This is a keeper! Thomas Nelson has again provided me with a complimentary copy of one of their fabulous Bibles. This one is the NKJV Foundation Study Bible, Wide-Margin Edition, due for release on April 7, 2026. Just to give you the basics (from the publisher's description):
- Wide margins (1.3") on every page for insights and personal notetaking
- The full text of the New King James Version
- Concise study notes provide helpful comments on passages of Scripture
- 300+ theological notes draw attention to the most important doctrinal content (and are indexed in the back by location and title)
- NKJV translator's footnotes offer clarification and information about original language texts
- In-Text subject headings
- Words of Jesus printed in red
- Book introductions give background information
- 32,000+ end-of-page cross-references
- A concordance
- Satin ribbon marker and gilt-edged pages
- Presentation page
- 8-point type
- Full-color maps of Bible lands
The book I chose is brown Leathersoft™ and is available for pre-order through Amazon, Cokesbury, and christianbook.com.
Now that we've dispensed with the particulars, please allow me to give you my thoughts.
The format of the text is, I think, terrific. The study notes and cross-references are helpful, but the wide margins for notetaking are a dream come true! Of course, that perk necessitates smaller print and eliminates some of the supplementary articles; but if your eyes are still sharp (or your optometrist is) and you find additional articles to be superfluous, you will enjoy the freedom to journal or make your own notations a bit more liberally.
My greatest concern is with the quality of the book. The cover and its gold-stamped lettering leave me to wonder if it will stand up to normal wear and tear. The Leathersoft™ editions I have reviewed before seemed more durable; this is thin and stiff --think of the plastic, bank-issued checkbook covers of the past. I can almost picture the stitching unraveling, the cover cracking, and the print wearing off with regular use --particularly if this will be a Bible you carry to and from church. I would recommend keeping it as an "in place" Bible, for bedroom or family room, where durability would not be of great concern. If, however, Thomas Nelson would eventually offer this wide-margin edition in leather or a hardcover, I would heartily recommend it and probably give up my current "church" Bible for a copy of my own.
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