The Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition published by Barbour adds devotional/study material based on their bestselling Bible Promise Book to their new Simplified KJV.
ISBN: 9781636094786 Printed in China
Barbour Publishing 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
Construction and Materials
The copy I was sent has a chestnut brown leather-like cover with gold lettering and gold line-art flowers on the front and spine. It measures 9 3/8″ x 7″ x 1 1/4″ and weighs approximately 1 pound, 13 ounces. It has a sewn binding. The endpapers are white cardstock. There is one attached light golden yellow ribbon bookmark. It comes in a thin cardboard slipcover.
The paper is a soft white and is about 32 gsm. It is not as opaque as most Bible paper that is this weight, which means there is show-through. There is a bit of a texture to it which could be good or bad depending on your preferences. It is usually easy to turn but I did occasionally have trouble getting a hold of just one page.
This Bible is also available in navy leather-like with a cross on the front.
Typography and Layout
This is a red-letter Bible with a 9-point font. The ink is between a light and medium darkness. I’m pretty sure the ink darkness is consistent but it doesn’t always look like it is. The higher show-through than average, and the lack of line-matching play tricks on your eyes in some places. When lines are matched up the text looks darker. When the lines don’t line up the text looks lighter. The red appears even more inconsistent because it changes depending on whether it is lined up with red text, black text, or misaligned with either color.
Verse numbers are bold and have a tiny bit of extra space around them to make them easier to find. The SKJV adds quotation marks to dialog but also removes the italics on supplied words.
The text is laid out in a single-column paragraph format. Letters are indented and have a ragged right edge. Poetry is set verse-by-verse. Chapter numbers are two lines high and both them and the section headings are in bold.
It has an over 1.5″ outer margin that is mostly taken up with all the Bible Promise notes. The header has the page number centered over the text section of the page and a guide verse on the outer edge of the text section. There are no footnotes.
Bible Promises
The promises of the Bible are presented in three different ways in the Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition.
Daily Promises
There are 365 Daily Promises included in this Bible. These short devotionals are two or three paragraphs long and are most commonly found on the left-hand page.
They are numbered and have light grey backgrounds. The book and chapter number for the next Daily Promise are at the end of each one.
Promise Points
400 more promises get short explanations or thinking points. These are usually found in the right-hand margin and have a black arrow at the top and a light gray border.
Promise Index
The topical index in the back of the Bible will help you find a specific one of these daily promises or promise points. Topics include Biblical concepts as well as people, places, and things.
I like that the promises are frequently included in more than one topic.
Promise Topics
This is the feature taken most directly from Barbour’s original Bible Promise Book. It highlights verses that have promises of God to individuals or groups of people, or ones that show where promises were fulfilled. They are divided into 150 topics.
A list of the topics can be found at the front of the Bible. These include the reference and page number for the first verse under each topic.
In the bottom margin of almost every page of Biblical text is a list of Bible Promises. The list has the verse number and topic in bold, followed by the reference for the next verse on the same topic. Most pages only have a couple but there is more than one place they fill over half the margin.
Other Features
The other features of this Bible are mostly features of the Simplified KJV. You can learn more about this easier-to-read version of the KJV Bible at simplifiedkjv.com.
Book Introductions
The Simplified KJV introductions each have three parts, in this Bible, each has four parts. The first is an introduction to the book that frequently discusses major themes, historical background or significance, or literary style. The second is Author, a brief discussion of the author of the book. The third is Occasion, which focuses on when and why the book was written.
Lastly is Promises, added specifically for this Bible. These detail one or two major promises or promise themes found in the book.
Simplified KJV Revision Process or Updated Words List
This is found in the back of the Bible and details what changes have been made to the KJV translation to arrive at the Simplified KJV version. The changes include things like adding question marks and quotation marks, using commas the way we do now, and using modern pronouns. These changes don’t change meaning only make the text more readable and understandable to a modern audience.
The biggest part of this is a list of words and phrases that are no longer in use, have changed meaning, or are phrased oddly to modern readers followed by the “simplified” wording they have been changed to. Not every instance of these words has been changed just the ones they felt were no longer commonly understood with their original meaning.
This list is one of my favorite features and I would highly recommend anyone who uses the KJV a lot or frequently discusses the Bible with people who only read the KJV reading through this list more than once.
Comparison to the First SKJV Bible
A comparison to the first Simplified KJV Bible that Randy reviewed back in August of last year seemed like a good idea.
The Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition is currently only available in leather-like covers and the original Simplified KJV Bible is currently only available with cloth-over-board covers.
Even though the cover is thinner the Bible Promise Edition is slightly thicker and heavier. This is mostly due to the different paper that is used.
The Bible Promise Edition paper is slightly thicker and slightly more cream-colored but is still less opaque. It also isn’t as smooth and doesn’t seem quite as “premium” as the paper in the original.
The pagination is identical as is the margin size. It’s just that a large portion of the margins is taken up with all the Bible Promise notes. I like the red ink in the Bible Promise Edition slightly better. It is a little redder, the red ink in the original has a slightly brown tint.
Both contain the Simplified SKJV Revision Process and the “simplified” word list in the back matter. The dictionary/concordance and maps that are in the original have been removed and an index of Bible Promises added.
If you want devotional/study material in your Bible and think you won’t be overly annoyed by the extra show-through I recommend the Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition. If you are looking for a reading Bible or want to take notes in your Bible I would recommend the original Simplified KJV Bible and its better paper.
Final Thoughts on the Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition
The Simplified KJV: Bible Promise Book Edition is a more understandable version of the KJV Bible with added notes to help you learn about the promises of God. It is particularly useful for a long study of those promises.
I personally really like the Simplified KJV version of the Bible and hope to see more Bibles made using it in a variety of price points and materials.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Photography by Lucinda Brown
Barbour Publishing 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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