Zondervan’s latest translation of the updated Thompson Chain Reference Bible is the KJV. This edition is typeset with the KJV Comfort Print typeface designed by 2K/Denmark and uses serif for the references. The KJV TCR is available in several cover options. In this review, I’ll look at the new Zondervan KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible in the Premier Collection with goatskin and premium European Bible paper. It was typeset by 2K/Denmark and printed in China.
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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This Bible is available from
Church Source (available soon)
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Table of Contents
Video Review
Goatskin Cover
The goatskin on the Premier Collection KJV Thompson is a thick leather that looks and feels luxurious. It has a matte finish and a pebbly grain. It has a 1/2″ yapp (overhang) and includes perimeter stitching. The front is clear of any printed or stamping. The spine has 5 thick raised hubs and text printed in gold.
The liner is edge-lined leather with a gold gilt line around the inside perimeter. The tab isn’t overly stiff. It does have a hump where the tab is, but it stays open in Genesis 1 with no trouble. The text block is sewn and it has overcast stitching.
The Premier Collection KJV TCR has three ribbons: black, red, and gold. they’re double-sided, angle-cut, and more than long enough to pull to the corner to open the Bible easily. The overall size is 6 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 1 7/8″, and it weighs 3 lbs, 13 oz.
European Paper
The paper is a 36GSM premium European Bible paper. This is the same paper used in all the other Bibles in the Premier Collection. It has a slightly off-white color and it’s highly opaque, making it great for reading for long periods of time. It has a smooth texture that’s just rough enough to grab the pages between your fingers to turn easily. The page edges are red under gold art gilt.
In the back are 13 ruled pages for notes. These pages are the same 36GSM paper as the rest of the Bible. This is excellent for sermon notes, lists, events, important dates, references, topic information, journaling entries, prayers, songs, etc.
Typography
The KJV text is presented in a double-column, verse-by-verse layout with no formatting for the text to indicate poetry, letters, or quotes. Thompson’s chain references are printed in the outer margins next to the verses they correspond to. The header includes the book name, chapter, and verse numbers in red in the outer margin, page numbers in black in the center, and page summaries in red in the inner margin. Section headings are in red and they’re all-caps. There are no lines dividing the text or chain references. It does not include the KJV translator’s footnotes. Paragraphs are marked with bold verse numbers in red.
The font is the KJV typeface designed by 2K/Denmark for HarperCollins KJVs. The print size is 9.5, and it’s black-letter text. All other editions of the KJV TCR will be in red letter. It has around 6-7 words per line on average with extra space between the lines and the text. The text is dark and large, making it easy to read, study, and preach from. It was printed with line-matching, meaning the lines of text are printed in the same location on both sides of the page. This reduces show-through and it looks great. Supplied words are in italics. There is extra space between the verse numbers and the text, making it easy to locate the verses. The lack of dividing lines between the text and references makes a cleaner page and it has more space than the original with the lines.
KJV Thompson Chain References
The 100,000 chain references are placed in the margins next to their verses. They work the same as the previous edition, but the topic name is now printed first and the topic number is printed in red. The footnotes and the RV renderings have been removed, but it includes parallel passages. Triangles show the start of a chain and squares show the end of a chain. All the chains found in the back are completed, so they’ve all been added to the margins. They’re justified to the text rather than the margins to bring the focus to the text. I would like to see the footnotes added back. The font is 6-point serif.
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, like Harken, are specific to the KJV. Those topics are also found in the NIV, but using words from the NIV.
- 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 – Harken 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 3014
- Mark 12:29 – The Great Commandment Mt 22:36; Harken 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 (2) 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
KJV Thompson Book Introductions
The Book Analysis has now been moved to the beginning of each book to create a book introduction. It includes the short introduction that used to be at the top of the first page of each book. Book introductions include the author, date written, purpose, to whom it was written, main theme, key word, key verses, synopsis, prominent people, and major themes in that book. The list of major chains was added by Zondervan. This works well as a book introduction. It’s easier to access than the Book Analysis because it’s there where you need it.
KJV Thompson Comprehensive Bible Helps
The Comprehensive Helps has been improved. The information is the same, but they’ve been completed and have new illustrations and charts. Some content, such as the Archaeological Supplement and Portraits of Christ, has been removed. The topic numbers for the Archaeological Supplement have been assigned to charts and maps that were not numbered before, so now every table, chart, and map has a topical number. The typeface is 6-point sans-serif.
Alphabetical Index of Topics
This is the index to look up any 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 is the main index that includes every topical chain. It includes 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 printed in red. Topic names are printed in bold.
