# I stole a bible tonight!



## ZackF (Dec 22, 2016)

Well okay not really.... A great deal though! RHB has the Dollaro RH KJV Study Bible on sale for $48 plus 1.99 media shipping. I've been kicking this around over a year and finally pulled the trigger after so many saints have been edified by this study bible. Couldn't pass this up.


----------



## Ask Mr. Religion (Dec 22, 2016)

Nice. Make sure you hold onto the card that is enclosed with particulars granting you access to the online version: https://holybible.com/rhkjvsb


----------



## TylerRay (Dec 22, 2016)

Very nice. I was told by Dr. Beeke when he was in town for a conference that the bumped bibles were in fine condition--only the box is slightly damaged. This can be a good way to get one for a great price.

NOTE: I don't know if the same applies to the hardbacks. It is true for the leather and leather-like ones, though.


----------



## Dachaser (Dec 22, 2016)

Zack, That was a very good deal on that bible, was it in genuine leather?
And that is version by Dr Beeke, correct?


----------



## Beezer (Dec 22, 2016)

I own this version in goatskin and was reading from it over a cup of coffee this morning.

I love everything about this study Bible. Just a wonderful resource.


----------



## ZackF (Dec 22, 2016)

Dachaser said:


> Zack, That was a very good deal on that bible, was it in genuine leather?
> And that is version by Dr Beeke, correct?



Yes in both accounts. The leather grade is between the base "genuine" and the higher grades. I wanted it to be nice but I'm hard on books. When this price came around in this style I was compelled and strangely warmed to buy it!


----------



## jw (Dec 22, 2016)

This may be a stupid question, but none of the sample pages were from the Gospels . . . no red letter text, right?


----------



## ZackF (Dec 22, 2016)

Joshua said:


> This may be a stupid question, but none of the sample pages were from the Gospels . . . no red letter text, right?



Dunno for sure, I hope not. It wouldn't have been a deal breaker anyway so I didn't bother finding out. I'd sure like an AV without them.


----------



## ZackF (Dec 22, 2016)

Will do!


----------



## Pilgrim (Dec 22, 2016)

Joshua said:


> This may be a stupid question, but none of the sample pages were from the Gospels . . . no red letter text, right?



That's right. It does not have red letter text. (The horror!) 

It does not have cross references either, which some may want in a Study Bible. Given the stated purpose of this one is toward family and private worship, I don't think the omission is a big deal and it keeps the size down and the print larger. I was surprised to see that it has as many notes as it does.


----------



## Pilgrim (Dec 22, 2016)

I'm tempted to get this because they are having them printed by Jongbloed now. Mine is from the first print run and is made in the USA. (When I got mine, the website was months from being finished.) The quality of mine is not bad, but I've heard the quality of the newer ones is a bit better. I think the paper is supposed to be better. There are a handful of errors in the notes that have also been corrected. Jongbloed is the printer that makes most of not all of R.L. Allan's Bibles as well as some if not all of Schuyler's. I'd think the durability would be a bit better although I haven't had any problems yet. 

I don't think I've ever heard of "Dollaro Leather" before. My guess is that it is closer to Calfskin than it is to the usual "Genuine Leather." Mine is Genuine Leather and I'd expect this to be better than mine. It looks like the "Dollaro" basically replaced the Genuine Leather and the Vachetta replaced the Montana Calfskin.


----------



## Dachaser (Dec 22, 2016)

Chris, do you know if there are the same notes as in the "standard" HRB than?

I looked through it in the store, looks really nice, reminded me of the Westminister reference bible with study notes!


