Zondervan has released the updated version of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible in the 2016 ESV. It matches the Comfort Print TCRs in every way except for the typeface. The ESV was not typeset in the 2K/Denmark-designed Comfort Print typeface. Instead, it was typeset in a font with a similar look that fits well with the Comfort Print family of TCRs. Matching all other TCRs, the ESV TCRs tools use keywords found in the ESV. It comes in a sturdy two-piece box that works well as a desk prop. The ESV TCR is available in several cover options, but not as many covers and sizes as the other translations. I’m reviewing the Premier Collection in tan calfskin, ISBN:9780310459040, printed in South Korea.
Zondervan 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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Table of Contents
Cover
The cover is tan calfskin leather. I’m a fan of the color, but I’d call it a dark tan or orange. It’s extra thick, and it’s probably the thickest leather I’ve seen. There is nothing printed on the front. It has perimeter stitching and no extra overhang (yapp). The spine includes 4 extra large hubs. The text is minimal and printed in gold, making the spine look elegant.
The liner is leather. It’s edge-lined, and it includes overcast stitching in the first signature. Unfortunately, the tab is stiff and it wants to close until around the end of Genesis. It has a touch of cockling, but it’s just barely noticeable. There are two 3/8″ ribbons. The first is dark brown and the second is gold. The overall size is 7 x 9 7/8 x 1 7/8″. It weighs lbs, oz.
Paper
The paper is the same 30gsm paper used in all of the regular TCRs. It’s slightly rough to the touch, making it easy to grab and turn. It’s off-white in color and doesn’t have glare under direct light. I wouldn’t mind if it were a little more opaque, but it’s more than usable with its current level of show-through. There are 10 pages in the back for notes.
Typography
The ESV text is the standard 2016 ESV format. It’s presented in a double-column, paragraph layout with poetry in stanzas. It does have several lists presented in a list format. The Thompson chain references are printed in the outer margins next to the verses they correspond to. There is enough margin space that the references are easy to read. The header shows the book name, chapter, and verse numbers in red in the outer margin, page numbers in black in the center, and a page summary in red in the inner margin. Section headings are in red in all caps. The ESV translator’s footnotes are placed in the footer in a smaller font.
The typeface is similar to Comfort Print. The print size is 9.5, and it’s red-letter. It has around 6-7 words per line on average with extra space between the lines and the text. The typeface is dark and easy to read, study, and preach from. It was printed with line-matching, so the lines of text are printed in the same location on both sides of the page to reduce show-through and make it easier to read and use. like this typeface and find it to be a good match with the Comfort Print family of typefaces.
ESV Thompson Chain References
The 100,000 chain references are placed in the margins next to their verses. The font is 6-point. The topic name is printed first and the topic number is in red. Triangles show the start of a chain, and squares show the end of a chain. All the chains found in the back are completed, and all have been added to the margins. They’re justified to the text rather than the margins to bring the focus to the text.
Chain Reference Examples
Here are a few examples of the margins of specific verses. The complete list of each topic is found in the Numerical Index. Some of the words are specific to the ESV, but the topic numbers are the same for all translations. I like this because it’s easier to use the translation you’re used to.
