Congratulations on your purchase of the NIV Study Bible. You have in your hands a comprehensive, multiuse tool that has been designed specifically to enhance your understanding of and appreciation for God’s Word.
About the NIV Study Bible
Most of the team of evangelical scholars who wrote and edited notes for the NIV Study Bible also served on the translation team for the New International Version translation itself. Since the release of the NIV Study Bible in 1985, its editors have diligently worked to revise the notes to provide readers with the most up-to-date, relevant study notes available today. Find out more about the New International Version itself by reading the Preface.
What Is a Study Bible?
A study Bible contains the full text of the Bible, along with a library of study features to help the reader more completely grasp, understand, and apply what the text is saying. These notes introduce and explain a wide variety of background information to the biblical text, providing deeper insights for individuals who are ready to devote themselves to serious study of the text.
What Help Do These Study Features Offer Me?
For a full discussion of each of these features—and others—see the Introduction.
▸ Book introductions answer the Who? What? Where? Why? and When? questions readers have about the Bible’s 66 books.
▸ Cross references aid in deeper study of themes or concepts by leading readers to related passages on the same or similar themes.
▸ Over 21,000 study notes have been placed close to the text that they amplify and explain. These have been designed to provide background and context to the Scripture text and will also answer questions that may arise as one reads through the Bible.
▸ Full-color in-text maps, charts and models, along with well-crafted articles, summarize and explain important information and ideas from Scripture.
▸ The Index to Notes directs readers’ attention to study notes, book introductions, articles and charts where information about various subjects can be found.
▸ The NIV Concordance is a tool designed to help readers who remember a key word or phrase in a passage to locate the verses they are looking for. Words and names are listed alphabetically, along with their more significant verse references.
▸ Fourteen full-color maps at the end of this study Bible help readers to visualize the geographic context of what they are studying. The maps are supplemented by a complete map index.
Why not go ahead and spend a few minutes trying out each of these features? If you’re like most readers, certain helps will catch your interest and eventually become trusted resources as you spend time with your Bible. May God bless you as you study and come to understand the timeless truths of the Bible as priceless treasures for today.