Condensed Outline of the Bible
This is a short description of each book of the Bible. Books are identified according to their genre. Book names and their topic numbers are printed in red.
Periods of Biblical History
This table 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 covers the prominent biblical characters and includes maps and outlines. They also have new drawings and maps.
Prominent Characters Classified
This is an outline of the prominent men and women in the Bible. It provides their names with a short description and includes a topic number for each.
Outline History of the Apostles
This table gives the names with information about each of the apostles.
Messianic Prophecies and Their Fulfillment
This table shows the prophecies, a summary, and the fulfillment of each Messianic prophecy. The summaries are in red while the backgrounds are stripped in gray.
Bible Harmonies and Illustrated Studies
This is a section with life overviews, maps, and outlines of Moses, Jesus, and Paul. It includes new maps, tables, charts, and illustrations. The maps are gray with red highlights. The small portraits of Jesus from the Kirkbride edition have been removed.
Concordance
It has a 60-page KJV concordance with three columns per page. Unlike the NIV TCR concordance, it includes very few proper names and does not include biographical information. It shows the part of speech and lists the entries separately for words with more than one part of speech. It’s a medium size concordance that’s good for basic Bible study and sermon prep.
Here are some sample entries with their number of references.
- Christ – 18
- Christian – 3
- Faith – 96
- Faithful – 41
- Faithfully – 1
- Faithfulness – 6
- Faithless – 3
- God – 56
- Godhead – 3
- Godliness – 12
- Godly – 11
- Jesus – 3
- Praise (n) – 32
- Praise (v) – 15
- Pray – 38
- Prayer – 36
Maps
The Kirkbride maps have been replaced with 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.
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
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
Conclusion on the KJV Thompson in the Premier Collection
Zondervan’s updated version of the KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible is a welcome and much-needed update to one of the oldest and most popular study Bibles available. The materials and construction for the Premier Collection make it the best KJV TCR available. The updates complete the chains and indexes, making it the most useful KJV TCR available. Of course, this edition is heavier than the regular edition and it’s the most expensive, but the quality is reflected in its price. The Premiere Collection KJV TCR is only available in the regular size. I’ll post reviews and comparisons of the other covers and sizes soon. If you’re interested in a high-quality version of the KJV TCR, this is the one to get.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available from
Church Source (available soon)
_________________________________________________________
Zondervan 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.
Good afternoon Randy, I hope the LORD is blessing you and your family, I would like to ask you, if you had to choose a Bible between the Cambridge Concord and the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, and you were only able to carry one may I ask which it would be and why?
Thank you again God Bless you.
Terence
Hi Terence. I love both Bibles, but I’ve carried the Concord the most over the past decade. I prefer small Bibles and it’s the right size for me. I study more from the TCR because I prefer its tools, but the Concord is my favorite all-arounder.
Thank you Sir.
Is this Thompson Chain Reference Bible 2022 version also in Regular size and Words of Christ in red available?
Yes it is. The red-letter will be available soon.
Interesting this one has the line-matching lacking in the NIV. I have a Kirkbride genuine leather NKJV. Much of the introductory material about all the updates in the margin notes, etc., in the updated NIV are almost word-for-word from the NKJV. (Brother Randy, you can check your NKJV Thompson to verify that.) The only two new features I see are marking the first marginal note in each chain and placing the key chains in each book’s introductory section. Moving these sections to the beginning of each respective book probably makes the actual Bible more balanced and easier to handle reading. We have to wait a few more months to see the NKJV Thompson in Comfort Print. I have an NIV Heritage Bible with it; it’s a great feature.
Will the NKJV be updated to this new “Premier Collection”? I’m seeing a listing for it on CBD, but the details listed don’t specify whether it has the updated type, study aids, chains, etc.
It will. The ESV and NASB (either 95 or 2020) will also get this same update, and all will have a Premier Collection edition.
https://www.christianbook.com/nkjv-thompson-reference-premium-goatskin-leather/9780310459477/pd/459477?en=google&event=SHOP&kw=preorder-150-200%7C459477&p=1179710&utm_source=google&kw=&mt=&dv=m&event=SHOP&p=1221303&cb_src=google&cb_typ=pmax&cb_cmp=17797144010&cb_adg=&cb_kyw=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5KTNr8v7-gIVggfnCh2E2Q8jEAQYASABEgLt4_D_BwE
Randy if you still have some input with Zondervan for future updates, please ask them to put back the original TCR concordance. I had noticed that it looked different and then got confirmation from Emily that indeed this is not the TCR concordance but rather Zondervan’s standard one which, is much smaller.