The NLT Giant Print Personal Size Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition is an excellent hand-sized NLT that’s great for carry and reading. It works with the Filament app, so you’ll always have access to lots of study material. It’s available in several cover options so there’s an edition available for any budget. In this review, I’m looking at both the black and brown genuine leather editions. Both are made in China.
Originally published in June 2021, this post was updated in June 2023 by Lucinda Brown to include the olive green genuine leather edition of this Bible.
Tyndale provided these Bibles in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This Bible is available at (affiliates)
Amazon
– Brown | Black | Olive Green
Christianbook – Brown | Black | Olive Green
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
Binding
The brown genuine leather has a smooth grain. It’s a medium to dark brown and it also has a little bit of variation in the color that makes it look interesting. It has one brown 1/4″ ribbon marker and mahogany head/tail bands.
The black genuine leather has a slightly pebbly grain. It has one red 1/4″ ribbon marker and red head/tail bands.
There’s no printing on the front. The spines have Tyndale, Holy Bible, and NLT printed in gold at the top, and the rest of the spine is blank. This gives it a minimal design that looks clean. Both look and feel elegant. I love that both have a different texture. It doesn’t say what type of leather is used, but you could convince me that it’s cowhide. Tyndale consistently uses some of the best genuine leather that I’ve seen. The covers are stiff due to the liner.
The liners are paste-down vinyl in colors that match the cover. They’re Smyth sewn and have no trouble staying open in the middle of Genesis. I’m sure it will stay open at the beginning of Genesis once it’s broken in enough.
The overall size is 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 x 1 1/2″. They weigh 2lbs, 2.3 oz. This is an excellent size for carrying and reading.
An olive green genuine leather cover is now also available. It is a dark olive color that sometimes looks almost brown. The leather has a pebbly grain very similar to the black leather. It has the same style of blank front and back cover with minimal gold printing on the spine. The page edges are gold gilt. It has one 1/4″ ribbon marker in a lighter shade of olive green with head/tail bands that are the same green. The liner is black paste-down vinyl.
This Bible is available in one additional genuine leather cover, navy blue. It is also available in at least six different imitation leather covers, two-tone black, rustic brown, a floral frame decorated teal, aurora cranberry with cross and circle design, pink with peony design, and an evergreen with mountain design.
Paper
The paper is thin. It seems to be around 30gsm. It’s off-white in color. It has a touch more show-through than I’d like, but it’s still readable and looks better in certain lighting. The pages aren’t overly difficult to turn, but it isn’t as easy to turn as I’d like. It has a slightly rough texture, but it still seems to stick together when trying to separate the pages. Most of the time the pages were easy enough to separate, but I did have a little bit of trouble. Some pages have streaky creases along the outer margin. This seems to be typical of this quality of paper.
Typography
The text is presented in a double-column, paragraph format with poetry set to stanzas, letters indented, and lists presented as lists. The header shows the page number and Filament code in the center with the book name and chapter number in the outer margin. The translator’s footnotes are located under the last verse on the right page. Section headings are bold.
The typeface is 12-point with the words of Christ in red. Both the black and red are about a medium in boldness and they’re sharp and consistent throughout. The red could be a little darker but the black is easy to read. The text is printed with line-matching, meaning the text is printed in the same place on both sides of the page. There isn’t too much show-through, so the text doesn’t look gray. This improves readability.
It has around 6-7 words per line and plenty of space between the lines and words to make it comfortable to read. The inner margin space is too tight, though. This causes the text to bend too far into the gutter and reduces the readability. It also makes it difficult to mark the text or add symbols in the inner margin. When reading, I kept trying to flatten the page to keep the text from bending into the gutter. I’d like to see more inner margin space.
Footnotes
Footnotes are keyed to the verses with an asterisk at the end of the word or phrase. This is the only distraction within the text, and I didn’t find it too distracting. It works great but it does sometimes take a second to figure out what the footnote is referring to in the text. The footnotes themselves are printed in the bottom right corner of every two-page spread. They show the chapter and verse number in bold, the word or phrase from the verse in italics, and the footnote. There are lots of them and I’m glad to see them included.
