I was recommended by some of my friends to study NIV Archaeological Study Bible in order to truly understand the Bible from a historical and archaeological point of view. I purchased the same from Amazon without wasting time. However, I was disappointed to find some factually incorrect information provided in the article on "Festivals of Israel" at page 186 under Leviticus 23 chapter during my first week of its study.

The article says that the Feast of Passover was celebrated on tenth day of the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. The Bible clearly states (Lev.23:5-8, Exo.12:6-20, Num.28:16-17) that the Passover was to be observed on the fourteenth of the first Jewish month (i.e. Nisan) when the Passover lamb was killed before the sunset and was to be consumed the same day after sunset which is the 15 of Nisan marking the beginning of Feast of Unleavened Bread, as Jewish days are measured from evening to evening. On the tenth of Nisan, each household only was to take a lamb of the first year on the tenth day of the first Jewish month known as Nisan and set it aside until the fourteenth day (Exodus 12:3-6). The article then says that the Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately followed the Passover which according to the article must be 11 of Nisan which again is a factually incorrect statement. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated on 15 of Nisan as mentioned in the above Bible references. Then the article goes on to give a misleading statement that the Offering of Firstfruits, a one day feast, occurred in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a seven day feast, without specifying its exact observance day. According to the Bible, it was to be celebrated the day after the Sabbath during the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread on which the Priest was to wave a sheaf of the firstfruits of harvest before the Lord (Lev.23:9-14).

Such irresponsible comments in a study bible like NIV Archaeological Study Bible not only raise serious questions over the scholarship of the experts involved in writing these articles but also lessen the confidence of the readers who take everything written in the Study bibles to be true and factual. Though most of the articles written in the Bible are very helpful, informative and accurate, there may well be deficiencies in some of the articles which only careful study can reveal in future. A serious student of the scriptures therefore must examine everything like the people of Berea whom the Bible refers to as "Noble" for "they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11). Then, it is also written that "Test everything, Hold on to the good." (1 Thess. 5:21).

One of the prominent reasons for such casual approach shown towards the Festivals of Israel is that the Church has never fully understood its Hebrew roots, into which it was grafted by the Lord (Rom. 11:17) and hence, never really recognised the role of these Feasts of Israel in human salvation which the LORD calls His own Feasts in Lev.23:4. Instead of giving these feasts their due respect, honour and contemplation, we tend to ignore and dismiss them as a mere tradition. We have still not yet understood that the Lord has hidden His salvation plan in His Feasts. The christians are simply not aware that all the Spring Feasts of the Lord were fulfilled at Christ's first coming, on the exact day of the feast while all the Fall Feasts of the Lord point to the second advent of Christ, with the Feast of Trumpets, the first of the fall feasts, signifying the rapture of His Bride. If one searches in the Scriptures, he/she can see that Jesus Christ was crucified on the Passover during the Feast of Passover and of Unleavened Bread; that He raised from the dead on the first day of week on the day of Firstfruits; and that the Holy Spirit was poured out on His Church on the day of Pentecost, another prominent Feast of the Lord. I

Whether you are new to reading the Bible or well experienced, this is an excellent new version well worth keeping in your library. The extra historical information given (text, photos, etc.) makes this an interesting Bible to read.
John
[...]

A friend got me started on reading through the New Testament, which whetted my appetite for reading through the Old Testament and then the whole bible, which I did first time round using the ESV Reformation Study Bible, a terrific theological resource.

I'm now reading through again using this Zondervan Archaeological Study Bible, and finding it a great help to understanding the world of the bible, the cultures, history and to a lesser extent, geography. [I find it hard to make sense of all those unfamiliar place names, despite the quality maps in the back of is bible.]

Like other reviewers, I'm sorry the editors did not use the TNIV, but the NIV is still an excellent translation, merely needing a little tinkering with here and there, as was done by the TNIV translators.

The only text I find too small is the small font used for identifying verse numbers and footnotes, but the rest of the text is fine, for these eyes.

I think every bible reader would benefit from using this study bible for learning more about the background of the times and places where the biblical books were written, but a theological resource such as the ESV Reformation Study Bible is also a great help for understanding the unifying message of the bible.

Highly recommended.

This Bible does not claim that the Creation and Fall occurred at 2200BC, contrary to a previous review (June 7th 2006). That is clearly a misreading of the chart on page 2, which (sadly enough) does not provide us with the dates for those. (I'm not sure who will claim that creation is 4200 years old, but I don't have an MDiv!)

As for my opinion, I've only had this Bible for a few days, but I do like it so far -- even with the oft-maligned NIV. 2300 pages X small typography = TONs of content (if your eyes are up to the challenge)! Actually the verse notes are the only text that I find really small, but I also find their content to be very good. (I wonder if it's intended as typographical poetry: to make it a little bit of a challenge, like a dig? Well, probably not -- but I do get a feeling like that when studying it!)

The verse notes seem to be entirely focused on providing historical/cultural context, rather than interpretation. The articles seem very balanced, with a scholarly tone, in their treatment of textual difficulties for example. The list of article contributors in fact looks very impressive, from my admittedly superficial and institution-snobbish point-of-view! (i.e. Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Harvard, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Southern, Gordon-Conwell. . .)

On the other hand, though, I did pay the full fifty dollars, which shows one how far to trust my judgement!

If you own another version of the bible I would highly recommend purchasing this version for the historical commentary alone. I am a graduate divinity student and it is an invaluable resource. Admittedly, the NIV translation is not perfect but the footnotes and commentary are without equal. Furthermore, the commentary and footnotes are hermeneutically and exegetically more "to the point" and actually more scholarly than the footnotes in some of the allegedly more academically accepted versions of the bible. The cross referencing of verses is also more extensive than most bibles I have used. I have been faulted for using this text as a primary biblical reference, however the footnotes and commentary simply make it too valuable to ignore. You cannot call yourself a serious student of scripture without having access to this text.