Released in 2005, the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is a revision of the King James by Professor David Norton. It’s currently available in the NCPB Personal Size edition (which I recently reviewed). The original edition is out of print, but Cambridge does still have a few in stock. In this review, I’ll take a look at the original edition and show what’s different from the Personal Size edition. This edition is French Morocco with Apocrypha, ISBN: 978-0521843871, made in the UK.
Special Offer from Cambridge
There are a few copies still available from Cambridge!
They’ll sell them at a special price of $140 (£95) while stocks last.
Orders will be taken manually. To order, contact bibles@cambridge.org. Include the number of copies you want and include a phone number and time when they can call.
They’ll have to manually adjust inventory and handle the sale, so the process will take longer than a normal order. It could take a week to hear from the bookshop once you place the order.
Video Review
Amendments
There were some amendments after this edition was printed. You can see what those changes were in Cambridge’s table of corrections and amendments. Those amendments are reflected in the personal size edition that I reviewed previously. Professor Norton discusses the revision in my interview with him: David Norton Interview.
Cover and Binding
The cover is French Morocco with a paste-down liner. It’s shiny and has a stamped grain. It’s hard to the touch and has a tough look and feel. The liner looks interesting. It looks like leatherette and has a leather grain. The cover stays open with no trouble.
It has nothing printed on the front. The spine has THE NEW CAMBRIDGE PARAGRAPH BIBLE WITH THE APOCRYPHA, King James Version, the official seal, and CAMBRIDGE printed in gold. Five spine ridges are etched into the spine. It’s Smyth sewn and has no problems staying open to any page out of the box. It has 1 black ribbon and red and yellow head/tail bands.
The overall size is 10.5 x 7.37 x 2″ and it weighs 4 lbs. This is a large Bible. It’s the size of a very large study Bible. It isn’t a Bible I would carry (the personal size is perfect for that), but I don’t find it to be too large for reading at a desk or holding it in my lap. It’s also great for preaching.
It comes in a slipcase that has the box art on the front and back. It matches the dust jacket on the hardcover edition. It’s fairly sturdy. It’s meant to allow the Bible to stand upright on a shelf. I kind of think the weight of this text-block would be better to lay it down to prevent the spine from sagging.
Paper
The paper is 40 gsm OP Opaque from Finland. It’s extremely opaque and is ivory in color. It has a dull finish (which I prefer) and no glare under direct light. This paper is easy to grab and turn with one hand. The contrast of the paper with the text is perfect for long periods of reading. This is easily some of the best paper I’ve seen in a Bible. It’s excellent for reading, marking, notes, drawing, etc.
Typography
The text is a larger version of the Personal Size edition. The font is 10-point Swift with a 12.5 point leading. The page is much larger than other single-column editions with the same size typeface. The reason for this is this Bible has a lot more white space between the words and the lines, creating a much cleaner layout. The extra whitespace is more noticeable than the Personal edition. This is one of the cleanest and easiest-reading single column editions I’ve seen.
This edition has a little bit of room for notes. Even though they’re in the inner margin, the space for them is large enough to write your own notes without much trouble. The inner margin is 1.75″ and the outer margin is .6″. Most of the books start on a new page. This leaves several blank pages on the left side that can be used for notes, lists, sermon outlines, prayer requests, etc.
Apocrypha
Unlike the Personal edition, which is available with or without the Apocrypha, this edition was only available with it. The Apocryphal books are added between the testaments and are numbered separately. Of course, this adds to the size. I’d love to see this Bible available without it for those that prefer not to have it.
Comparisons
Here’s a look at how the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible compares to the Personal Size New Cambridge Paragraph Bible and the Clarion.
Personal Size New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
The personal size edition has the updates I mentioned earlier. The features are the same- just smaller. This edition makes a great carry companion to the larger edition, this edition of the personal size doesn’t have the Apocrypha, but it is available with Apocrypha if you prefer.
Clarion
The Clarion is a reference edition, but I wanted to show it for size comparison.
