Zondervan’s NIV Quickview Bible Review

The NIV Quickview Bible from Zondervan is unique among study Bibles. Rather than being filled with note after note of commentary (which is usually just text), the Quickview Bible provides information in a way that the majority of people learn – visually. The Quickview Bible provides visual snapshots of key passages and stories, providing visual information to go with the Biblical text, making the information more understandable.

Pros

• Great visuals
• Plenty of facts

Cons

• No references
• No concordance

Basic Features

• 2011 NIV text
• 360 full-color infographics
• 20 in-text maps
• Color-coded sections
• Section headings
• Black-letter
• Study helps
• Hard cover with jacket
• 1108 pages
• 9.75 x 6.75 x 1.25
• ISBN: 978-0-310-44230-1

Cover and Binding

This Bible is only available in hard cover (and e-book, but that one doesn’t have a binding). It has a jacket that explanations the purpose of this edition. The cover is a portion of Matthew 5 and the infographic of the Sermon on the Mount. Removing the jacket reveals a shiny blue hard cover that simply says Holy Bible, NIV, and Zondervan. The binding is glued. It feels well-made.

Paper, Text, and Layout

The paper looks and feels like the paper that’s popular in study Bibles today. It does have some show-through. Most of the time it didn’t seem too distracting, especially with all of the graphics covering the pages.

The font looks around an 8-point with 10-point leading (8/10), but that’s just a guess. The font is very modern. The print quality generally looks nice and consistent, and not too dark or too light. There are a few pages where the print is darker than others. The print never fades.

The text is presented in two-column paragraph format. The verse numbers are slightly bolder than the text, making verses easier to find. One of my complaints of paragraph format is find the verses within the paragraph, so having verse numbers bolder than the text is appreciated.

This edition does not have references, but it does have translation notes. The notes appear at the bottom of the page, just under the last verse on the page. Notes are keyed to the text with letters in italics.

Visuals

I’m a very visual reader. I like charts, grafts, and pictures. This is where the Quickview Bible really shines. There are over 360 infographics that cover the most significant Bible stories and facts. They seem to me very much like high quality Powerpoint slides. The art style is interesting. People are in silhouette and objects like flowers, musical notes, etc. are used to show the point. The graphic might take up a half column, one full column, a portion of two columns, or even a whole page.

Each book of the Bible has a graphic that says “Big Ideas in” and the book name. This graphic shows the main four or five points from the book. There are graphic associated with the points, such as a lion for the book of Daniel and Esther sitting on a throne in silhouette.

There are plenty of facts, timelines, maps, character comparisons, keywords, sermons, teachings, events, and much more. The art style itself is simple but still very colorful. This keeps the graphics from being too cluttered but they still look great.

The books of the Bible are divided into sections. There is a timeline at the beginning of each section that highlights the books that appear in that section. Each section is color-coded. The color for that section appears at the top of each page, highlighting the book name, chapter and verse numbers, and page number. The chapter and verse numbers are given in a range. On the left page is the first verse that appears and on the right page is the last verse that appears. The chapter numbers and section headings are also in the same color.

Study Helps

There are 14 pages of study helps that also include graphics and charts. They cover basic questions such as why read the Bible, who is God, who is Jesus, what is prayer, etc. There are two indexes: one to all of the maps, and one to all of the infographics. Like all study Bibles, I recommend studying theological topics for yourself rather than just taking someone’s theology at face value. This Bible doesn’t have a lot of theological arguments, but there are a few. Just be careful and do your own study. Just because it’s printed in a study Bible doesn’t make it true. I say this about all study Bibles, so I’m not just picking on this one.

There is also a table of weights and measures. The only thing missing was references, a concordance, and maps at the end (there are maps within the text).

Conclusion

The Quickview Bible from Zondervan is a very visually appealing study Bible. 83% of human understanding comes through visual information. There is a great need for this type of information and this Bible excels in the visuals. The charts, maps, and graphs look great; providing plenty of facts, timelines, character information, and much more. I highly recommend the Quickview Bible from Zondervan.

Zondervan Bibles provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.