Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition ReviewAs a pastor who has used the New International Version for years, I was very interested in a new translation that would be more accurate than the NIV yet still be readable. That is a tall order, but the Holman Christian Standard Bible fills the order.
The HCSB is also more precise and accurate than the NIV. In the Gospel of Mark, eight times the NIV fails to translate the uniquely favorite Greek word of Mark, euthus, translated "immediately," but the HCSB is always careful to translate this word.
In Matthew 26:64, when the high priest asks Jesus if he is the Christ, the literal Greek rendering is "You said it." However, this is an idiomatic expression which means "yes." So how should this reply be translated? The NIV has, "Yes, it is as you say." The HCSB has the more literal, "You have said it," and adds a footnote explaining that this as an affirmative expression.
In Ephesians 6:10-13, the apostle Paul speaks of the armor of God. In the NIV, both verse 11 and verse 13 urge the believer to "put on the full armor of God." However, the Greek words are different in each verse, and the HCSB picks up this difference, translating verse 11, "put on the full armor of God" but verse 13, "take up the full armor of God."
While being more accurate than the NIV, the HCSB is often more contemporary than the NIV as well. For example, Psalm 90:2 in the HCSB: "Before the mountains were born, You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God."
This language is more modern than the NIV, which says, "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlating you are God."
In Esther 3:6, the NIV refers to "who Mordecai's people were," but the HCSB refers to "Mordecai's ethnic identity."
A unique feature of the Holman Christian Standard Bible that I appreciate are the "bullet notes." The translators decided to put these notes beside words that have special meaning in the Bible, which need explanation. Rather than paraphrase the words, they translate them literally, but the bullet symbol beside the word alerts the reader to check the list of notes for more information. For example, the expression "fear of the Lord" in the Old Testament, which means reverence and awe, and the Greek word "psyche" which is sometimes translated "life" and sometimes "soul" in the New Testament.
The HCSB is also bold in being willing to go against traditional translations for the sake of accuracy. For example, English translations have traditionally translated the Hebrew name of God, YHWH, with the all-capital-letters "LORD," since Jews read the word with "Adonai," (Lord), in order not to take the name of the Lord in vain. But the HCSB uses "Yahweh" 78 times in the Old Testament when the text clearly uses YHWH as a name(i.e., Amos 9:6: "Yahweh is His name.") In the New Testament, the HCSB frequently abandons the traditional translation of "Christ" for the Greek Christos, Anointed One, and uses "Messiah," since most English readers equate "Christ" with a name and do not realize that it is actually a title.
Many people will be disappointed with the the HCSB's bold departure from many traditional translations, however. For example, Psalm 46 says "Stop your fighting-- and know that I am God," rather than "Be still and know I am God." Psalm 23 in the HCSB speaks of going through "the darkest valley" (instead of "the valley of the shadow of death") and dwelling in the house of the Lord "as long as I live" (rather than "forever"). Traditionalists will prefer the English Standard Version (ESV), which uses the more familiar words (but in footnotes the ESV admits that alternative possible translations which the HCSB uses).
The Holman Christian Standard Bible has been critized as a "Baptist Bible" because LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention owns Holman Bible Publishers. While there were many Baptist scholars who worked on this project, over half of the scholars are not Baptists. It would be more accurate to describe this as a "conservative evangelical Bible," for the translators are committed to the authority of the Bible as the infallible word of God, and show great respect for the divine, always capitalizing pronouns when referring to God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. They also stick to conservative Christian interpretations of passages. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:11, Paul is talking about deacons, and then makes reference to "women." Some Christians take this word to mean women who are female deacons, while others take it to mean the wives of deacons, as the NIV, which says, "their wives." The Today's NIV New Testament reversed this and went the other direction, translating the word "women who are deacons." It is interesting that when the HCSB New Testament was first released, it translated the word literally as "women," but later editions have the word "wives."
The Holman Christian Standard Bible is available in several editions. I have found the maroon-color hardback version to be the best, because the binding is excellent, allowing for the Bible to lie open on a desk without folding itself up, and the print of the text is clear and easy to read. I look forward to a good study edition to go with this accurate, readable new translation of the Bible.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this review several years ago, Holman has now published several study editions of the HCSB. Most notable is a HCSB edition of the Scofield Reference Bible, and two brand-new study Bibles, the Holman Illustrated Study Bible and the Apologetics Study Bible.
The Holman Illustrated Study Bible has more maps and photos than any other Bible I have seen. Each book of the Bible has a good introduction. However, there are no study notes on each page, and no cross-references to other scripture. The print is very clear, printed in one column, so it reads like a textbook. It would be an excellent edition for a classroom text, such as a high school class studying the Bible.
The Apologetics Study Bible is loaded with articles defending the faith, as well as notes at the bottom of the page explaining passages that are twisted by cults or debated by other religions and secularists. It has a concordance, and full-color maps and charts in the back. This is a wonderful and unique study Bible. My one complaint is that it lacks cross-references to other scripture.
The Minister's Bible is a great edition for ministers, because it has weddings and funerals and other pastoral resources, and very large margins on the sides for note-taking. I only wish that it also had center-column references.
The HCSB Study Bible is due to be published in October 2010. I have had the opportunity to study a preview copy. As a busy pastor, I love the rich resources available all in one volume in the HCSB Study Bible. This study Bible takes some of the good qualities of both the HCSB Illustrated Study Bible and the HCSB Apologetics Study Bible, but much more. The Apologetics Study Bible is more scholarly, whereas the HCSB Study Bible takes a more popular approach. However, don't let that statement mislead you. The HCSB Study Bible is very thorough in dealing with all kinds of issues of Bible interpretation. It has all of the things one would expect in a study Bible, including center column cross-references, helpful notes at the bottom of the page, maps, introductions to each book of the Bible and a concordance in the back. But it also has some extras that set it apart from any other study Bible I have seen: word studies of Hebrew and Greek words, timelines to place events in their historical chronology, a Bible reading plan and essays on theological issues. It has an abundance of full-color photographs to illustrate Bible times and places. I particularly like the word studies. When Luke's gospel mentions that Jesus was born of a virgin, at the bottom of the page there is a text box with a more detailed explanation of the Greek word "parthenos," translated "virgin." The footnotes also make frequent explanation of Hebrew and Greek words used and their translation, which is not often found in study Bible footnotes. This may very well be the best study Bible available to date.
NOTE: In 2009, the HCSB was revised. One of the changes was even more usage of "Yahweh" in place of the all-capital LORD when translating the word Yahweh in the Old Testament. For example, in Psalm 135:1, the 2003 edition of the HCSB says, "Praise the name of the LORD." But the 2009 edition of the HCSB says, "Praise the name of Yahweh."
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition Overview

Want to learn more information about Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible: Red-Letter Text Edition?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now