----------



## ZackF (Dec 23, 2016)

Pilgrim said:


> I'm tempted to get this because they are having them printed by Jongbloed now. Mine is from the first print run and is made in the USA. (When I got mine, the website was months from being finished.) The quality of mine is not bad, but I've heard the quality of the newer ones is a bit better. I think the paper is supposed to be better. There are a handful of errors in the notes that have also been corrected. Jongbloed is the printer that makes most of not all of R.L. Allan's Bibles as well as some if not all of Schuyler's. I'd think the durability would be a bit better although I haven't had any problems yet.
> 
> I don't think I've ever heard of "Dollaro Leather" before. My guess is that it is closer to Calfskin than it is to the usual "Genuine Leather." Mine is Genuine Leather and I'd expect this to be better than mine. It looks like the "Dollaro" basically replaced the Genuine Leather and the Vachetta replaced the Montana Calfskin.



When I get it I'll snap some pics and post them here.


----------



## Pilgrim (Dec 23, 2016)

Dachaser said:


> Chris, do you know if there are the same notes as in the "standard" HRB than?
> 
> I looked through it in the store, looks really nice, reminded me of the Westminister reference bible with study notes!



This post makes reference to the two changes. http://www.joelbeeke.org/2015/04/update-on-the-reformation-heritage-KJV-study-bible/


----------



## ZackF (Dec 24, 2016)

Pilgrim said:


> Dachaser said:
> 
> 
> > Chris, do you know if there are the same notes as in the "standard" HRB than?
> ...



Yes. Thanks for reminding folks. If you are looking for a deal on Ebay or elsewhere, I'd make sure it is of the second edition. I almost bought the first edition when it came out but when it was mentioned (HT Rev. Winzer), almost as an aside, that certain errors would be corrected. I held off arguably for too long. As I understand they've used an entirely different press on this latest run.


----------



## Beezer (Dec 24, 2016)

Pilgrim said:


> I'm tempted to get this because they are having them printed by Jongbloed now. Mine is from the first print run and is made in the USA. (When I got mine, the website was months from being finished.) The quality of mine is not bad, but I've heard the quality of the newer ones is a bit better. I think the paper is supposed to be better.



I had a hardcover copy of the first print run and the paper quality was really lacking in my opinion. The bleed through was a major distraction to me and I eventually stopped using it. However, the goatskin copy I picked up is from the Jongbloed printed 2nd edition and the quality is on par with an R.L. Allan, Cambridge, Schuyler. The only thing I was rather disappointed by were the ribbons. The goatskin binding and the paper quality are first-class, but the ribbons are of the thin/skinny variety instead of the nicer thick ribbons you find in one of the big three above. All in all it's a great Bible! It'll last me a lifetime. Highly recommend picking up one of the Jongbloed ones.


----------



## RobertBruce (Dec 27, 2016)

Mine arrived today. I was pleased when Zack shared this deal and purchased one. I'm very glad I did. I pretty much plan on replacing my previous Bible with this new one. From what I've seen so far, this would be a Bible I'd heartily recommend if you're wondering about getting one - and the sale price was great!


----------



## ZackF (Dec 27, 2016)

RobertBruce said:


> Mine arrived today. I was pleased when Zack shared this deal and purchased one. I'm very glad I did. I pretty much plan on replacing my previous Bible with this new one. From what I've seen so far, this would be a Bible I'd heartily recommend if you're wondering about getting one - and the sale price was great!



Hey buddy! Mine still isn't here. You must have sprung for the faster shipping. I'm glad to hear you're not disappointed.


----------



## RobertBruce (Dec 27, 2016)

Actually, I just paid the 1.99 or whatever it is. Still, it's worth the wait!


----------



## Dachaser (Dec 28, 2016)

David, how would you rate the leather quality/paper quality?


----------



## RobertBruce (Dec 28, 2016)

I've never owned a Schuyler or an Allan or anything expensive, so I may be easy to please, but I like the leather. The grain is very pronounced. I probably prefer something a little less obvious visually, but once I hold it in my hand, all that goes away. The leather is firm without being stiff, and I find that the extra graininess provides great grip and it really feels secure in my hand. 

