CSB Study Bible, Hardcover, Red Letter, Study Notes and Commentary, Illustrations, Articles, Word Studies, Outlines, Timelines, Easy-to-Read Bible Serif Type

The CSB Study Bible is a revision of the HCSB Study Bible (which I've used for many years). I'm currently using the CSB and HCSB, and this CSB Study Bible on a weekly basis for Sunday school and Bible studies. Translation wise, the CSB is very similar to the HCSB since it is an updated revision of the HCSB -- both adopt the "optimal equivalence" approach to translation. It is a flexible approach where the translators determine the original meaning and purpose of the text but then translate certain passages word-for-word, and other passages may be translated in a way to bring out the meaning to the reader. This "optimal-equivalence" approach strives for fidelity to original language and readability.

In the CSB Study Bible, the publishers made the font more readable (approx. 10-12 font), and the study notes (approx. 8 font) are small yet readable. The publishers added colored photos and brief word studies of key words within the notes. The CSB notes look better than that of the HCSB Study Bible.

What is different:
There are new articles "Reading the Bible for Transformation" (Brian H. Cosby) and The Uniqueness of the Genesis Creation Story" (Kenneth A. Matthews) -- these articles were not in the HCSB Study Bible. Both the HCSB and the CSB study Bible have the articles "How to Read and Study the Bible" (George H. Guthrie) and "The Origin, Transmission, and Canonization of OT Books (Jeremy R. Howard)

Between Malachi and Matthew, there is a new article "Intertestamental History" which was not in the HCSB Study Bible. At the back of the Bible, after the book of Revelation, there is a new article "What Really Happened to the Apostles?" (Sean McDowell).

There are a lot more study notes at the bottom of each page compared to the HCSB Study Bible. The notes have been revised and expanded.

Other than these articles and the expanded study notes at the bottom, the content of the CSB Study Bible is very similar to that of the HCSB Study Bible. However, the print of the CSB Study Bible is much smaller than that of the HCSB Study Bible. For example, in both the CSB and HCSB Study Bibles, after Joshua 13, there is a helpful chart "Joshua's Cities of Conquest." In the CSB Study Bible, the chart is written in very small font (8 font) whereas in the HCSB Study Bible, the font is much bigger and the chart is spread across 2 pages.

The Translation (CSB)

Here is an overview of some good translations from the CSB / HCSB, and some constructive feedback of how the CSB/HCSB could have made "better" translations.

Good translations in both the CSB / HCSB:

Ps. 23:1 "The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need." This explains better the notion of the LORD being our sufficiency than the NKJV, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want." I also really liked the translation of the Hebrew word "chesed" as "faithful love". (cf. Psalm 23;6; Lam. 3:22):

"Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live." (Ps. 23:6)
"Because of the LORD's faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never end." (Lam. 3:22)

Also, I liked how the CSB/ HCSB translated the Greek word harpagmos ("to clutch or to snatch") in this way in Phil. 2:6 about Christ: "who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as SOMETHING TO BE EXPLOITED." The CSB's translation of harpagmos is much better than the NKJV's translation as "consider it robbery to be equal to God" (which may confuse people or give the wrong meaning of the Greek word).

The study notes for the CSB Study Bible:

The notes are excellent. Most of the translators of the CSB come from an evangelical premillennial viewpoint, and the study notes reflect that viewpoint. The writers of the study notes adhere to the inerrancy of Scripture, to the biblical view of the Trinity, to Christ being fully God and fully human, to salvation through faith alone in Christ, and to a premillennial understanding of eschatology / the books of Daniel and Revelation. The introductions to each book of the Bible provide a concise yet comprehensive overview of the book, explaining:

Circumstances of Writing
Message and Purpose
Contribution to the Bible
Structure
Outline of the Book

At the bottom of the page in the Introduction, there is also a historical overview of the book and how it fits within the chronological history within OT or NT times. Notable events and rulers in both OT and NT history are noted. Furthermore, there are key word studies of important biblical words juxtaposed with the excellent study notes at the bottom of each page.

Some constructive feedback:

In certain poetic passages in the Psalms, the CSB misses out on the beautiful Hebrew poetry and it interprets some of the passage. For example, one of my favorite passages in Psalm 139: 7-10 (ESV) reads: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." In verses 8-10, the CSB translation reads, "If I go up to heaven, you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me." The CSB, like the HCSB, interprets the beautiful poetic phrases "wings of the morning ... uttermost parts of the sea" as "eastern horizon" and "western limits", thus negating the beautiful Hebrew poetry. This was quite disappointing for me in the CSB. My suggestion: please leave the beautiful Hebrew poetic phrases intact in the translation, and explain the poetry in the notes at the bottom of each page in a footnote.

