Apply The Word Study Bible, NKJV

Have You Applied The Word Lately? Learn How With The NKJV APPLY THE WORD STUDY BIBLE!

The NKJV Apply The Word Study Bible addresses what I feel is the most overlooked, most underrated, and most crucial aspect of Bible study . . . actually applying the word to the lives of the reader.  Where the rubber meets the road.  As Howard Hendricks would have said, “What?” (the content of the Bible) needs to be followed by “So What?”  Without an application, the Bible is just another book.

The NKJV Apply The Word Study Bible comes in the Kindle edition ($14.99), a hardback edition ($25.21) and 4 imitation leather editions ($37.49 - $44.99.)  I received the EPub edition for review, so I am somewhat limited in what I can address in terms of functions on the Kindle.  The Kindle doesn’t read EPub files, but the Adobe Digital Editions reader does, so that’s what I’m basing my review on.

The first thing I noted was the intuitiveness of the EPub file.  If the program works half as good on Kindle as it does on the ADE platform, the customer will be more than pleased with the purchase.  I poked around, selecting links at random, and every one of them responded quickly and correctly.  There are cross-references clearly marked in a light-blue color, to either corresponding Bible passages or commentary, notes, or reference material.  And while there is a learning curve to getting back to the original passage under study, it’s very slight . . . and then again, one can always consult the Navigation Panel, which can be toggled on or off from a button at the top left-hand side of the page.

There is a wealth of reference material such as tables of weights and measures with their anticipated equivalent in today’s standards, as well as articles, maps and charts to help clarify the background of the passage and explain historical / cultural idiosyncrasies.  And while they are not in-depth discussions, they help smooth the way and shed some light on obscure passages.

The concordance is again modest, not exhaustive.  But the passages selected provide a “broad sweep” that covers the entire body of Scripture, and they serve as a topical Bible of sorts, as well. 

The articles related to applying the Bible are aimed more toward providing timeless truths and principles that can be used immediately, wherever one may be in life.  Again, they are brief, and provide more of an outline than an exhaustive compendium.  But when one considers the fact that one has a Bible which is consciously striving to provide just such an application, when there are many study Bibles on the market which are not . . . well, you do the math.

One aspect of the Bible which I might consider a bit of “overkill” is the textual criticisms noted in the text.  It just feels a bit odd to find references to critical Greek texts in an application study Bible.  Unless you are a Greek scholar, or seminary-trained, the fact that “this particular word is not in a particular Greek manuscript” is going to confuse you at best.  Worst-case scenario, the reader may feel that he’s got a high-falutin’ Greek Bible wannabe, instead of what he originally purchased the Apply The Word study Bible in the first place – to learn how to apply the word!  And if he feels that he’s bought a pig in a poke, it’s going back to the store he bought it from, pronto.

I’m still giving this Bible 5 stars, because all of its advantages far outweigh the one thing I found to quibble about.  As a seminary-trained lay pastor of a small church, I’ve already informed my wife that she is to ask me, when I’ve finished my sermon preparation, if I’ve consulted this Bible in my preparation.  If I have not, she is to send me back to my study to do so.

THE NKJV APPLY THE WORD STUDY BIBLE

THOMAS NELSON

ISBN 978-0-718-04258-5 (EPub Edition)

Bible / Reference Book / Religion and Spirituality

Thomas Nelson Publishers

4314 pages (Kindle Edition)

$14.99 U.S.