I think the paper is better than the average bible. I'm a little color blind, but the paper seems white and clean to me without being the sort of photocopier white you can get. I seems a little thicker to me than the normal pages I see in study bibles. I have nerve damage in my right hand and have always been tough on pages as I tend to not have the tactile feedback required for a light touch, so this paper seems a whole lot better in my hand. It's a bit 'slick' if I can describe it that way, but the extra firmness lets me overcome that pretty quickly. The printing is pretty good, given it's not a multi-volume vellum printing, but it is clear enough and not very 'muddy' at all with the text from the next page. The binding seems great and it opens nicely flat on my desk and in my hand from the very first page. I wish the book block itself was as rounded as the leather spine is, since it has that 'gap' between the spine and the book, but I know that adds to cost and the fact that the spine is nicely rounded at all is a plus to me.

I've had a few bibles over the years and have been moving progressively back to the KJV. I find the language fits my aging brain. There's a little more lyrical cadence to the language that helps me remember it better than, say, the more modern reading that ESV offers, and I find having to slow down a little to comprehend it is very helpful to me to not read it like all other media. It's not laborious at all, it's just a tiny lag.

All in all, I plan on using it as my working Bible for the foreseeable future.


----------



## Pilgrim (Dec 30, 2016)

ZackF said:


> Yes. Thanks for reminding folks. If you are looking for a deal on Ebay or elsewhere, I'd make sure it is of the second edition. I almost bought the first edition when it came out but when it was mentioned (HT Rev. Winzer), almost as an aside, that certain errors would be corrected. I held off arguably for too long. As I understand they've used an entirely different press on this latest run.



When I saw mention of the printing errors, which I hadn't noticed, I thought half seriously of asking for a refund! The new ones are being printed by Jongbloed, although I don't know that it has anything to do with the errors.



Beezer said:


> I had a hardcover copy of the first print run and the paper quality was really lacking in my opinion. The bleed through was a major distraction to me and I eventually stopped using it. However, the goatskin copy I picked up is from the Jongbloed printed 2nd edition and the quality is on par with an R.L. Allan, Cambridge, Schuyler. The only thing I was rather disappointed by were the ribbons. The goatskin binding and the paper quality are first-class, but the ribbons are of the thin/skinny variety instead of the nicer thick ribbons you find in one of the big three above. All in all it's a great Bible! It'll last me a lifetime. Highly recommend picking up one of the Jongbloed ones.



Other than the errors, (which have been corrected in the electronic editions that I already have access to) the paper is the main reason why I'd consider this edition. I wouldn't say that the paper in the first edition has worse ghosting than the norm these days (I've seen a Schuyler edition with worse) but it certainly leaves something to be desired. I think part of the problem is that some of the print in the study notes is bolder than the text itself. And I'd prefer the print to be somewhat bigger without the Bible itself being much bigger. Readability is the main reason why I haven't used this Bible nearly as much as I had anticipated.


----------



## ZackF (Dec 31, 2016)

Alright. I received my bible a couple of days ago and have a few pics to share. First off, no regrets! No buyers remorse! After I've had more time to use it and I get a small tripod, I'll do a video review and post it here. Until then....

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Edm (Jan 1, 2017)

I bought the electronic version a year or so ago and enjoy it. I ordered this one last night because it was a great sounding deal. I look forward to receiving it. I'm on edge of those strange people who would rather have a solid Bible at church as opposed to an iPad.


----------



## RobertBruce (Jan 1, 2017)

Edm said:


> I bought the electronic version a year or so ago and enjoy it. I ordered this one last night because it was a great sounding deal. I look forward to receiving it. I'm on edge of those strange people who would rather have a solid Bible at church as opposed to an iPad.



I don't think you'll regret it. 

I've gone back and forth on physical vs electronic over the past year or so. I think I've made peace with prefering a book. eBooks are marvellous and I love reading for fun on my tablet - but to do any real reading, the real world object just works better for me.


----------



## RobertPGH1981 (Jan 5, 2017)

I ended up purchasing the Hardcover version of the book. I really like the study notes and the 'Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship" section. I actually noticed that Reformation Heritage Books released the Personal / Family Worship as a separate book. 

