Book Review: ESV Value Thinline Bible
Publisher: Crossway
Reading Level: Leisure
Pages: 1088
*Reviews of Bibles will depart from other reviews. They will include first person. They will address the feature content as it pertains directly to my theological positions.*
This review of Crossway’s ESV Value Thinline Bible (henceforth Value ESV) might be anticlimactic. There is nothing awe inspiring about the text itself. It is a plain Jane copy of the Bible in the English Standard Version. But my affection for this Bible knows few bounds. This is my second owned Value Bible. The first served through +80 weeks of teaching in Ephesians and many sermons only to meet its demise at the hands of a one year old.
That said, the construction of the Value ESV is not meant to last a lifetime. The paper is thin and my pages of Ephesians were eventually both stained with oils from my hands and falling apart. The binding is satisfactory and the cover adequately presents itself. The value is in its cost and general usefulness. I don’t need a study Bible with me for corporate worship or teaching and this Bible presents me a great copy of the inspired words of Scripture. The translation is modern enough to take steps towards easier public reading while remaining within a traditional of translation that is familiar for people raised in church. The textual notes themselves are sparse and un-impeding on a clean reading of the text.
In conclusion, there are certainly Bibles that will offer more than the Value ESV but for those interested in a simple copy of God’s word there is hardly a better value purchase.
