Introduction to the Baker Illustrated Study Bible

We pray this exciting study Bible encourages your hunger to know the Word of God, for there are few things more important in life than a knowledge of God’s Word. In the pages of the Bible, we come to know God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The goal of this study Bible is to satisfy your hunger for God’s Word while increasing your appetite for more. It presents the best of biblical scholarship in a way that we hope you find enjoyable and interesting. We trust this innovative, fully illustrated study Bible will help you interpret and apply the Bible and will draw you closer to the Lord. In it you will find fascinating insights into God’s Word and the world in which it was written.

You will get the most out of your study Bible if you are intentional about your study and do it with a purpose. The Baker Illustrated Study Bible contains a whole range of features meant to enhance your reading of God’s Word.

Start with the Bible. God has revealed himself to us in his written Word, the Bible. It’s truly a privilege to be able to come to God’s Word to connect to the living God and to encounter the good news of Jesus Christ.

Because the biblical text is the most important part of the Baker Illustrated Study Bible, we encourage you to start all of your studies by prayerfully reading the Word. We are thrilled to publish a study Bible based on the Christian Standard Bible, a highly readable, highly reliable text.

Connect to the Big Picture. This study Bible is filled with features to help you study the Bible in a way that is relevant to you personally. Once you’ve read the text, it is good to get a deeper understanding of how it fits into the larger context of God’s Word. Here are a few places to start.

•  How to Read, Interpret, and Apply the Bible. See page xxxviii for helpful guidance on how to study the Bible and apply it to your life.

•  The Grand Story of the Bible. See page xxxvi for an overview of the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation.

•  Section Introductions. The introductions to each section of the Bible (the Pentateuch, the Historical Writings, the Poetic Books, the Prophetic Books, the Gospels and Acts, and the Letters and Revelation) explain the ideas that shape each section of Scripture.

•  Book Introductions. Book introductions provide an overview of each book’s message, key background information, and an outline.

Read the Study Notes. The information-rich, section-by-section study notes are the driving force of the Baker Illustrated Study Bible. They offer fascinating insights into the Scriptures and the world in which they were written. The study notes are structured according to the outline for each book to show you how each passage fits into God’s unfolding plan. Verse-by-verse details are brought into a coherent whole to illuminate the meaning of each passage.

Dig Deeper. Beyond the study notes that are directly connected with the text you are studying, the Baker Illustrated Study Bible has a whole network of features to help you broaden your study and deepen your understanding.

•  Articles. There are more than 150 articles on important concepts and critical questions spread throughout the Bible. The list of articles provides a great way to navigate these substantive resources.

•  Definitions. More than 450 clear and accurate definitions of key words provide meaning and background for people, places, and ideas. The list of definitions essentially puts a Bible dictionary at your fingertips.

•  Connections. The connections draw attention to significant themes and emphasize the unity of God’s Word by noting connections between passages.

•  Cross-References. The extensive cross-reference system discloses a whole web of connections within the Bible and will help you find related passages to illuminate a word or idea.

•  Concordance. The concordance is an alphabetical guide to key words in the Bible. It will help you find familiar passages, do word studies, and follow biblical themes.

Supplement Your Understanding with Visual Material. The Bible text and study materials are generously supplemented by visual material to provide new perspectives and bring the world of the Bible to life.

•  Maps. More than 100 full-color maps orient you to key geographical connections. Use the list of maps to find one of the many maps that may help make sense of the way the text connects to the land. An index of maps also helps you find specific locations in the carefully selected reference maps collected in the back of the Bible.

•  Photos, figures, and artists’ reconstructions. Hundreds of full-color images, illustrations, figures, and artists’ reconstructions fire the imagination, bring the world of the Bible to life, and help organize key information in a way that is easily understandable. The lists of figures and artists’ reconstructions will help you navigate these resources.

•  Time lines. Exhaustive time lines connect key people and events in the Bible with one another and with events in the ancient world.

These study materials include contributions from more than two hundred evangelical Christian scholars who are experts in their fields, writing for students, teachers, pastors, and laypeople. In all, this Bible includes more than one million words of study material to help you understand and apply the life-changing message of God’s Word.

The contributors were selected based on their commitment to the Bible as the Word of God and their knowledge of the biblical text, not for their denominational point of view. The editors did not impose uniformity where multiple views exist among evangelical scholars. The contributors are bound together by an absolute fidelity to the Bible as the Word of God. We trust you will find this to be a great strength of this study Bible that will take you deeper into God’s Word.

We applaud you for your hunger to study the Word of God and draw closer to the Lord, because we share that same desire. May you discover how each part of the Bible reveals God’s overarching purposes and gain a clearer understanding of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation. We trust that the Baker Illustrated Study Bible will help you on your way to deeper knowledge of the Word of God and greater clarity, purpose, and meaning as you seek to follow Jesus.