Check it out:

http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/family-worship-bible-guide-hardcover.html

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## ZackF (Jan 5, 2017)

RobertPGH1981 said:


> I ended up purchasing the Hardcover version of the book. I really like the study notes and the 'Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship" section. I actually noticed that Reformation Heritage Books released the Personal / Family Worship as a separate book.
> 
> Check it out:
> 
> http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/family-worship-bible-guide-hardcover.html




Right. I've seen ads for that. If the guide is essentially the same as the notes in the RHSB then I'm not interested.


----------



## Tyrese (Jan 6, 2017)

I just purchased the calfski edition of the Westminster Reference Bible about a month ago. The funny thing is I own a couple goatskin NKJV bibles and yet the Westminster Reference Bible is my favorite; and it was less than half the price of the goatskin bibles. Had I known how wonderful the Westminster KJV was I would have saved all my bucks and would have been satisfied with the Westminster. Thought I'd add this bit of information since the Westminster is still the best KJV Bible available.


----------



## Tyrese (Jan 6, 2017)

Btw, TBS just released a Reformation edition of the Westminster for those who are interested.

http://www.tbsbibles.org/shop.php?s...sOTw+dWcnIzEkPXZ6KSNhajstY3YiPnFiMyBseCc/YnY6

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## ZackF (Jan 6, 2017)

I wished there were more specifics about the reformational content on the site. Are there any TBS insiders here that can help?

In the next year or so I'll probably be looking into their Windsor edition. My cheap text only Nelson is getting raggedy.


----------



## Edm (Jan 6, 2017)

Mine came in today. It is in perfect shape and Ives been much more able to enjoy it than I was the e edition, which I also liked.


----------



## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 6, 2017)

ZackF said:


> I wished there were more specifics about the reformational content on the site. Are there any TBS insiders here that can help?



This:
https://goo.gl/kPeVxv

It is Reformational in the sense it was released to celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation. It contains no Confessions or Reformed specific references.


----------



## ZackF (Jan 6, 2017)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> This:
> https://goo.gl/kPeVxv
> 
> It is Reformational in the sense it was released to celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation. It contains no Confessions or Reformed specific references.



Thank you. I see the listing doesn't elucidate on the "information regarding the Reformation" and so it must be minimal. No doubt the workmanship with be high quality though.


----------



## ZackF (Jan 6, 2017)

Edm said:


> Mine came in today. It is in perfect shape and Ives been much more able to enjoy it than I was the e edition, which I also liked.



Excellent. My tripod (a glorified selfie stick) came in and so I hope to do my review in the next few days. I hope to fill a gap as the YouTube reviews I've seen are of the higher end versions or the base model hardcover edition.


----------



## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 7, 2017)

ZackF said:


> Thank you. I see the listing doesn't elucidate on the "information regarding the Reformation" and so it must be minimal. No doubt the workmanship with be high quality though.


Probably the best Reformational bible published was Pratt's edited _NIV Spirit of the Reformation_ _Study Bible_. It is very hard to find and included all the Confessions with notes and links to the Confessions along with the usual cross references and plenty of articles on Reformed doctrines. It used to be online: http://thirdmill.org/studybible/ and ebook versions are available if one looks hard enough.

If you find one, expect to pay a handsome price for the leather versions, despite the NIV translation. The Ligonier Reformation Study Bibles came out of this initial collaboration between Pratt and Sproul. Ligonier's RSB is nice, but never has come up to the same level of depth in articles and notes that the SOTRSB possesses.

