Glimpse: New Geneva Study Bible NKJV

File this one under nostalgia. In my recent move, I discovered a box of older Bibles I haven't seen in a couple of years, including my original copy of the New Geneva Study Bible, the precursor to today's Reformation Study Bible. I bought it at a Ligonier Conference when they first came out. The layout was a turn-off, of course. Desktop publishing was still fresh back then, and people hadn't figured out that being able to put grayscale boxes behind everything was no excuse for actually doing it. Still, re-acquainting myself with the New Geneva, I'm impressed how pleasant the genuine leather of yesterday was. What happened in the last fifteen years? Did all the cows turn into cardboard?

This is a season of Study Bibles, with a new edition of the NIV SB out and both the NLT and ESV SBs waiting in the wings. Personally, I prefer wide-margin editions, which give you an opportunity to create your own study tool, but there's no denying the value of a good SB when it comes to ready reference. Although the notes may not be exhaustive, they offer a good starting point for finding the answers.

Another detail I like about the NGSB is the gold imprinting along the inside edge of the cover. That's a nice detail you don't see so often anymore.