Tyndale Verse Finder
The Tyndale Verse Finder is a 28-page topical index in the back. It shows topics with sub-topics that include a short description, a Scripture reference, and the page number. This is a good index for basic personal study and sermon prep. This is a handy tool and I prefer it to a small concordance. There are even more tools in the Filament app, so this small index is really all you need for basic study.
Visual Overview of the Bible
The Visual Overview of the Bible takes the place of standard maps and includes maps, charts, infographics, and information, printed on thick semi-glossy pages. They provide insights into the biblical settings and events. It includes an introduction on how to use them. They’re visually appealing and I find them easy to use. I find the information to be better than just a set of maps.
They include:
- World of the Patriarchs
- The Plagues of Egypt
- Exodus from Egypt
- Israel’s Annual Calendar
- Twelve Tribes of Israel
- Kingdoms of Israel
- The Book of Psalms
- The Prophets
- The Exile
- The Ministry of Jesus
- Prophecies of the Messiah
- The First Journeys of Christian Leaders
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys
- The Old Testament in the New Testament Letters
Filament
The Filament app gives you access to study and devotional material. Each page in this Bible has a scannable symbol. When you scan the page with your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet it will open tools that show related content such as study notes, devotionals, videos, interactive maps, and music for that page. You can also navigate through the app manually.
The app is free and includes:
- 25,000 study notes
- 350+ videos
- 40+ maps and infographics
- 400+ profiles and articles
- 1,500+ devotionals
Once you scan a page it shows the page number and chapter number with three links: Study, Reflect, and See.
Study
Study – this has study notes from several Tyndale resources. Clicking the title to open the notes. Click the link in the bottom left corner to see the different types of notes. Study notes include:
- Study Notes
- Book Overview
- People
- Themes
Reflect
Reflect – this gives you a list of devotionals from several Tyndale resources. It shows the title, author, and Scripture references. The bottom of the devotional shows more Scriptures to read and the name of the devotional.
See
See – this is a set of interactive visuals that include videos, infographics, illustrations, and interactive maps. They include the title, the type of resource, Scripture reference, and a featured image.
Navigation
Rather than scanning the page number, you can also navigate manually by clicking the book and chapter name to scroll through the books and chapters. Select the page numbers or navigate by clicking the arrows left or right. You to adjust the font size, choose the theme, switch to a different Bible, see a tutorial, and get help. The app includes lots of resources that turn your Tyndale Filament edition Bible into a study and devotional Bible. The app isn’t compatible with my Amazon Fire tablets but it works well with my Galaxy S8+.
Comparisons
Here’s a look at how the NLT Giant Print Personal Bible compares to a few other Filament enabled NLTs.
NLT Large Print Thinline Reference
Tyndale’s Large Print Thinline Reference NLT, Filament Enabled Edition has a slightly larger footprint but it’s a lot thinner. It has the same paper. The font is smaller and it has space in the gutter. It includes a few references and has the same index and visual overview. It has more inner margin space and more words per line.
NLT Thinline Reference
The NLT Thinline Reference Bible has the same footprint and materials as the NLT Giant Print Personal Bible. It’s just thinner with a smaller font, and, of course, adds references. This is a smaller version of the Large Print NLT Thinline Reference Bible. The paper also has streaky impressions along the side of the page. It’s a good choice if you prefer a thinner Bible or don’t need a larger font.
Final Thoughts on NLT Giant Print Personal Size Bible, Filament Enabled Edition
Tyndale’s NLT Giant Print Personal Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition is an excellent Bible for reading, carry, and study. The materials are great for this price range. The paper is thin but it’s decently opaque considering it isn’t premium paper. It has noticeable show-through in certain lighting, but it usually wasn’t a problem. I would like to see more space in the inner margin.
The design keeps a clean layout, but there is a lot of study and devotional tools at your fingertips with the Filament app. This makes a clean and readable Bible without losing access to study material. I’d love to be able to add my own notes, but the app has more than enough material for study and sermon prep.
The NLT Giant Print Personal Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition is an excellent choice for anyone that wants a large and clean text with easy access to tools on their mobile devices.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available at (affiliates)
Amazon
Christianbook – Brown | Black | Olive Green
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Tyndale provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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