Bible Review: ESV Journal Bible

ESV Journal Bible, Crossway, 2012 (latest edition), 1380 pages.

Reading Level:Middle grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 12 and up

Bottom Line: Though limited in long-term value, the ESV Journal Bible offers a reliable translation with plenty of room for the reader to interact with the text.

The Journal Bible is available in a variety of covers, including a very handsome leather wrap cover edition (with corresponding handsome price!). It’s the ESV text with all the notes and intros and headings, with the addition of an extra-wide, lined margin for note-taking. I have an ESV literary study Bible that I like mainly for the extra-wide margins—more Bibles should have this as a matter of course.

I’m not sure about the wisdom of paying a lot of money for a Journal Bible that the reader is going to fill up—at least we hope she will—with notes in the next few years, especially as we know our understanding and interaction with the word grows as we do. Bible journals are best kept in a separate volume, I think, but this might make a good gift for the college- or career-bound Christian who already has a lot of familiarity with the word but needs to learn to engage it for herself. The lined margins encourage just that.

Overall rating:4 (good, but limited)

Categories: Bibles and Bible Storybooks, Christian, Gift Books,  Young Adult