translation is good for reading but not for studying as its not the exact word but someone's intrepretation of it. The Comparative uses a Amplified Bible which tries to compress as much information as possible into each verse and has quite extensive footnotes and cross references to similar passages features the NLT does not have. The other 3 translations are exactly the same in both bibles the 1873 King James Version, New International Version (NIV) and the New American Standard Bible (NASB) In the NLT it reads at Matthew 24:15 "The time will come when you see what Daniel the prophet spoke about: the sacriegious object that causes descreation standing in the Holy Place - reader pay attention" if you prefer a NLT then I recommend the Parallel. The same verse from the AMP "So when you see the appalling sacriledge [the abomination that causes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place - let the reader take notice and ponder and consider and heed this" [Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11] if you like the AMP then I recommend the Comparative Study Bible. They are both great bibles and great buys all you need to decide is which one the Parallel or Comparative I bought both.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Buy, But Not Exactly a "Study Bible"
Review: Comp-bibl This "Comparative Study Bible" is a useful tool, handy, and cost-effective for any bible scholar who doesn't have most of the translations in hand already (King James, Amplified, New American Standard, and New International). Its chief virtue is that the two middle translations are somewhat difficult to find and very expensive to buy: the Amplified Version and the NASB. The Amplified is just that: if more than one word is necessary to get the nuance of meaning(s) of the original text(s) across, this version will indicate so, even at the risk of a "stuttering" effect: For example, the New International Version Chapter 1, Verse 2 reads: "Meaningless, Meaningless! Says the Teacher, Utterly Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless." The Amplified Version has it: "Vapor of vapor and futility of futilities, says the Preacher. Vapor of vapor and futility of futilities. All is vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory)." (note the repetition of the "vapor" phrase; also, this edition contains a cross-reference to Romans) The New American Standard Bible (NASB), on the other hand, does not try to synthesize text with synonyms but with a challenging, "strictly literal" or word-for-word methodology so difficult to read that most bible scholars rate at about grade 11. (At this point I should mention that the "reading levels" of the past were skewed much higher in, say, 1960 than they are today: today's college textbooks are written at level 10, editorials in prestigious newspapers at about 8, and news content about 6. The price we pay for the strict literalness of NASB makes it unsuitable for general pew use (most of the time, anyway), the virtue is that it reveals shades of meaning through its complexity that are not available to the general reader of the New Revised Standard, King James, NIV and so on. For example, the New Revised Standard (NRSV) translates Genesis 1:11 as: "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." The NASB has it "Let the earth sprout vegetation; plants bearing seed and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them." A subtle but key difference, no?
In terms of the market value of its translations, our "Comparative Study Bible" has the advantage over its near-twin, the very similar "Today's Parallel Bible," which contains KJV, NIV, NASB, and a paraphrase, Today's living version (TLV). The TLV is a widely-circulated and admired paraphrase and is quite easy and cheap to come by. Instead, our version includes the more expensive Amplified version. Like "Today's Parallel," our "Comparative Bible" here discussed is manufactured in the USA but the physical product is not, I fear, a sterling example of American workmanship. For the book's weight, the spine stitching is too slight. (I recommend the owner carry it around in a backpack or tote of some kind.) More problematic is the fact that the "Comparative Study Bible" doesn't really qualify as a "study Bible," even within the slippery bounds of bible lingo (what constitutes a "concordance," what is "annotated," etc). Cross-references frequently are contained in braces after the relevant verse but don't come in the kind of flowing abundance we'd expect in a center-column bible, for example. Comment and annotated footnotes are rare. There are exceptions (see Amos 3:7) but they are exceptions. This lack of study-worthiness from lack of full cross-references and annotation makes me downrate this otherwise useful and thrifty four-format Bible from a 5 to a 4. But considered not as a "study bible" but just as a cheap and convenient way to acquire new bible versions (especially NASB and Amplified), it's a bargain and highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 in 1 Bible... If this is what you're looking for...