Another notable change in the CSB is that it translates the covenant name of God (YHWH) in the Old Testament consistently as "LORD." The HCSB alternated between translations of YHWH as "Yahweh" and "LORD." Personally, I wished the CSB retained the use of Yahweh, like the New Jerusalem Bible does.

The CSB and HCSB also have some awkward translations of several OT Scriptural passages, which I hope will be corrected in future revisions of the CSB. One such verse is Micah 6:8. The ESV reads "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" The CSB's / HCSB's translation reads, "Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God." You can be the judge of which translation is better. I prefer the ESV's translation. In addition, in the OT, both the CSB and the HCSB has the LORD saying, "This is the LORD's declaration" instead of "Thus declares the LORD" in other translations such as the ESV, NIV, or NASB (cf. Isaiah 43:10). When one reads passages such as Isaiah 43:10 aloud, the phrase "This is the LORD's declaration" sounds awkward compared to a simple "declares the LORD" (cf. ESV). Compare the 2 translations by reading it aloud: " 'You are my witnesses'" -- this is the LORD's declaration -- and my servant whom I have chosen,' and understand that I am he.." (Isaiah 43:10a CSB). Now read the ESV, "You are my witnesses,' declares the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he' " (Isaiah 43:10a ESV). When you read the 2 different translations aloud, the simple "declares the LORD" (ESV) makes for a much smoother reading, than the wooden and awkward phrase, "This is the LORD's declaration" (CSB / HCSB). The CSB translators should have revised the awkward, "translation English" renderings of the HCSB to make it sound smoother as an English translation. Most of the other Bible translations (e.g. NIV, ESV, NASB, NRSV) have smoother English translations of Micah 6:8 and Isaiah 43:10.

Is it worth it to buy the CSB Study Bible if you have the HCSB Study Bible? The only major differences are a couple of the introductory articles for the OT and some articles at the back on "What happened to the Apostles?" Most of the content are the same, except the standard version of the HCSB Study Bible provides much larger font and thus it is easier to read. In the CSB Study Bible, the study notes at the bottom of the page are much smaller than those in the HCSB Study Bible -- one has to squint to read the notes. Hopefully, in the future, the editors will make the font of the study notes larger so it's easier to read.

I hope this review will help you to discern whether it is worth it to purchase the CSB Study Bible. The HCSB Study Bible earned the Evangelical Christian Book Award in 2011 for Best Study Bible. The CSB Study Bible will most likely receive similar accolades.

[[VIDEOID:ca81a7a5c169e5f10c286d59ea2ec7df]] STATS
ISBN: 1433648091 or 9781433648090.
Translation Base: HCSB 2009 revision. Masoretic OT and Alexandrian NT Texts.
Size: 9.4 x 7 x 2.1" (my measurements).
Text: Black and red. Orange and grey references. ~9 point scripture, ~7 point other. Some line matching.
Hardcover Colors: Tan and white. See pics.
Ribbons: 2, black and red, 1/4".
Denomination: Southern Baptist and others.
Maps: 8 Holman color maps, no index.
Glossary: None. HCSB feature dropped.
Scriptures: 2047 pages.
Concordance: 73 pages with people and places defined. 3 columns per page.
Total Pages: 2216 (my count).

SIZE
The CSB SB falls into the class of huge, heavy and comprehensive study Bibles, like the ESV SB, MacArthur SB and Nelson's NKJV SB. It is about a 100 pages longer (according to Amazon) than it's predecessor, the HCSB SB. See my measurements above to fit it for a Bible cover.

QUALITY Grade: C
The binding is smyth sewn and glued, so no pages should not come out for a long time. The 2 red and black ribbons are a nice touch. The first few pages were upside down, see my video. The text block is glued in crooked, page corners almost touch the bottom outer edges.

FORMATTING Grade: B
The page layout is clean and efficient. Each page has scripture headers, pericopes (section titles), cross references, translator footnotes and commentary. The 9 point serif font is dark, sharp and lap readable (2 mm tall capitals). The footnotes and cross references are much smaller sans-serif print, about 7 point. Typical ghosting (text see thru) is aided by the high end feature called line matching. Added words are not italicized. But OT quotes are bolded in the NT. The center column cross references have hard to distinguish grey verse headers, which were missing the LPUT CSB.

