I liked this observation in the notes:
“Jonah’s rescue from death provides an analogy for the resurrection of Christ… The repentance
of the Ninevites anticipates the wide-scale repentance of Gentiles in the messianic era.”

But not this one: “Humor, as Jonah’s behavior is not only ignominious but also ridiculous.”

When the prophets (like Elijah, Elisha and Jonah) were sent to Gentiles, it was to provoke Israel to jealousy because they would not listen to these prophets. Jonah understood his ministry meant condemnation would come upon his own people.

James B. Jordan said, “I don’t think Jonah was some loyal nationalistic prophet. Jonah was in there every day complaining, criticising, prophesying, and denouncing the kingdom of northern Israel. It won’t do to say that Jonah didn’t want to take the Gospel to another nation. No, Jonah has something more profound in mind. Jonah was thinking about Deuteronomy 32:21. He didn’t want to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, because to do so was to bring about a curse on the Israelites.”

Paul was a more faithful Jonah, understanding this curse but obeying it nonetheless (Rom. 9:3; Acts 28:28)

The notes look good though. I’ll be buying one.

<i>Just wanted to let you know that Dr. Futato’s name is misspelled (’Furtato’).</i>

Thanks Joe, problem fixed now.

I was going to say that you say Futato and I say Furtato, but having been subject to many mis-spellings myself over the years I shall refrain.

Ooh! Ouch! I felt the sting of those ‘scare’ quotes, Ian.

The ESV Reformation Study Bible [which includes notes by some prominent Australian evangelicals, and was organised by R C Sproul] contains helpful theological notes, but also gives some useful background. This new one will have to be pretty good to equal or surpass it.

The NIV Archaeological Study Bible [emanating from Gordon-Conwell] is also well worth reading through. It has a little theology, but mainly gives background information.

No matter how good the ESV is [and it is good], it seems to me that the most important thing is to read several different translations, and to include in your arsenal translations of different types.

Prompted by one of our church’s elders, I have read through both of the above and also the TNIV, Good News Bible [Australian edition] and New Living Translation, 2nd edition, over the past few years.

Each one of these has been a great blessing. The New Jerusalem Bible is a useful one to read for comparison, partly because the translators did not attempt to stay in the tradition of Tyndale, the KJV, and the RSV as the NIV and ESV translators have chosen to do.

Andrew Reid says you should put your study Bible on a high shelf, where you can’t easily reach for it.

It is good to read an unadorned text, but we do also need to consult the work done by our brothers and sisters over the centuries, so that we don’t think we have just discovered something brilliant completely independently, and/or also completely miss what the text is saying.

And often, just when we think we are not being influenced by others, our reading is really the product of what we have been previously taught, whether or not we are currently reinforcing this by using helps in our study of God’s Word.

We recently studied Romans 11 in our Bible study group, and I found that three reputable conservative scholars had three different takes on what Paul means by “And so all Israel shall be saved.”

I don’t think I could have come to a conclusion on the passage, or even been aware of the possibilities, without their help.

At the moment I’m dipping into Tom Schreiner’s terrific NT Theology. He says that he firstly read the NT through several times and took notes, then made three drafts before he even consulted others, though he admit that his views have already been shaped by what he had previously studied and heard.

Gordon, I wasn’t sure where to ask you this, but here seems to be the place since here you expressed your misgivings about study Bibles in general (while being cautiously optimistic about the new ESV Study Bible).

What do you think of Al Mohler’s comments on how to get the most out of a study bible…

1. Read the text of the Bible first. Meditate upon the text and read it with care. Apply your own knowledge of the Bible in order to understand the particular text within its context and place in the biblical story-line. Consider and note other texts that come to your mind as directly related to this text. Read the text with full attention and conviction.

2. Look carefully at the cross-references linked within the study Bible to this text. Do not look only to the citations, but read the actual passages. This assistance is still the main contribution of the study Bible—making related and parallel passages more accessible. A first principle of interpreting the Bible is to interpret the Bible by the Bible. In other words, to allow the Bible to interpret itself text by text.

3. As a third step, take full advantage of the notes, articles, and other helps printed with the text. In some cases, short articles will help in understanding contested issues or matters that might otherwise require a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia. Where appropriate, maps can be very useful, along with tables of measurement and similar points of reference. The very best of the study Bibles will also offer some level of commentary within the notes.

Of course, it is the Bible that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible—not the study materials included in study Bibles. Therefore, judge the notes by the biblical text, and never the other way around. Where possible, use more than one study Bible in order to maximize this learning process.