Ending Thoughts on the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is a large Bible (it’s just a touch larger than most large study Bibles), but it’s still easy to use at a desk or in the pulpit. I’d LOVE to see this Bible brought back, both with and without the Apocrypha, but with 28gsm paper. It would still have a large footprint, but it would be much lighter and easier to carry. At first, the text seems small for the size of this Bible, but when you see it sitting next to another single column edition, even one with a larger print, it’s evident that the text is actually cleaner and has more white-space.
The paper and print quality are outstanding. The French Morocco cover is a little stiff, but that’s probably a good thing considering this Bible’s size. It opens beautifully. This is an excellent edition for reading. I preached from it several times and it’s great for public reading. There were a couple of times that it took me a few extra seconds to find a verse, but I was able to find them without too much of a pause.
I recommend New Cambridge Paragraph Bible (in either regular size or personal size) to every KJV reader and especially to anyone that’s used to modern layouts but are new to the KJV.
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To purchase from Cambridge for $140 (£95), contact bibles@cambridge.org. Include the number of copies you want and include a phone number and time when they can call.
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Cambridge provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review. My opinions are my own.
Do you own the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.
Great review, thanks Randy. Could you just tell me how wide the outer margin is in the prose sections of this 2005 edition? Thanks, Jon
Thanks Jon. The outer margin is .6″ and the inner margin is 1.75″.
I love the idea of this bible, unfortunately I think Bro Nortion actually introduced a lot of corrected printing errors back into his text. one guy online named bible protector has written about several of the changes that Bro Norton made to the text. Its important to realize that the Cambridge paragraph bible’s texts have some substantial changes in their text compared to other KJV editions.
David Norton discusses all of those changes in detail and the reasons for each one in the introduction and in his books:
The King James Bible
A Textual History of the King James Bible
Hi, do you know if this Bible is still available at Cambridge? Thank you
Hi Sharon. They’ve confirmed that they do still have a few in stock.
This 2005 1st Edition is the authors’ favourite Mine too. The included Apocrapha is not needed in the KJ V Bible.
This NCPB has 10 pt font , on 40 gsm paper. It has so much space between all words, as well as between lines , that it is the absolute best printing of all the other newer editions, The only better item with the newer Cambridge NCPB’s is having the choice of with or without the apocrapha. But the tiny font on super thin very dull paper is so hard to read. Any paragraph reading Bible needs a large font on thick paper. Buy the original thats built right. Save your time & money from the smaller later new editions.
Hopefully there will be a 2005 size soon without the apocrapha !
Thanks to everybody for all the positive comments about this edition, and especially to Randy for his comprehensive review. We still have some stock left of the first edition. The shrinkwrap is wearing away as you’d expect after 15 years, but the Bibles themselves are unused and in fine condition.
Unfortunately, the Cambridge University Press offices and Bookshop are closed right now during the Coronavirus lockdown. As these Bibles are out of print they are kept in our offices, and we cannot process sales for them at present. If you would like a copy, you’re still very welcome to email us at bibles@cambridge.org, and we will reserve a copy for you, to be sent out when life returns to normal. Thank you, and keep well!
I recently purchased the 2005 edition in leather directly from Cambridge. The Bible itself is beautiful But I noticed a printing error in 1st Peter 5:1. It should read,” The elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” But in my copy, that verse just begins with, ‘I exhort;. The words, ‘ The elders which are among you’ are completely omitted. I’m wondering if it’s printed this way in all of them, or only in the one I have? I’d appreciate any feedback from anyone about this. It’s a little disappointing after paying 135.00 for this beautiful Bible and finding this error in it.
I’ll get it from my office at Church tomorrow and get back with you.
Mine matches yours. Same for the updated personal size and the electronic version on Logos. I’m not sure if there’s a reason it was left out or if it was accidental. I’ll see what I can find.
I heard back from Cambridge. Here’s the information they provided: “The error has been corrected and the latest printing should have the missing words.”
I have the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible. And it is an excellent product. But why was Scrivener’s original cross-reference system not included?
I’m also a huge fan of the NCPB, and I’m trying to order one of the larger copies, which I recently learned are still available.