Review: Despite the crushed expectations of some, I find these types of tools invaluable, and the product itself is outstanding. The intentions of the publisher was to put four translations side by side in one clearly labeled package, and they delivered (except for the "study" part of it... which is more commonly used today suggesting editor's notes... honestly, I'm pleased that piles of opinions aren't there).
These aren't the only four translations that will go great together, but they are definately good to compare, especially the NASB update (my favorite) and the NIV which are very popular translations. The KJV is significant considering it was a translation based on the TR text, and interesting to note some of the rather dated words that were used (that still cause "confusion" with certain groups that hold exclusively to this translation). The amplified translation seems a bit awkward, but still good because it causes curiosity.
If you are expecting this to be an exact literal translation or an "interlinear", then don't buy it, it isn't supposed to be. If you are expecting the Greek text, don't buy it, it's not a Greek testament either. If you want a parallel Bible, buy it, it is just that.
Rating:
Summary: 4 in 1 Bible... If this is what you're looking for...
Review: Despite the crushed expectations of some, I find these types of tools invaluable, and the product itself is outstanding. The intentions of the publisher was to put four translations side by side in one clearly labeled package, and they delivered (except for the "study" part of it... which is more commonly used today suggesting editor's notes... honestly, I'm pleased that piles of opinions aren't there).
These aren't the only four translations that will go great together, but they are definately good to compare, especially the NASB update (my favorite) and the NIV which are very popular translations. The KJV is significant considering it was a translation based on the TR text, and interesting to note some of the rather dated words that were used (that still cause "confusion" with certain groups that hold exclusively to this translation). The amplified translation seems a bit awkward, but still good because it causes curiosity.
If you are expecting this to be an exact literal translation or an "interlinear", then don't buy it, it isn't supposed to be. If you are expecting the Greek text, don't buy it, it's not a Greek testament either. If you want a parallel Bible, buy it, it is just that.
Rating:
Summary: 4 in 1
Review: great study tool. explore four distinct and valuable translations side-by-side to gain a deeper understanding of God and his good book.
Rating:
Summary: excellent format except for quibble on footnotes
Review: I didn't notice any abbreviation or omissions of the footnotes for the Amplified text (after comparing with a copy of the Amplified hardback edition). However, it appeared that that complete footnotes for all translations were included except for the NASB. I don't understand why so many omissions of translators' notes for NASB when there appears to be room for them. However, the TODAY'S PARALLEL BIBLE that has just recently come out has complete NASB footnotes (it has KJV, NIV, NLT and NASB) as well as other translations' complete footnotes. Regardless, both the COMPARATIVE and TODAY'S are equally good in format--very handy to compare translations.
Rating: 
Summary: Four problematic versions
Review: I first purchased the Comparative Study Bible (CSB) shortly after I became a Christian in the mid-1980s. I utilized it extensively over the next few years. I thought it was great to be able to compare four different Bible versions at a glance. In my Bible studies, I also would utilize J.P. Green's Hebrew-Greek English Interlinear Bible. In my studies I would compare the four versions in the CSB to the word-for-word interlinear translation in the interlinear, along with the marginal translation, Green's own Literal Translation of the Bible. Also at this time I began studying the issue of Bible versions, including translation principles and Greek text types. As a result of these studies and research, I became convinced that there were serious problems with each of the four versions in the CSB. First in the CSB is the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Now the edition I had utilized the 1977 edition of the NASB (the NAS77), but more recent editions have the 1995 updated edition (NAS95). But whichever edition is used, as I compared the NASB with the other translation in the CSB and with the interlinear, it became obvious that the NASB was a fairly literal and accurate translation.