To compensate, and not wanting to ruin my leather SOTRSB, I found a hardbound version, removed all the Confessions and placed them in my own KJV reference bible, along with spending quite a bit of time making handwritten notes from all the other content in the SOTRSB to my bible. That took almost a year of effort off and on. I am currently annotating (about 15 minutes every other day or so) my personal bible with all the WCF chapter and paragraph proof texts. It has taken three years and I am only up to chapter 12.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Dachaser (Jan 7, 2017)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> Probably the best Reformational bible published was Pratt's edited _NIV Spirit of the Reformation_ _Study Bible_. It is very hard to find and included all the Confessions with notes and links to the Confessions along with the usual cross references and plenty of articles on Reformed doctrines. It used to be online: http://thirdmill.org/studybible/ and ebook versions are available if one looks hard enough.
> 
> If you find one, expect to pay a handsome price for the leather versions, despite the NIV translation. The Ligonier Reformation Study Bibles came out of this initial collaboration between Pratt and Sproul. Ligonier's RSB is nice, but never has come up to the same level of depth in articles and notes that the SOTRSB possesses.
> 
> To compensate, and not wanting to ruin my leather SOTRSB, I found a hardbound version, removed all the Confessions and placed them in my own KJV reference bible, along with spending quite a bit of time making handwritten notes from all the other content in the SOTRSB to my bible. That took almost a year of effort off and on. I am currently annotating (about 15 minutes every other day or so) my personal bible with all the WCF chapter and paragraph proof texts. It has taken three years and I am only up to chapter 12.


 I wished that I was thinking in Reformed thoughts earlier in my walk with Christ, as a local bookstore was going out of business years ago, and had 50 % of all Bibles in stock, they had a genuine leather edition of that bible, for $40.00! Also had a genuine Cambridge leather 1881 edition for same price!


----------



## Edm (Jan 7, 2017)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> Probably the best Reformational bible published was Pratt's edited _NIV Spirit of the Reformation_ _Study Bible_. It is very hard to find and included all the Confessions with notes and links to the Confessions along with the usual cross references and plenty of articles on Reformed doctrines. It used to be online: http://thirdmill.org/studybible/ and ebook versions are available if one looks hard enough.
> 
> If you find one, expect to pay a handsome price for the leather versions, despite the NIV translation. The Ligonier Reformation Study Bibles came out of this initial collaboration between Pratt and Sproul. Ligonier's RSB is nice, but never has come up to the same level of depth in articles and notes that the SOTRSB possesses.
> 
> To compensate, and not wanting to ruin my leather SOTRSB, I found a hardbound version, removed all the Confessions and placed them in my own KJV reference bible, along with spending quite a bit of time making handwritten notes from all the other content in the SOTRSB to my bible. That took almost a year of effort off and on. I am currently annotating (about 15 minutes every other day or so) my personal bible with all the WCF chapter and paragraph proof texts. It has taken three years and I am only up to chapter 12.



AMR, that is amazingly in-depth. That is quite the undertaking. I looked at the attachment...I am in awe of your dedication and knowledge.


----------



## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 7, 2017)

Kind words, Ed. Feel free to use the text file as an insert in your own bible for your personal studies.


----------



## Pilgrim (Jan 7, 2017)

There was an ebook version (i.e. MOBI, epub, and/or some similar format) of the NIV SOTR available for a while, but for some reason it doesn't appear to be available anymore. Laridian Electronic Publishing still does have it available. The advantage of that format is that you can use it with any translation.


----------



## ZackF (Jan 8, 2017)

Here is my video review of the bible.

In the raw video the text is much more clear. I'm quite the amateur. I apologize for the blurriness.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Dachaser (Jan 10, 2017)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> Probably the best Reformational bible published was Pratt's edited _NIV Spirit of the Reformation_ _Study Bible_. It is very hard to find and included all the Confessions with notes and links to the Confessions along with the usual cross references and plenty of articles on Reformed doctrines. It used to be online: http://thirdmill.org/studybible/ and ebook versions are available if one looks hard enough.
> 
> If you find one, expect to pay a handsome price for the leather versions, despite the NIV translation. The Ligonier Reformation Study Bibles came out of this initial collaboration between Pratt and Sproul. Ligonier's RSB is nice, but never has come up to the same level of depth in articles and notes that the SOTRSB possesses.
> 
> To compensate, and not wanting to ruin my leather SOTRSB, I found a hardbound version, removed all the Confessions and placed them in my own KJV reference bible, along with spending quite a bit of time making handwritten notes from all the other content in the SOTRSB to my bible. That took almost a year of effort off and on. I am currently annotating (about 15 minutes every other day or so) my personal bible with all the WCF chapter and paragraph proof texts. It has taken three years and I am only up to chapter 12.


