The NIV Zondervan Study Bible releases on August 25.
- 50-page PDF sample
- the book’s website: NIVZondervanStudyBible.com
D. A. Carson is the general editor; Desi Alexander, Rick Hess, and Doug Moo are the associate editors; and Andy Naselli served as the assistant editor. Andy Naselli worked on this study Bible full-time for four years and for a fifth year part-time. He managed the project and helped copyedit all of the notes and essays for content and style.
The study Bible has completely fresh content from new contributors. Its audience is as general as the target audience for the NIV itself: the English-speaking world.
Naselli says that the top two study Bibles available are now clearly the ESV Study Bible and the NIV Zondervan Study Bible. I would also give very high marks to the The Reformation Study Bible which also just came out in 2015.
- These Bibles share many of the same strengths that any good study Bible does: the introductions to each book of the Bible explain the broad literary context and relevant historical-cultural context, and the study notes explain individual parts in that larger context.
- The ESV Study Bible and the NIV Zondervan Study Bible have complementary strengths: a major strength of the ESV Study Bible is systematic theology, and a major strength of the NIV Zondervan Study Bible is biblical theology. And that’s not surprising since the general editor for the ESV Study Bible is Wayne Grudem and the general editor for the NIV Zondervan Study Bible is Don Carson.
Biblical theology is a main distinctive of the NIV Zondervan Study Bible. In two recent “Ask Pastor John” episodes, Tony Reinke asked Don Carson about this:
- What Is Biblical Theology? And Do We Need It? (Episode 644)
- Why We Must Understand the Temple in God’s Plan Today (Episode 645)
(Those links include both the audio and transcripts.)
The notes in the NIV Zondervan Study Bible make biblical-theological connections, and the study Bible concludes with 28 essays on biblical theology:
- The Story of the Bible: How the Good News About Jesus Is Central (Timothy Keller)
- The Bible and Theology (D. A. Carson)
- A Biblical-Theological Overview of the Bible (D. A. Carson)
- The Glory of God (James M. Hamilton Jr.)
- Creation (Henri Blocher)
- Sin (Kevin DeYoung)
- Covenant (Paul R. Williamson)
- Law (T. D. Alexander)
- Temple (T. D. Alexander)
- Priest (Dana M. Harris)
- Sacrifice (Jay A. Sklar)
- Exile and Exodus (Thomas R. Wood)
- The Kingdom of God (T. D. Alexander)
- Sonship (D. A. Carson)
- The City of God (T. D. Alexander)
- Prophets and Prophecy (Sam Storms)
- Death and Resurrection (Philip S. Johnston)
- People of God (Moisés Silva)
- Wisdom (Daniel J. Estes)
- Holiness (Andrew David Naselli)
- Justice (Brian S. Rosner)
- Wrath (Christopher W. Morgan)
- Love and Grace (Graham A. Cole)
- The Gospel (Greg D. Gilbert)
- Worship (David G. Peterson)
- Mission (Andreas J. Köstenberger)
- Shalom (Timothy Keller)
- The Consummation (Douglas J. Moo)
Here are some more videos about the study Bible:
NIV Zondervan Study Bible, General Editor, Dr. D.A. Carson (4:31 min.):
Interview with Don Carson (5:20 min.):
Meet the team of scholars behind the new NIV Zondervan Study Bible (4:23 min.):