- Genesis 1:1 – p.p Jn 1:3; Heb 1:10; Family Bible Readings 3:1-6; Creator 2:3; Heavens (1) Chr 16:26
- Deuteronomy 6:4 – Listen and Understand 1185; One God 32:39
- Isaiah 9:6 – Births Foretold Mt 1:21; Incarnation 11:1; Christ’s Dominion 9:7; Christ’s Wisdom 3838; Christ Divine Lk 22:69; Christ’s Names 3632; Wonderful Name Lk 1:31; Prince of Peace 2865; Peace (3) 3014
- Mark 12:29 – The Great Commandment Mt 22:36; Listen and Understand 1185; One God 1 Co 8:4
- John 1:1 – Christ Eternal 8:58; Christ The Word 1:14; Christ’s Names 3632; Christ Divine (2) Rom 1:4; Christ Eternal 709
- Acts 2:38 – pp Rom 6:4; Promises to Penitent 3:19; Repentance (2) 2707; Repentance (3) 2708; Baptism Directed 10:48; Wonderful Name 2516; Remission of Sin Rom 3:25; Spirit Promised 1603
- Romans 10:9 – Confess Christ Phil 2:11; Christ, Lord 1 Cor 1:9; Faith (6) Tim 3:15; Resurrection (8) 1 Cor 15:4; Salvation (3) 1 Cor 1:21
- 1 John 1:1 – p.p. Lk 24:39; Experience (2) 2030; Witnesses (2) 3855a; Christ the Word Rev 19:13
ESV Thompson Book Introductions
Book Introductions include the author, date written, purpose, to whom it was written, main theme, key words, key verse, synopsis, prominent people, and major chains. The list of major chains was added by Zondervan, but the rest of the material is from the Book Analysis (which is now here instead of in the back) and the short introduction that used to be at the top of the first page of each book.
ESV Thompson Comprehensive Bible Helps
The Comprehensive Helps includes the new illustrations and charts. The typeface is 6-point sans-serif. It also includes the short articles Principles of Bible Study and Best Methods of Study. The tools are the same as those in all the Comfort Print TCRs.
Alphabetical Index of Topics
This index lists every topic alphabetically. It includes the topic numbers to find the topics in the other resources. It’s printed in three columns per page with the topic number in red. Sub-topics are indented.
Numerical Index of Topics
This index has every topical chain and shows the topic names, primary verses printed in full and their references printed in red, and a list of suggested topics for most of the topics. It’s printed with three columns per page with the topic numbers and prominent verse numbers in red. Topic names are in bold. Words are specific to the ESV, but the topics themselves are the same as all the other translations.
Condensed Outline of the Bible
This provides a short description of each book of the Bible. They’re identified according to their genre. Book names and their topic numbers are printed in red.
Periods of Biblical History
This is an interesting table that shows the date along with Old Testament and secular history. They have a modern design with red titles, stripped gray backgrounds, and red backgrounds for the major titles.
Bible Character Studies
This shows the prominent biblical characters and includes maps and outlines with Zondervan’s new drawings and maps.
Prominent Characters Classified
This provides an outline of the prominent men and women in the Bible. It includes their names with a short description and includes a topic number for each.
Outline History of the Apostles
This is a table with the names with information about each of the apostles.
Messianic Prophecies and Their Fulfillment
This is a table that shows the prophecies, a summary, and the fulfillment of each Messianic prophecy. Summaries are in red while the backgrounds are stripped in gray.
Bible Harmonies and Illustrated Studies
This shows life overviews, maps, charts, illustrations, and outlines of Moses, Jesus, and Paul. The maps are gray with red highlights.
Table of Weights and Measures
There are several tables for weights and measures. The first shows weights and includes the unit, weight, and equivalent. The second shows land measure and length and includes the unit, length, and equivalents. The third shows liquid and dry measures, with the unit, measure, and equivalent. The fourth shows money in the Bible and includes Hebrew, Persian, Greek, and Roman money with their monetary value. These are excellent for study.
Concordance
This is a large concordance with 88 pages and 3 columns per page. This is the standard concordance from Crossway. It has over 300,000 entries with 14,000 words. It includes proper names of the most prominent people and places, adding to the study value of the Thompson Chain Reference system. This is a good concordance for personal study and sermon prep.
