As you might know I am a fan of wide-margin Bibles. One wide-margin edition that I’m looking forward to is Crossway’s Wide-Margin Reference Bible. Crossway has provided a preview (available here as a PDF) of their upcoming wide-margin reference Bible (due in June, 2014). Here are my thoughts on the layout.
All of the standard Crossway features are here in this layout. It has two columns in paragraph format, poetry is set to verse, section headings, translation notes are in the footer (marked with numbers), and references are under the right column (marked with letters).
In addition to references and translation notes, this Bible includes other key features that make it a great study Bible: concordance, book introductions, and maps.
The overall size is 9.25 x 6.5 (not sure of width). One thing I found curious is that it has the words of Christ in red.
This edition has 1-inch margins for notes. I really would like to see larger margins closer to the 1.25-1.5” range, but 1” is probably good enough for most marginal notes. That gives you some room for your own chain references, thoughts on the text, lists, symbols, definitions, etc. I hope there is enough room in the gutter for writing. I also have high hopes that the paper will be writable. Overall I think this will be a good edition for Bible study and it’s one of the Bibles I’m looking forward to the most this year. It will be available in genuine and imitation leather.
It is available for preorder on Amazon. You can see the details on their site here: Crossway Wide-Margin Reference ESV.