However, there were times that the NASB differed significantly from the interlinear and even from the also fairly literal King James Version (KJV), which is also contained in the CSB. As I would learn, the reason for this difference was that the NASB is based on a "Critical Text" (CT) type of Greek text while the interlinear and the KJV used the Textus Receptus (TR). And my studies convinced me that the TR was to be preferred to the CT, and slightly better than the TR was the more recent Majority Text (MT). So despite its literal accuracy, the NASB had a serious defect in being based on a less reliable Greek text. Next in the CSB is the New International Version (NIV). This version is also based on the CT, so it has this defect. But even more serious is the translation principle. The NIV utilizes a thought for thought principle rather than the more literal word-for-word principle of the NASB or KJV. When I would compare the NIV to these versions or to the interlinear, it would very often differ significantly. And when it did, it was would either be because the NIV was not translating words found in the Hebrew and Greek texts, or the NIV was adding words that were not found in the original texts. And even worse, these added words were not offset from the original God-inspired words by being placed in italics like the NASB or KJV did. A simple example of the former can be seen in Joshua 1:8. In this verse, the NAS95 has 50 words while the KJV has 48 words, but the NIV only has 30 words. You don't need to be a Hebrew scholar to figure out that the NIV has left out quite a bit here! And a simple example of added words not being indicated can be seen in 1Cor 7:9. The NIV adds the words "with passion" at the end of this verse without any indication it has done so. Altogether, there are probably thousand of added and omitted words in the NIV. To me, this indicates serious problems with the NIV. Next in the CSB is the KJV. As already indicated, it is a fairly literal translation, and it is based on the TR. So it is a very reliable Bible version. However, given its use of the Elizabethan English, the KJV can be a very difficult Bible version to read. For comparing an occasionally verse this is not a major problem, but I found it to be too awkward for extended reading. Lastly in the CSB is the Amplified Bible. As with the NASB and NIV, it is based on the CT. So this is one problem with it. But more serious is its rather unique translation principle. It claims to express "nuances" of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Now this idea does sound noble. There are many nuances of especially the Greek text that do not translate very easily into English. However, in trying to be so expressive, the Amplified can be even more awkward to read than the KJV. The extreme "amplification" of the word "blessed" in the Beatitudes demonstrates this problem. Each Beatitude begins, "Blessed-happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous [that is, with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation regardless of their outward circumstances]...." But even more importantly, upon investigation, I found that many of the Amplified Bible's "amplifications" were rather questionable. For instance, in Hebrews 1:4 in the Amplified, Jesus is said to have inherited "the glorious Name (title)." But Jesus' "glorious Name" is more likely merely a reference to His nature not just His title (see John 17:5). "Name" in Scripture often has this wider meaning. So my studies showed me that the NASB, NIV, and Amplified were based on a less reliable Greek text. The translation principles of the NIV and the Amplified had serious problems with them, and the KJV was a difficult version to read. With these problems, and given how bulky it was to handle, I just didn't feel the CSB was worth the hassle of using any more. So I eventually donated it to my local church. But I will say that the CSB does have some value. If one is still investigating the issue of Bible versions, the CSB will give you a way to quickly compare four rather different versions. So for this use only would I recommend the CSB. And to aid you in studying the subject of Bible versions, I would also kindly suggest my book Differences Between Bible Versions. It contains much more in-depth reviews of each of the versions mentioned above. It also discusses the important issues of translation principles and Greek texts types at length.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Research Tool
Review: I found this Bible to be a great research tool. The Amplified version is great and includes lots of footnotes. Unlike study Bibles it doesn't contain study notes, but having the versions all alongside each other is fantastic. It's great for writing sermons with, as the actual meaning of each passage (which can sometimes be mis-read) is easily and assuredly explained. A great buy, and still less expensive than some single version Bibles.
Rating:
Summary: Praise God For This Bible!
Review: I love this bible so much because instead of carrying 4 different bible you can carry one book also its just the perfect size to carry around and its really helpful when I study so I love it and God Bless the people who came up with the Idea of having this bible!
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: I usually look up verses in the 4 bibles listed in this study guide. I was thrilled to come across this edition with all 4 that I use. I was a little put off after reading a review here about the smallness of the type, thinness of the pages, etc. and decided to go to a bookstore and check it out before ordering. I think it is fantastic! I did not have a problem with the type, seems to be similar to that used in most bibles, same with the thickness of the pages. I will use this one as my main bible, definitly worth the buy - ... Buy it here!
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