COMMENTARY Grade: B
The CSB SB has 3 columns of commentary with a light orange background. It has been reformatted and likely expanded from the HCSB SB. The best part about the commentary are the extras; charts, maps, pictures and word studies. Most verses have commentary below. As opposed to SBs that just have commentary on select theme passages, like the Apologetics, Ryrie, Scofield or Open SBs. Click on the Kindle preview (top Bible pic) to see the intro pages thru Genesis 31. Doctrine can vary from book to book in a commentary done by committee. Doctrine is more consistent and has more conviction in SBs with a name like Ryrie, Scofield or MacArthur. The Daniel commentary is premillennial (Dan. 7:18), since it is written by Michael Rydelnik (Moody Bible Commentary). After Revelation this article caught my eye, "What really happened to the apostles?" by Sean McDowell (Josh's son).

TRANSLATION Grade: C
The CSB reads smooth at a 7th grade level. The CSB leans more toward a thought-for-thought translation philosophy, than word-for-word. The footnotes are useful because they frequently have more literal alternative translations than the main text. Modern measurements (tons, feet...), instead of archaic ones (talents, cubits), are used. The manuscript footnotes are abundant and helpful in the OT ("DSS, LXX read..."), but vague in the NT ("Other mss add..."). The NT textual footnotes in the NKJV are more specific and objective. The HCSB had more translation footnotes. The HCSB, NKJV and NASB also have 15 disputed verses that are missing from the new CSB (Mt 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mk 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28; Lk 17:36; 23:17; Jn 5:4; Ac 8:37; 24:7; 28:29; Rm 16:24).

The CSB 2017 is a major revision of the HCSB 2009. Think NIV 1984 vs NIV 2011. Holman claims it is "literal as possible" and gender accurate. But the old HCSB was more literal and less masculine neutralized, like frequently dropping "he" and "sons" or adding "sisters" (1 Kings 8:38; 1 Chron. 12:32; Eph. 2:2; 5:6). Going more traditional, the CSB dropped all the unique features of the HCSB; "Yahweh," "Messiah," "slave," capitalized divine pronouns, glossary bullets... I found those translations and features to be more accurate and helpful.

IMPROVEMENTS
The CSB should color the verse numbers orange, so our eyes can just focus on the black words and cross refs, like in the Holman NKJV SB. It could incorporate a brief glossary into the concordance, like the NASB. Harmonies of the Kings and the Gospels would be helpful too, like in MacArthur's Study Bible. Or the harmonies could be incorporated into the pericopes, section titles with parallel cross references.

ALTERNATIVES
Holman also prints similar study Bibles in more accurate translations, like the NKJV or HCSB (if still available). U may save some green with ChristianBook (CBD) or Camelizer price alerts.

DISCLAIMER
Thanks to LifeWay and Holman for this review copy, very generous!

I own & have read multiple translations and stidy bibles. I have to say, all around this is neither the most accurate nor the most informitive. It does have its advantages but it doesn’t comlare to any of the Oxford Study Bibles out in the marketplace.
Translation:
I have read the NIV, NRSV, NAB, KJV, NKJV, & JPS, & now this CSB translations. I have to say the NRSV & the JPS are better. The wording in this CSB translation can be clunky & awkward, though their justification for the word choices, which the expclitly note seems reasonable, the reading & reciting does suffer for it.
The notes:
The notes and the words of the day are propabbly the highlight of this book, if you need a reason to by this version of the Bible this would be it. It explains the Hebrew and the Greek quite well, and the notes which is doubles as commentary are extensive.
The Commentary:
While the articles that fill the extra material are not great but the actual substance of the study materials is generally acurate, althought it should be pointed out that this Study Bible comes from an Evangelical & Literalist veiw of Biblical teaching, if that is not part of your practice it may inadvertaly turn you away.
The articles:
The extra biblical artcles that pad this edition are basicly junk. Historically, archaeologically, academicly, & theologicly inaccurate. A good & basic bible dictionary would probably do you more good than these articles by supposed learned professionals.
Maps & Extra Material:
The bonus content is quite good & very informitive.

Great Study Bible. Great Translation, very good study aids.