 The revised and current Reformation Study Bible edited by RC Sproul is now pretty close to this version, correct?


----------



## Pilgrim (Jan 14, 2017)

Dachaser said:


> The revised and current Reformation Study Bible edited by RC Sproul is now pretty close to this version, correct?



The updated Ligonier version added the confessions and beefed up the study notes. I don't have that one. AMR would be able to give a better comparison, assuming he has the new Ligonier edition. 

The articles will be one difference. The first edition of the New Geneva/Reformation Study Bible had 66 articles by J.I. Packer that were later published separately as "Concise Theology." The NIV SOTR replaced some of them with new articles that many found to be helpful. Thirdmill (Richard Pratt & co who produced it) thought that some of the original articles were redundant with the addition of the confessions and catechisms and so decided to remove some of them and replace them with some others.

(For legal reasons that I've never quite grasped, Thirdmill/Luder Whitlock and Ligonier/Sproul both ended up with rights to the original New Geneva Study Bible that was originally published in 1995 or so, (and later renamed the Reformation Study Bible) with Whitlock and Thirdmill revising it and putting out the NIV edition in 2003. Thirdmill has said that Zondervan and Luder Whitlock own the rights to the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible and that (from what I understand) there are no prospects of it being reissued at this point.)


----------



## ZackF (Jan 14, 2017)

Dachaser said:


> The revised and current Reformation Study Bible edited by RC Sproul is now pretty close to this version, correct?



I'm interested in the NKJV of that eventually. NKJV wasn't available in the last edition of the Reformation Study Bible.


----------



## Pilgrim (Jan 31, 2017)

I finally bit the bullet and ordered one last week. It arrived today.

There is indeed a market improvement in the quality of the paper. I ordered a TBS Westminster Reference at the same time. They both use similar if not identical creme colored paper, which makes for easier reading. If anything, the paper in the RHB is a bit thicker. I'll have to wait and see, but I may be tempted to make it my "main" Bible for a while. (If I do, that will make me wonder why I ordered the Westminster since the apparatus appears to be available online and I'm actually supposed to be downsizing my library.) The Dollaro Leather cover is also a bit thicker than my first run Genuine Leather.

I was however surprised to see that the copyright page indicates that this edition of the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible was printed in the USA despite the fact that it has been reported several times (including on the current page on RHB's website) that it is now being printed in the Netherlands by Jongbloed. Perhaps they simply didn't change the copyright page? Does anyone have one that indicates that it is printed in the Netherlands? 

For those thinking of ordering, RHB has free media mail shipping for orders over $50. So you may want to take advantage of that and order something else of interest rather than paying the aforementioned $1.99 for postage, (which is their postage rate for orders of $25-49.99) even though that is also a great deal. They have a lot of small books that are $5 or less.


----------



## ZackF (Jan 31, 2017)

Pilgrim said:


> I was however surprised to see that the copyright page indicates that this edition of the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible was printed in the USA despite the fact that it has been reported several times (including on the current page on RHB's website) that it is now being printed in the Netherlands by Jongbloed. Perhaps they simply didn't change the copyright page? Does anyone have one that indicates that it is printed in the Netherlands?



Interesting. I never noticed that. Mine says "printed in USA" also. The Dollaro leather binding wasn't used in the first edition either. My version does indeed have the Romans 6:1-4 note change. So it has the second edition corrections. Like you I'd be curious if anyone has one indicating that it is Dutch printed.


----------