Sample entries include:
- Christ – 17
- Christ’s – 3
- Christian – 2
- Christs – 1
- Faith – 36
- Faithful – 12
- Faithfulness – 7
- Faithless – 2
- God – 56
- Goddess – 2
- Godliness – 6
- Godly – 4
- Gods – 4
- Praise – 11
- Praised – 4
- Praises – 3
- Praising – 4
- Pray – 13
- Prayed – 5
- Prayer – 11
- Prayers – 7
- Praying – 4
Maps
In the back are 13 Zondervan maps printed on thick, semi-glossy paper. They include topography, elevation, distance, routes, borders, possible locations of lost places, battles, cities, cities of refuge, empires with dates, locations of events of prophets, locations for the events of Jesus’ ministry, and locations for the events of the apostles and missionaries. It also includes a Color Map Index with 6 divisions. They’re in alphabetical order within the divisions and include the map number and the grid location on the map. The divisions include:
- Archaeological Sites in the Holy Land and the Bible Lands
- Biblical Names of Cities, Towns, and Villages
- Cultural Features: Regions, Tribal Names, Places, and Countries
- Points of Interest in Jerusalem
- Land Features: Mountains, Hills, Valleys, Islands, Desserts, and Wildernesses
- Water Features: Oceans, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, Brooks, Springs, and Wadis
Maps include:
- Archaeological Sites in Ancient Israel
- Archaeological Sites in the Bible Lands
- World of the Patriarchs
- Exodus and Conquest of Canaan
- Land of the Twelve Tribes
- Kingdom of David and Solomon
- Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
- Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
- Holy Land in the Time of Jesus
- Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys
- Roman Empire
- Apostle’s Early Travels
Conclusion on the ESV Thompson
Zondervan’s updated ESV Thompson Chain Reference Bible is a nice update to the original ESV TCR. It includes the same tools and features as the Comfort Print TCRs and its typeface fits well into the Comfort Print Family. It’s good to see this edition printed in South Korea. It does have some cockling and the tab is stiff, but the tradeoff from printing them in China is worth it. It’s still made well and would be a good option for any TCR or ESV fan.
If you use the TCR for sermons and class materials, see my upcoming journal – Thompson Chain-Reference Sermon Notebook.
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This Bible is available from
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Video Review
Zondervan 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.
Thank you for your extensive review, I appreciate it. I would not have considered this study Bible had I not read your review, as the description is not as detailed on retail sites like Christianbooks. You could say I am on the fence between this and the Hebrew Greek Key Word study Bible, to which I welcome your advise, please and thank you.
It’s really hard to choose between those two because they compliment each other so well. It really depends on what you need in your study between topics vs original languages. With that said, I personally use the Thompson more. It’s easier to find other Greek and Hebrew tools, plus the Hebrew Greek Keyword Study BIble only covers the most prominant words.
Randy,
Thank you for this review!
On your previous recommendations, I had already bought the (final old-style) 2016 ESV TCR and the (new-style) 2022 NIV TCR. Both are used by the groups that I have been leading. I do like the 2016 ESV TCR, but several readings of your review persuaded me to get the reviewed addition! I do like it, though I’m going to hang on to my 2016 edition! When I purchased the 2016 ESV TCR, I purchased also a software copy, which I carried around, partly for my own use and partly to show others a good modern TCR. I don’t suppose that Zondervan would consider doing cheaper software editions of their TCR’s? While I do appreciate premium and higher-end editions, I’m concerned that we get cheaper content into the hands of those who are struggling financially. And cheaper editions enable some of us to contribute to that aim.
Randy,
I am really again prompted to ask whether, now that Zondervan owns the TCR copyright, it could now consider issuing a Bible that has both systems of reference – full textual cross-references and the TCR thematic system (or perhaps a modified version of it). Do you perchance have any influence? Unless you know of some other Bible that has both textual and thematic/topical references?
They could expand it with this system. I’ll pass this along to them.
Randy,
Just a final sigh (rather than a moan!) ….
My favourite everyday/preaching/teaching ESV Bible – a perfect companion to the EEV TCR – is isbn 978433512353, verse-by-verse, single column, side references, 2cm side margin, 2011 — but no replacement for the 2016 update! Why has Crossway abandoned this format?!
Good question! I’m not sure why they haven’t updated that one.
Many thanks! I hope Zondervan takes good heed!