The NIV Halley’s Study Bible is based on the popular Halley’s Bible Handbook. It includes Halley’s notes, articles, charts, maps, and photos, and combines them in a way that works great as a study Bible. It includes the Comfort Print typeface and many of the standard study Bible tools. I’m reviewing the hardcover edition, ISBN: 9780310451495, made 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 at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
- Video Review
- Cover and Binding
- Paper
- Typography
- Book Introductions
- Study Material
- Concordance
- Maps
- Conclusion
Video Review
Cover and Binding
This is the hardcover edition. It comes with a white dust jacket with brick red text. The cover itself is brick red with the text printed in gold. It’s Smyth sewn and lays flat on every page.
It includes one .5″ brick red ribbon marker. The size is 9.25″ x 6.25″ x 1.50″ and weighs 3 lbs, 3.7 oz. This is about a medium size, which is an excellent size for a study Bible. It isn’t a small Bible, but it isn’t large by any means. It’s easy to hold, carry, and use.
Paper
The paper is 36gsm coated paper that Zondervan uses in all of their study Bibles. It feels elegant to the touch. It’s highly opaque and bright white in color. It looks and feels like high quality paper. The pages are easy to separate and turn with one hand. It sometimes has a touch of glare under direct light, but it’s just noticeable. I didn’t even see this until I turned on my (barely okay) photography lighting.
Typography
The text is presented in a double-column paragraph format with poetry set to stanzas. The header includes the book name, chapter and verse numbers, an icon, and the page number in the outer margin. The inner margin shows a page summary. All of the header text is in dark red.
The typeface is a 9-point NIV Comfort Print designed by 2K/Denmark. This is a red-letter edition. Both the black and red letters are dark and readable throughout the text. This is one of the best shades of red I’ve seen for a red-letter edition. It has 8-10 words per line and the text was printed with line-matching.
Study notes are placed at the bottom of the page and are separated from the text with a line. Some study material is placed within the text in boxes. The text includes section headings and chapter numbers in dark blue. The reference in the commentary are in dark red.
Book Introductions
Book introductions are fairly short. They take one page and include a full-color photo at the top portion of the page, then the title with the date of writing, and then the introduction material. The introduction covers the author and theme and has a call-out for the key verses.
Study Material
The study material is from Halley’s Bible Handbook from Henry Halley. The information is from the latest edition. It includes lots of notes, articles, photos, charts, and maps.
Study Notes – it has over 6,000 study notes that are placed at the bottom of the page. These are Henry Halley’s own study notes. Some do include theology, but most don’t take a strong theological stance. Instead, they focus on background information, historical events, cultural information, devotional points, etc.
Articles – articles appear throughout the text and take from a quarter to a half a page. They cover a specific topic or verse. They include historical and factual information. For passages that can be interpreted in different ways they often include multiple points of view. This is something I always appreciate.
Charts – It has several charts and tables that provide lists of information. They often list teachings on specific things, repeated phrases, where things are quoted from, etc. They’re not as prominent as the other tools, but they’re great for study. May are adapted from other works from Zondervan and include citations.
Maps – It has lots of in-text maps. They appear on the page that discusses the locations. They mostly iditify locations of places, rivers, seas, routes, topography, borders, and distance. Some include annotations for events. They’re easy to read and follow. I love the colors. They have lots of green, brown, and blue and they’re well-drawn.
Photos – It has over 150 full-color photos of ancient sites, Holy Land topography, archaeological finds, and artwork. They include descriptions and citations. Some of the descriptions are detailed, while others are short.
Reading Through the Bible – This isn’t a specific reading plan. Instead, it’s a guide on how to go about reading the Bible for those that have never read it before or have trouble reading through it. It provides a place to start and includes suggested readings from different locations in the Bible. It also shows how to create a reading plan yourself that will work the best for you. Also included are several tips on choosing a reading plan and how to plan your readings. This section is simple, but there’re a lot of good insights here.
Concordance
The concordance is 118 pages with two columns per page. It has 2474 word entries and over 10,000 references. It has proper names and includes 155 biographical entries, background information, and references to prominent texts. It places variations of words in parenthesis for more words to search for. This an excellent concordance for study and sermon prep.
- Christ (Christ’s, Christian, Messiah) – 69
- Christian (Christ) – 1
- Christ’s (Christ) – 3
- Faith (Faithful, Faithfully, Faithfulness, Faithless) – 65
- Faithful (Faith) – 31
- Faithfully (Faith) – 3
- Faithfulness (Faith) – 15
- Faithless (Faith) – 3
- God (God’s, Godliness, Godly, Gods) – 4.5 columns
- God-breathed (Breathed) – 1
- Godliness (God) – 4
- Godly (God) – 4
- God’s (God) – 28
- Gods (God) – 2
- Jesus – 5 major topics with multiple sub-topics and many Scripture passages and reference within each one
- Life
- Miracles
- Major Teaching
- Parables
- Disciples
- Praise (Praised, Praises, Praising) – 32
- Praised (Praise) – 5
- Praises (Praise) – 4
- Praising (Praise) – 2
- Pray (Prayed, Prayer, Prayers, Praying) – 17
- Prayed (Pray) – 3
- Prayer (Pray) – 13
- Prayers (Pray) – 4
- Praying (Pray) – 4
Maps
It has the standard 7 full-color maps Zondervan maps printed on 8 thick glossy pages. It doesn’t include an index but the maps are annotated well. They show topography, distance, routes, borders, possible locations of lost places, battles, elevation, cities, and locations for the events of Jesus’ ministry.
Maps include:
- World of the Patriarchs
- Exodus and Conquest of Canaan
- Land of the Twelve Tribes
- Kingdom of David and Solomon
- Jesus’ Ministry
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys
- Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus
Conclusion
Halley’s Study Bible is an excellent resource. It blends the Halley’s Bible Handbook with the NIV to create a study Bible that’s filled with information without creating a Bible too large. It’s ready to read and the construction feels made to last. I especially like that the notes focus more on history and facts, and when they do include theological points they often include multiple points of view.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
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.
Very nice one really.
Thank you Randy,
Perfect size for both home and hopefully going to church ( imagine that statement). If Zondervan were to offer this in kjv- wonderful. During this hide in place era, I have had the opportunity read various translations. I cast aside the NIV 11’ years ago, but our pastor uses it. Yet , I needed to just read the Bible for the need to just read. So , I began by listening to the NIV U.K. through you version. With the exception of the Psalms, it reads quite enjoyably.