The ESV Pocket Bible is the smallest complete ESV Bible that Crossway has ever published. It’s designed specifically for reading the Bible on the go. Its size is perfect for carrying in a bag, car, purse, or backpack, so you’ll always have access to the ESV Scriptures. It’s available in several covers. I’m reviewing the deep brown buffalo leather, ISBN: 9781433568855, made in China.
Crossway 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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This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
Video Review
Binding
The cover is deep brown buffalo leather. It’s soft to the touch and has a pebbly grain. It’s ironed smooth around the perimeter. It doesn’t fold over the liner, so there are no folded corners. The leather is cut at the edge and it doesn’t have much overhang. The edge is rough-cut, so you’ll see some leather fiber’s hanging onto the edge. The spine is flexible and easily bends when the Bible is opened. It has the text, logo, and hub indications printed in gold.
The liner is pastedown TruTone (imitation leather). It looks and feels like leather. It has a couple of thick end-sheets to help give it structure. The block is Smyth sewn. The flexibility of the spine allows the block to flex upward when the Bible is opened, allowing the pages to lay flat.
It has one brown ribbon marker. The overall size is 3 5/16 x 5 5/16 x 1 1/8″ and it weighs 8.5 oz.
It fits well in large pockets. I had no trouble carrying it in a suit pocket, large shirt pocket, or a large pants pocket.
Paper
The paper is 22gsm. Crossway calls it ultrathin. It’s off-white in color and it feels semi-coated. It’s highly opaque for how thin it is. It’s easy to turn, but I have to rub the pages together multiple times because I keep thinking I have 2 pages when I might have 4. The page edges are white. It has several thin pages in the back. It also has thick end-sheets in the front and back to give it structure.
Typography
The text is presented in a double-column, paragraph format. Poetry is set to stanzas. The header shows the page number in the center and the book name and chapter and verse in the outer margin. Section headings are in italics.
The typeface is 6-point. It’s a black-letter text and it’s printed with about a medium-to-dark in darkness. It’s mostly consistent. I did see a few pages that varied slightly, but I only noticed it because I was looking for it. It has a good amount of inner margin, so the text doesn’t bend into the gutter.
It has around 8 words per line. Many of the poetic lines have a single word due to the poetic formatting of the ESV. It has a good amount of space between the lines, so the text never feels too crowded. It’s printed with line-matching (meaning that the text is printed in the same location on both sides of the page). This does give the text a slightly gray tint on a few pages, but it isn’t bad enough to keep me from reading it
Comparisons
Here’s how the ESV Pocket Bible compares to a few small Bibles.
Pitt Minion
The ESV Pitt Minion isn’t a pocket edition and it has references, but I wanted to show the size difference for a Bible that many readers will be familiar with. The Pitt Minion is a lot larger. It actually feels like a large Bible after reading from the ESV Pocket Bible.
TBS Pocket Reference Bible
The TBS Pocket Reference Bible is a KJV reference edition, but it’s the closest in size to the ESV Pocket Bible that I have access to. It’s noticeably thinner and slightly wider. Its font is darker, but it’s also smaller and tighter on the page.
Holman Compact Ultrathin NKJV
The Holman Compact Ultrathin NKJV has a larger footprint and is much thinner. The font is darker. It’s the same size and it’s more compact.
Conclusion
It is small, but Crossway’s ESV Pocket Bible works well as a Bible you can take anywhere. The print is 6-point, but it is clear and it has a good amount of spacing on the page to help improve readability. Due to the 22gsm paper, there is some show-through but it isn’t enough to keep me from using it. Since it’s made for carry and reading on the go, I’d like to see a reading plane included. It has plenty of blank pages in the back, so there’s already room for it. If you’re interested in a complete Bible to carry in your pocket and you can read the small print, I highly recommend the ESV Pocket Bible.
_________________________________________________________
This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Crossway 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.
Your reviews are so detailed and helpful. Thank you.
Thank you!
This is the perfect saddle bible too Randy!
Thks for your thorough and great reviews!
Pilgrim