Zondervan’s Skinii series of Bibles are hand-sized thin-lines with nice paper and print, and hardcover with elastic closer. It is made with carry and use in mind. The edition I’m reviewing is NASB.
Pros
- Acid free paper
- Sewn binding
Cons
- Cover feels like it may be prone to scuffs
Features
- NASB
- Duo-Tone hard cover
- Elastic strap
- Pouch inside back cover
- Red-letter
- 8-point font
- Footnotes
- Paragraph format
- Section headings
- One ribbon
- 48 page Concordance
- Helps
- 8 x 5.5 x 1
- ISBN: 9780310423669
- SRP $27.99
Buy from Amazon: Zondervan NASB Skinii Bible
Cover and Binding
The cover is black duo-tone. It is hard-cover but is has a soft feel to it. It has an elastic strap to keep it closed. There is a small pouch on the inside back cover. It’s large enough to hold a few tracts. The binding is section sewn and lays flat no matter where it’s opened to. This Bible is very light and fits comfortably in one hand for reading. It feels durable.
Paper and Print
The paper is thin but it’s also opaque. In fact it’s probably the most opaque paper that I’ve seen in a Bible this thin. The paper has a slight cream tint to help in readability. It is acid free. The edges are not gilted. It makes sense for this Bible because it has more of a carry notebook feel to it.
The print is nice and sharp. The font is around 8-point and is sharp. It has red letter all the way through Revelation. The print quality is fairly consistent at a medium darkness.
Layout
Is has two columns per page and the text is presented in paragraph format. Poetry is set to verse. OT quotes are offset and are in all-caps. Section headings and chapter numbers are bold. The header shows the first verse that starts on the left page and the last verse that starts on the right page. Translation notes appear in the footer and are keyed to the text with letters. Each book starts on a new page.
Concordance
The concordance is 48 pages and has 3 columns per page. There are 37 entries for God (Deity, Eternal One) and 8 entries for God (false deity, idols). It’s not bad for a concordance is a hand-sized Bible.
Helps
Other helps include:
Promises from the Bible – 1 page with 20 issues you might face during your life. Each of the issues has around 6 verses to help you through these situations.
Perspectives from the Bible – 4 pages of various topics and around 6 verses for each topic. This acts as a small topical index.
Ministry of Jesus – 1.3 pages of events and locations in chronological order. It includes the verses from each of the Gospels, building a small Harmony of the Gospels.
Teachings of Jesus – .5 pages of various teachings of Jesus. It is given in alphabetical order.
Miracles of Jesus – 1 page of miracles under one of three topics and given in Biblical order.
Parables of Jesus – 1.3 pages containing all of the parables in alphabetical order.
These helps are great for devotions, personal study, and group discussion. There are not a lot of them, but there’s enough here to be useful. They could even get you started on a sermon or classroom topic.
Conclusion
I had no idea that I would like this Bible this much. It’s a nice and durable hand-sized Bible that is perfect for carry. I love the paper, print, cover, and binding. It’s small without sacrificing font size or paper quality. If I could add one thing it would be references, but that would just make it larger. I will be buying this in KJV.
Buy from Amazon: Zondervan NASB Skinii Bible
Zondervan provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.