One of my favorite book reviews to do is of Bible
translations and ones that include study guides! It used to be that we’d have
to buy all sorts of other resources to study scripture deeper and to get
historical information or commentary.
Inside this new CSB Women’s Study Bible, so many wonderful
articles on doctrine and biblical womanhood, historical information, and 101 character profiles on women of the
bible are included. As a matter of fact, every woman in Scripture is listed in
the concordance.
As a woman, I appreciate that the publishers had women theologians,
authors, teachers and lay ministers as the primary contributors in the articles
written and study materials provided. It
encourages me to continue in my own study and pursuit of biblical knowledge.
Many of the articles highlight biblical womanhood, a
trait not promoted enough, but very God honoring. Many necessary topics identified
and addressed within the realm of “what does God say”, such as female identity,
motherhood, spiritual mothering, women’s worth and identity in Christ, and her
mission as daughter of the King.
The CSB translation, (stands for Christian Standard Bible)
has used the Optimal Equivalence translation philosophy. This is a marrying of
the more traditional Formal equivalence and the Dynamic or Functional
equivalence. This means that is has taken both the word for word literal
translations and the “thought for thought” style of communicating the meaning
and impact of a passage to translate. This has produced a very readable, but historically
faithful style of bible translation.
This compilation opens with an introduction on how to study
the bible. Dorothy Kelley Patterson highlights how to inductively observe, ask questions, view
passages as a whole and then how to apply and meditate on Scripture.
This Bible closes
with an extensive explanation section for all of its teaching helps as seen here and an
expansive concordance.
