I’m all about study Bibles, especially ones designed specifically for women, so I jumped at the opportunity to review the new Lifeway Women’s Bible. It’s jam-packed with extra features to assist with your understanding of the Bible content.
The first thing I noticed as soon as I unpacked it was the beautiful cover. It’s yellow leathertouch, which means it’s soft to the touch, and well crafted. The website lists the color as marigold, and it truly does make me think of a flowerbed of marigolds.
This Bible has the most extensive table of contents and detailed listing of features that I’ve ever seen in a Bible. Literally, eleven pages to help you find all the commentary, articles, character profiles, word studies, quotes, charts, and maps tucked inside the pages of scripture. They even have an alphabetical listing of the books of the Bible, which I’ve always thought would be useful to anyone who didn’t grow up doing Bible drills and memorizing the books of the Bible in order.
The major Bible women are all featured with character profiles that give a nice summary of their lives. This makes it easy to quickly find the women and get an overview of them.
My favorite feature of the Lifeway Women’s Bible is the charts, maps, and tables. Plenty of Bibles have resources like this, but they’re usually tucked away in the back where they’re not easily accessible. In this Bible, they’re placed close to the passages referenced. So, as you’re reading about a journey, you can look over at the next page and see a map of the journey.
With that said, I found some of the charts and maps lacking. For example, the chart with Abraham’s family was great, showing the marriages and children. But then under Judah it only says, “five sons” without naming them. I thought this was disappointing since Judah was in the lineage of Jesus, and I would assume you’d want to include those for future reference. This is especially odd considering it does list the names of Levi’s sons, Joseph’s sons, and Asher’s sons.
Also, in the map of the Israelite journey from Egypt to the Promised land, I couldn’t find the Red Sea. Now, I’m sure it’s there, and it’s just my eyesight, but wouldn’t you think it would be bold and highlighted? It’s a rather key geographical highlight of their journey. Nevertheless, the maps and charts are quite helpful.
If you’re looking for a deep study Bible, this will probably not be your first choice. But if you’re wanting a pretty Bible to take to church, the Lifeway Women’s Bible would be perfect. It’s easy to locate whatever you need, and you’ve got all the extra features right there on the page where you’re studying.
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Special thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy of the Bible. Opinions expressed are my own.
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