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NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture ?
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I purchased a bible from Amazon called Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible NIV. It puts the NWT to shame!!! I love this bible. It gives a verse by verse break down and correlates the beliefs to the contemporary cultural beliefs of that time. It even gives you Hebrew and Aramaic literal translations like the word for Satan which was not an actual name, in fact the Hebrews had no concept of The Devil. It has maps and lots of references. I highly recommend it!
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310431581/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_HLDkAbHEHE5
The problem is that bibles, especially the better ones with notes etc., are expensive. I'm not as familiar as many others with English translations, but I think any translation that is not KJV is a good start.
I started to look, and Amazon has the NIV cultural background bible for a pretty good price. Afaik the translation is decent enough (and, very important, readable). And I now want the ESV archaeological bible. You sent me down a rabbit hole, thanks xD
I really like the notes in this one, and it’s available in multiple translations:
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310431581/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_9DTWQP9RDVKHQ0EKPEZG
As with the history, a rigorous approach to the Bible threatens some dearly-held doctrinal interpretations and thus is avoided because it's uncomfortable.
I wish the author would have persevered and enhanced the OT curriculum rather than just quitting and leaving somebody less informed to teach the class. There are many wonderful resources available for the Bible, why not bring some into the classroom?
It's not a full commentary, but there is a pair of volumes, Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, put out by some BYU ancient scripture professors who actually seem to know stuff about the ancient world. They have their "eyes open" a bit more than the average LDS volume, even confronting hairy issues like the golden calf representing Jehovah, the documentary hypothesis, etc.
In general though, I think Mormons avoid a more robust approach because their theology is not yet robust. The naive acceptance of various prophetic statements on the bible over the centuries---combined with what amounts to belief in prophetic infallibility---has created a minefield that sustained inquiry will inevitably set off. The authors of the books I mentioned seem aware of the trap the church is currently in. They are fairly responsible in trying to introduce difficult topics. But on some of them, there's just no sugar-coating it. Either the modern revelation is wrong, or the best biblical scholarship is wrong, take your pick, is often what it comes down to.
For example, Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, p. 27, has an infobox titled "Flood Stories" which compares the Bible and Epic of Gilgamesh versions of the flood story. At the end they say,
>Scholars noting the similarities between the biblical flood story and those extant in Mesopotamia have suggested two possibilities to explain this phenomenon: (1) both stories derive from a common, ancient source; (2) the Israelites adopted the story from the Mesopotamians. Most scholars accept proposition two as the more likely explanation, suggesting that the Isaraelites became familiar with the story during the Babylonian captivity and inserted it into their scriptures. Because the flood story is also alluded to in the book of Moses, Latter-day Saints tend to accept the first proposition.
Because Mormons are defending unique doctrinal commitments such as that Moses composed the flood story, they end up isolated from good commentaries because the best Christian commentaries out there will take option (2) rather than the less satisfying option (1). My own Study Bible ("NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture") does this.
Taking a more complex approach to Joseph Smith's revelations makes it possible to access a world of great information about the Bible. But right now that's not on the table for the mainstream church, so they will have to continue to rely on their own resources for biblical commentary, which means compared to what's available they will always kinda suck.
That said, they can be so, so much better than what's currently in the manuals.
Explore Cultural Backgrounds Of Bible Times
I haven't actually read this plan, so take it with a grain of salt. You've been warned
I know you want a youverion plan, but I think you'd really like this
https://www.amazon.com/NIV-Cultural-Backgrounds-Study-Bible/dp/0310431581
The "Oxford Study Bible" is a standard for mainstream Christianity but I don't think it's in the NIV.
The challenge is that the NIV is super popular among conservative Evangelicals.
I am currently reading through the "Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible" and it's conservative but I would not say fundamentalist. It's pretty great, so far. And it comes in NIV
Rather than focusing on exegesis -- it gives the historical context. For example, it might explain how a "covenant" was done back then. It's pretty different than our current "contract" or "treaty" so it's helpful to know.
Pretty sure you’re referring to this?
Sure, I believe this is the one I use (I have one of the boujie leather bibles so the cover doesn't seem right, but I'm pretty sure this is the one)
https://www.amazon.com/NIV-Cultural-Backgrounds-Study-Bible/dp/0310431581
That really depends on what you're looking for in a Bible.
A good study bible for historical background would be the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible. It's got socio-historical commentary by some pretty great scholars for the whole of the Biblical texts. On the other hand, it's NIV. NIV isn't a bad translation necessarily, but it's not exactly great for doing a closer word study as it follows a more dynamic equivalence method of translation.
If you're a fan of C.S. Lewis, you might check out the C.S. Lewis NRSV. The NRSV is probably my favorite translation, and it is exceptionally good for close word studies, as it follows a more formal equivalence (i.e. "word for word") translation model. The downside (if you want to call it that) is that the only study notes are all related to Lewis's works. So you won't be getting any serious commentary.
Those are the only two study Bibles I know enough about to recommend them. I typically try to stay away from study Bibles, as they are generally extremely biased.
If you want to do some serious Bible study, I would recommend just getting a plain old Bible, either RSV, NRSV, or NASB, with a single column style so you've got room to make notes etc. Then grab yourself some good commentaries. I'd recommend getting the IVP Old Testament and New Testament Background commentaries for pretty great socio-historical commentary. For anything else, check out bestcommentaries.com for recommendations for each individual book (I don't recommend buying sets generally, as they can be very hit or miss).
I also highly recommend the book Bible Study that Works, which is a very approachable introduction to Inductive Bible Study method, and will be extremely helpful in understanding how to read the text and study it properly.
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