Tyndale’s Giant Print NLT Bible Review
Tyndale’s Giant Print NLT is a clean, two-column, Bible that’s perfect for those looking for an NLT in a larger print without a lot of distractions. It provides the 2007 edition of the New Living Translation with footnotes and maps. It’s available in several covers. I’m reviewing the brown and tan TruTone edition, ISBN: 9781414337487, printed in South Korea.
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 book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Video Review
Cover and Binding
The cover is TuTone Brown & Tan Leatherlike imitation leather. The tan is a stripe across the middle that has Holy Bible and a design stamped into it on the front, and HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION, and RED LETTER stamped onto the spine. The spine also has TYNDALE stamped across the top. All of the text is in a darker shade of brown.
It has a paste-down vinyl liner. The text-block is Smyth sewn. It doesn’t take a lot of use to get it to stay open in Genesis 1. The pages lay almost completely flat. It has one brown ribbon that’s long and thin. It’s long enough to pull to the outer corner to open the Bible. Head/tail bands are also brown. The overall size is 9.5″ x 7″ x 1.5″, and it weighs 2lbs, 12.7 oz., which is about the size of a standard study Bible. It is a large Bible, but it doesn’t feel overly large for the font size and it doesn’t feel too heavy to carry.
Paper
I like this paper a lot. I’m not sure of the gsm, but I think it’s in the mid 30’s. It has a coated feel and is highly opaque. It’s white in color and is great for reading. It has no glare under direct light. It’s easy to turn.
It has a presentation page in the front that’s printed with a nice dark red pattern on the back, which also includes Psalm 119:105 and a graphic of an angel. The page edges are shiny gold gilt.
Typography
The text is presented in double-column paragraph format with poetry in stanzas and letters indented. A line separates the columns. The text includes section headings in italics. The header shows the book name and chapter in the outer margin and the page number in the inner margin. Footnotes are placed in the footer.
The font is 14-point and it has a lot of space between the lines. This is a red-letter edition. The black and red both are dark and consistent. This is one of my favorite shades of red for the words of Jesus. The red letter continues through Revelation. The print is sharp and dark. I love reading this typeface and layout.
Many of the lines match, but there are enough that don’t match to make me think those that do are not on purpose. Even where it doesn’t line up they are still easy to read. There’s enough space in the gutter to bring the text out of the bend. What little bit does bend doesn’t bend far and it’s not difficult to see from any angle.
It has around 38 characters across and around 7-9 words per line. The words never feel too close. It’s more likely to have extra space than not enough. The text includes an asterisk to indicate footnotes. Verse number are superscript. They’re about half the size of the text and are much thinner. I had no trouble finding them when searching for verses or ignoring them for reading.
Footnotes
Footnotes are in a single column across the bottom of the page. They include the chapter and verse number. They cover the original languages and include alternate renderings. They also include variant spellings, references, etc. They’re great for study and getting insights on the text.
Maps
It has 19 maps and charts on 16 pages. The paper is thick and it’s glossy. The colors are earth-tones. This is my favorite colors for maps. They include topography, distance, routes, borders, cities, events. mountains, average rainfall, Scripture references, battles, history, empires, provinces, territories, journeys, a timeline, etc.
It doesn’t have an index to maps. They are annotated well, so it was easy enough to find anything I was looking for.
Maps include:
- Typography of Palestine
- World of the Patriarchs
- Exodus from Egypt
- Twelve Tribes of Israel
- Conquest of Canaan
- United Kingdom
- Divided Kingdom
- Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
- Greek Empire
- Ole Testament Jerusalem
- New Testament Jerusalem
- Roman Divisions of Palestine
- Ministry of Jesus
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys
- Pauls’ Journey to Rome
- Roman Empire and the Spread of Christianity
- Timeline of Biblical Events
- The Temple in Jesus’ Day
- Israel and the Middle East Today
Conclusion
Tyndale’s Giant Print NLT Bible is a joy to read. I love the typeface and paper. The cover is flexible and is a great choice for a low-cost option. By not including references, a concordance, or any other extras they were able to provide a giant print edition that doesn’t feel like a giant Bible. I recommend the Giant Print NLT to any NLT reader that wants an edition that’s comfortable to read and carry.
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This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Photography by hannah C brown
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.
Hey Randy, thanks for the review! I am tempted to get this Bible, or else the NLT illustrated Study Bible. But what are your thoughts on the NLT as a translation? I saw that the verse about the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood before the Day of the Lord seemed to be translated differently. I do understand it is a paraphrase.
Hi Jeremy. We’re reading through it this year. So far I like it a lot. It’s my favorite of the translations that are close to a paraphrase on the literal/thought-for-thought scale (The Living Bible is the full-blown paraphrase and the NLT strengthens it slightly and has translator’s footnotes). They do take some liberties. Where something could possibly be taken more than one way they pick one and go with it. The OT reads really well and only has a few of those places that make me question their choices. The NT has a few more of those places. I still like it a lot, but those verses make my eyes twitch. I like the historical accounts the best.
Hello. Well, my eyes are not what they used to be and I enjoy giant print making it easier to read. There are a few of us that would like to ask you if you know of a NLT in giant print (est. 2,000 pages) that the print from the opposite side doesn’t bleed through so badly. We know that it will show thru some and our eyes seem to adjust it but we would like to know if you know of a publisher of NLT that the ink doesn’t seem as distracting. Thank you so very much.
Hi Suzanne. I don’t know of one in giant print with highly opaque paper. I’ll be sure to mention it to Tyndale.
The best factual, honest review I have seen! I am slowly losing my sight… and I could read this off the screen! THANK YOU!