The KJV Giant Print Personal Size Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition is a highly readable KJV that works with the Filament app. It’s available in multiple cover materials so there’s an edition available for any budget. In this review, I’m looking at the black genuine leather, ISBN 9781496447746, made in China.
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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This Bible is available at (affiliates)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
Video Review
Binding
The black genuine leather has a slightly pebbly grain. It looks and feels elegant for genuine leather. It’s soft to the touch and feels similar to cowhide. This is some of the best genuine leather that I’ve seen. There’s no printing on the front. The spine has Tyndale, Holy Bible, and KJV printed in gold at the top, and the rest of the spine is blank.
The liner is black paste-down vinyl. It’s Smyth sewn and has 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.
It has one red 1/4″ ribbon marker. The overall size is 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 x 1 1/2″. It weighs 2lbs, 1.6 oz. This is an excellent size for carrying and reading.
Paper
The paper is thin. I’m not sure of the GSM, but I’d guess it to be around 30. It’s off-white in color and has a little more show-through than I’d like. It’s still readable, though, and looks better in certain lighting. The pages aren’t the easiest to turn, but they weren’t too difficult. the edges have a slight curl that I find annoying. I preached from it a couple of times. The pages weren’t difficult to turn or read from most of the time.
Typography
The text is presented in a double-column, verse-by-verse format with indented verses that makes the text look like it has lots of small paragraphs. The header has the page number with the Filament code in the center and the book name and chapter number in the outer margin. Translation notes are placed under the last verse on the page on the right side of a two-page spread. Section headings are in bold.
The font is 12-point. This is a red-letter edition. They’re about a medium in boldness. Both are sharp and consistent throughout. I find the black letter especially easy to read. I would like the red to be a touch darker, though. It has around 6-7 words per line. It has enough space between the lines and words to make it comfortable to read and mark. One problem is the inner margin space. It’s very tight, causing the text to bend too far into the gutter. When reading or preaching, I was always flattening the page to keep the text from bending into the gutter.
It’s printed with line-matching, meaning the lines of text are printed in the same place on both sides of the page. This greatly improves readability. The show-through is minimal, so the text doesn’t look gray. There are a few pages that don’t match well, though. The show-through is a lot more distracting on those pages.
Tyndale has continued one of my favorite features that they’ve used in their KJVs. Verses that continue the sentence from the previous verse start with a lower-case letter. This informs the reader that the verse isn’t a stand-alone paragraph, even though it’s indented like a paragraph. I appreciate this and I’d like to see this become the standard for verse-by-verse KJVs. It would look even better if only the first verse of the paragraph was indented.
Rather than placing numbers in the text to indicate footnotes, the footnotes are keyed to the verses with an asterisk that’s placed at the end of the verse. This is the only distraction within the text, and I don’t find it that distracting. The text uses italics for supplied words.
Footnotes
The footnotes are printed in the bottom right corner of every two-page spread. They’re identified as translation notes and show the chapter and verse number in bold, the word or phrase from the verse in italics, and the definition. Rather than the translator’s footnotes, these provide definitions of archaic words and phrases, making the KJV easier to read and use. There are lots of them. I’m glad to see them included.
Tyndale Verse Finder
In the back, you’ll find the Tyndale Verse Finder. This is a 41-page topical index that shows the main topic and sub-topics. The sub-topics show a short description, the reference, and the page number. This is excellent for personal study and sermon prep. You get even more tools in the Filament app, but this is handy to have, and I prefer this to a small concordance.
Visual Overview of the Bible
Rather than a typical set of maps, this Bible has a Visual Overview of the Bible. This includes maps, charts, infographics, etc., printed on thick semi-glossy pages. They provide insights on the biblical settings and events, and since they’re visual, they’re easy to use. Although I love cartography, there are enough maps and charts to make them better than just a set of maps. An introduction teaches how to use them.
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 turns this Bible into a study and devotional Bible. Simply scan the page or navigate to a passage to see related content such as study notes, devotionals, videos, interactive maps, and music. This provides lots of information while keeping the Bible clean and small. As always, I recommend using the tools for reference and do your own study.
The app is free and includes:
- 25,000 study notes
- 350+ videos
- 40+ maps and infographics
- 400+ profiles and articles
- 1,500+ devotionals
Install the app on your iOS or Android phone or tablet, scan the code on the first page to activate the Bible, and then scan any page to see the information. When you scan a page it shows the page number and chapter number with three links: Study, Reflect, and See.
Study
Study includes the study notes from several Tyndale resources. Clicking the title opens those notes. Click the link in the bottom left corner to see the different types of notes. They include:
- Study Notes
- Book Overview
- People
- Themes
Reflect
Reflect provides a list of devotionals that you can read. These devotionals also from Tyndale resources. They show the title, author, and Scripture references. At the bottom of the devotional, you’ll see more Scriptures to read and the resource name the devotional is from.
See
See is a set of interactive visuals. They include videos, infographics, illustrations, and interactive maps. They show the title, the type of resource, Scripture reference, and a featured image.
Navigation
You can also navigate manually. Click the book and chapter name to scroll through the books and chapters. Select the green check to see the options for that page. Click the page number to enter a page. You can also navigate by clicking the arrows left or right. The settings allow you to adjust the font size, choose the theme, switch to a different Bible, see a tutorial, and get help. It has lots of resources and I found them easy to use.
The app isn’t compatible with my two Fire tablets. I downloaded it through the Google Play Store, but the cameras won’t scan the code to connect with the Bible. It works well with my Galaxy S8+.
Comparing to the Large Print Thinline Reference
Tyndale’s Large Print Thinline Reference KJV, Filament Enabled Edition has a slightly larger footprint and it’s a lot thinner. The paper is about the same, It has a smaller text with more space in the gutter. The footnotes and tools are the same. It includes references, but only a few.
Final Thoughts on KJV Giant-Print Personal-Size Bible, Filament Enabled Edition
Tyndale’s KJV Giant Print Personal Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition is a highly readable and portable Bible. The materials are excellent for the price. The paper is thin, but the show-through is minimal. It’s only noticeable where the lines of text don’t match on both sides of the page. Even then, it’s not bad. I’m a fan of clean layouts and this one works well. I especially like the lower-case letters at the beginning of verses that continue the previous sentence. I also like the footnotes to define archaic words and words that have changed in meaning. Preaching and reading were a joy, but if I could change one thing, I’d add some space in the gutter. It’s still usable, but I’d like it more with a wider inner margin.
The Filament app is a great way to make this a study Bible, devotional Bible, and video teaching Bible while keeping the Bible small and clean. Study and devotional material are always available and it’s easy to use. It would be even better if I could add my own notes, but there is a lot in the app to keep me busy.
I recommend the Giant Print Personal Bible, Filament-Enabled Edition to anyone that wants a large and clean text with easy access to tools on their phones and tablets.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available at (affiliates)
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.