The King James Study Bible, Imitation Leather, Brown, Indexed, Full-Color Edition

A little information about myself before I begin my review. I do not consider myself a Bible Scholar, but I have been teaching Bible studies for over 13 years and I do read/study the Bible on a daily basis. I have read the Bible completely through more times than I remember and I just finished the New Testament two days ago. I own over 40 study Bibles and I use them as a one stop resource for lesson preparation or just personal study. Because I own so many study Bibles, I can write a knowledgeable comparative review.This review will be a comparison between the Holman KJV Full Color Study Bible and the King James Study Bible Full Color by Thomas Nelson. In my opinion, these are the two best KJV study options on the market today. You can't go wrong ordering either one, but I do want to advise you on the differences/similarities.Most concerns would be doctrinal teaching in the footnotes/articles so I will begin here.KJV Nelson: I would consider the doctrinal approach to be conservative scholarship with a particular emphasis on scriptural authority, the doctrine of unconditional eternal security, the doctrine of the trinity and divinity of Jesus Christ. While I do not see eye to eye on some doctrinal points, I do appreciate the respect for scripture (minus the note on Mark 16) and the straight forward approach of the notes from a doctrinal standpoint. There is no beating around the bush here. They are not afraid to state what they believe. If you do not agree with the above mentioned doctrines; then you will read things in the notes that you do not agree with.KJV Holman: The Holman Study Bible takes a stand-off approach to divisive issues. As Southern Baptists they do believe in baptism by immersion and the notes tend to lean towards the essentiality of baptism, but they do not state this as a matter of fact. Gifts of the Spirit are also discussed but a clear position cannot be determined by the footnotes. Orthodox positions are clearly presented, but any other doctrines are mentioned, but no sides are taken.Now let's discuss the quality of the footnotes:KJV Nelson: The notes in the Nelson Bible are not so much verse by verse as they usually discuss themes rather than an in depth study of verses. The New Testament footnotes are more extensive than the Old Testament. Large passages in the Old Testament contain no commentary at all. While I understand no commentary in Leviticus and Lamentations; I do not understand the small amounts of commentary in Judges and 1 and 2 Samuel. There are some beautiful passages in these books! However, much of the commentary is quite good. In particular, Matthew is excellent.KJV Holman: If we were only comparing commentary, the Holman would be the clear winner. This is a verse by verse commentary and even the Old Testament commentary is extensive and in depth. Some of the notes are packed with background and doctrine while others merely illuminate the meaning of the text. I love much of the commentary in the Holman and when I need help determining meaning or am searching for cultural information; the Holman KJV Study Bible is likely to be the first study resource that I look at.Presentation:KJV Nelson: Visually; this is the most beautiful Bible I have ever seen. The full color photographs, paintings, illustrations and maps are fantastic for aiding one in picturing the events of the Bible. I really love the feel of the paper as well and ghosting is hardly noticeable. Perhaps its greatest feature is the full color maps. As far as the leather, I own the Brown Leathersoft and it is the most beautiful leathersoft Bible I have ever seen! It is stitched on both sides and says King James Study Bible on the front in two tones. It is sown binding and feels like it will last for a long time. The gold edging is also very nice. This is also a lay flat edition and I have proven this to be true. If you lay it on a desk, it will not slam shut in Genesis like the Holman. Even Genesis one lays flat!KJV Holman: This Bible is also incredible in its full color presentation. Gold edging has held up (I have owned this Bible since 2013) and the binding is also sown. The two tone simulated leather edition is incredible in its beauty. The full color aspect is best in the illustrations and photographs. There are charts sprinkled throughout and the articles are given a gold backdrop.If I had to pick a favorite for presentation, I would go with the Nelson, but only with a slight edge. That would be a tough call.Special features:KJV Nelson: The notes add up to over 5,700 and they are good for the most part. A little more basic in its approach, the Nelson doesn't put all emphasis in its study notes. Instead, there are over 200 doctrinal notes separate from the commentary that aide in understanding doctrines of orthodox Christianity. There are also over 100 archeological notes with full color photographs. This is one of the greatest features of the Nelson. I find the archeological notes to be extremely helpful in study. There are also over one hundred personality profiles that highlight characters in scripture. While this adds to the Bible and some profiles are good; they are very basic (unlike the Life Application Study Bible which is the king in this area) and only slightly informative. I believe that the single greatest feature of this Bible (beside the text itself) is the indexes in the back of the Bible and the fantastic large print concordance. Of all the Study Bibles that I own, this is the best concordance. It also includes Strongs numbers and small definitions. There are a handful of full color maps in the back of the Bible that are decent. The in text maps are more helpful. The book introductions are fairly extensive (nowhere close to the ESV Study Bible) and helpful.KJV Holman: Where do I start? This Bible is packed with information. The footnotes probably amount to over 15,000 (much more than Nelson) and they are the primary feature. However, the full color photographs make for a visual experience that draws you into the text. One of my favorite features in the Holman is the illustrations (Noah's Ark, the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, Solomon's temple, the priestly garments). There are plenty of awesome full color maps and charts (the charts are more in number than Nelson). The articles are also a nice feature. The book introductions are fantastic. Though there are Study Bibles with longer intros, the Holman has a nice balance of information and presentation. I would give the nod to the Holman over the Nelson in book introductions. Other features are a King's English glossary of terms, one-year to three-year Bible reading plans, two ribbon markers (Nelson only has one) and a small concordance in the back (small print and not anywhere as extensive as the Nelson).Overall vote on features? I would say the Holman might win by a hair, but both of them are packed with special features.Print size and readability:KJV Nelson: This is where the Nelson really shines. 10 point print and beautiful typeface. It is red letter and the red letter is the best I have seen. The commentary is also readable. I don't even have to wear my glasses to read this Bible.KJV Holman: The text and notes are readable. I would guess the print size is 9.5 or 10 with 8 for the notes. It is red letter, but it is a little brighter than I prefer. However, it is readable.Overall:So which would I pick between the two? Overall...I'm not sure. Both are wonderful in presentation, design, information and readability. If I were you, I would buy both of them. Which one would I get first? I would probably get the one that is on sale. You can't go wrong either way.

Wife has been using kjv her whole life we have several but she got into teaching it and she loves it, opens her mind in more detail and other ways of finding things out to get a depth of it more when she teaches.

Just as I wanted it

Want a good bible I suggest this on very easy to read and breaks things down great for the price

This is probably one of the most beautiful study Bibles I've ever seen. It is a bit heavy, but there is a lot of info in it. The only reason I'm not giving it a 5 star is because there are not any markings (my other study Bible had an * at the end of a paragraph that had a annotation at the bottom) indicating there is are annotations at the bottom of the page. Also, for other footnotes, profiles etc...there isn't any type of notation in the paragraphs indicating these are there. So you almost have to read all the notes at the bottom of the page before actually reading the Bible chapter. Still a beautiful Bible.***Note...I've hi-lighted the above verses and footnotes, so you can see what I mean about there not being any markings to tie paragraphs and footnotes together.