The MacArthurs
The NKJV MacArthur large-print was the first study Bible I bought on my own. (The NRSV NOAB I bought on the recommendation of my pastor.) I wasn’t familiar with the NKJV text at all, and I was surprised a couple years later when I was teaching my adult Bible study class to discover the textual differences between the Textus Receptus of the NKJV and the texts used in most other Bibles. I had a student (a college professor no less) who demanded to know why my Bible had these extra words and verses that his didn’t! Well, that was an eye-opener, all right!
That difference never bothered me too much, because the differences I saw were very minor as far as I was concerned. More importantly, the NKJV text itself didn’t bother me too much, because I had John MacArthur’s notes to help me keep on understanding it all. Now I stay away from the Textus Receptus for the most part; I think the other textual tradition is better.
The large-print MacArthur (hardcover) is a prodigious Bible, some 7″ wide, 10″ tall, and almost 2″ thick. If I held it on my lap, my legs would fall asleep! So it turned out to be pretty much a table-top only Bible. But what a great Bible to read! The type was large and clear, and beautiful! The MacArthurs seem to have a little extra flair to their typesetting, like outline chapter numbers, that seem to give the impression of quality.
I got the large-print NKJV in the year 2000, and over several years I pretty much wore out the hardcover. I don’t use it too much any more, and I can’t really justify the cost of having it rebound, so I took some clear, wide tape and bound the edges and reinforced the spine, repairing at least one major tear in the spine. It should last me quite a few years yet, especially since I don’t use it much.
A couple years ago when they came out with the NASB MacArthur Study Bible they were giving away the hardcover version to anyone who wrote and asked. So I did. It’s a beautiful hardcover, but like most, it’s quite basic with a glued binding and no marker ribbons. I think it’s made of a better material than the NKJV large-print was, and it should last longer.
The NASB is a more normal font size, and so it’s not as easy to see, but more than that the ink appears to have been applied more lightly, so even though I can read that size font, its lightness causes some eyestrain that normally wouldn’t be there if the ink was applied more boldly.
If I could choose, I’d take the NASB with a much darker type. If I decide to get one, it will be in spite of the light ink, so that will count against it. It’s available in genuine leather, bonded leather, and also in a new soft artificial leather, although I believe MacArthur’s website, Grace to You, only has the genuine leather version available. The others are available through other outlets.
The Sundry Times 
I have a fake leather MacArthur study Bible in NASB translation that I bought fairly recently. I really like the notes and the translation (this was my first NASB translation). What do you think of the actual notes?
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you dont have any bibles. you have translations of the bible.
;-p
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Actually, we do have Bibles. Translations ARE actual Bibles.
The New Testament refers to the Septuagint (a translation) as the Scriptures.
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blah. if you depend on a translation you’re depending on a mere ‘version’. or as it has been said before- and rightly- reading the ‘bible’ in translation is like kissing your loved one through glass.
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oh and by the by- there’s not a single verse in the entire new testament where the word ‘septuagint’ is used. none. not one.
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Jim,
Not sure if you intended to come off sounding arrogant with your blah comment. No worries.
Your attitude towards translations sounds more consistent with Islam than with Christianity.
Let’s say you have the original manuscripts at your disposal. For it to get to your brain you have to translate (or more accurately, decipher) it. Short of God speaking directly into your ear and giving you perfect understanding you are going to be forced into translation decisions about the actual meaning of the text, all of which cannot be correct.
Would that be like kissing your loved one through glass?
Cute comment about the Septuagint. Looking at your credentials it seems obvious I don’t have to lecture you about how often the Septuagint is quoted by the inspired New Testament writers.
Speaking of translation, it seems like the New Testament was written in Greek and quotes Jesus who spoke in Aramaic. Thus, when quoting Jesus they translated from one language into another. Are you now going to tell us we don’t have the New Testament?
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:8-9 TNIV)
God’s word is not chained to any particular language.
In Acts, what language was the word of God received by the believers in Samaria (8:14)? The Gentiles received the word of God in what language (11:1)? How about the Bereans (17:13)? The Corinthians (18:11)?
God’s word is not chained.
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Jim: Ooo-kay hotshot! 😉
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(He almost had me going there, until the septuagint comment!)
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Hi Gary.
I’m not sure if I have made this comment before. (Forgive me, if I have.)
Just a reminder for your readers that we English-speakers have such a luxury of so many translations to choose from. More than 2,000 language groups around the world don’t have a single verse translated into their own language!
Blessings today.
-Paul Merrill for Wycliffe’s The Seed Company
http://www.theseedcompany.org/
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Well, thank you for the reminder, Paul. That’s an important point we all should keep in mind. We who speak English tend to forget what a wealth we have in so many translations. Why, we are more wealthy in this than any other generation!
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