The ''ESV Study Bible'' (abbreviated as the ESVSB) is a study Bible published by

Crossway Crossway (previously known by its parent ministry Good News Publishers) is a not-for-profit evangelical Christian publishing ministry headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. Clyde and Muriel Dennis founded Good News Publishers in 1938, working out o ...

. Using the text of the

English Standard Version The English Standard Version (ESV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently pu ...

, the ESVSB features study notes from a perspective of "classic

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

orthodoxy, in the historic stream of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

Contributors

The ''ESV Study Bible'' features the work of "95 evangelical Christian scholars and teachers." The list of contributors found in the ESVSB contains the following notable biblical scholars: * Clifford John Collins (Professor of Old Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary) *

Wayne A. Grudem Wayne A. Grudem (born 1948) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, seminary professor, and author. He is a professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. Biography Early life and education Grude ...

(Research Professor, Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary) *

J. I. Packer James Innell Packer (22 July 192617 July 2020) was an English-born Canadian evangelical theologian, cleric and writer in the low-church Anglican and Calvinist traditions. Having been considered as one of the most influential evangelicals in N ...

(Board of Governors Professor of Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada) *

Vern Sheridan Poythress Vern Sheridan Poythress (born 1946) is an American philosopher, theologian, New Testament scholar and mathematician, who is currently the New Testament chair of the ESV Oversight Committee. He is also the Distinguished Professor of New Testament ...

(Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Westminster Theological Seminary; Editor, Westminster Theological Journal) *

Thomas R. Schreiner Thomas R. Schreiner (born April 24, 1954) is an American Reformed Baptist New Testament and Pauline scholar. He is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He previously ...

(Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) *

Gordon Wenham Gordon J. Wenham (; 21 May 1943 – 13 May 2025) was a Reformed British Old Testament scholar and writer. He authored several books about the Bible. Tremper Longman called him "one of the finest evangelical commentators today." Early life and ...

(Old Testament Tutor at Trinity College, Bristol; Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, University of Gloucestershire)

Reception

Commercial performance

The ''ESV Study Bible'' was first published in October 2008, having been supported by a $1 million campaign. The first printing of the ESVSB, consisting of 100,000 copies, sold out prior to completion. Within the first six months of availability, 300,000 copies had been printed in total. The ESVSB eventually went on to sell over 1 million copies.

Critical response

Andy Naselli, writing in the ''

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society The ''Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society'' (''JETS'') is a refereed theological journal published by the Evangelical Theological Society. It was first published in 1958 as the ''Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society'', and ...

'', praised the ''ESV Study Bible'':

Awards

In 2009, the

Evangelical Christian Publishers Association The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade association whose member companies are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres ...

named the ''ESV Study Bible'' as Christian Book of the Year. This was the first time in the award's 30-year history to be given to a study Bible. In the same year, ''

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

'' named the ''ESV Study Bible'' as Book of the Year.

Use in other languages

Chinese Study Bible

The ''Chinese Study Bible'' (CSB) is a study Bible edition adapted from the study notes found in the ''ESV Study Bible''. The CSB uses the ''

Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation The ''Chinese Union Version'' (CUV) () is the predominant translation of the Bible into Chinese used by Chinese Protestants, first published in 1919. The CUV is currently available in both traditional (CUVT) and simplifed (CUVS) written Chines ...

'' (CUVNP) for its Bible text. The CSB sold more than 6,500 copies on its first day of publication. In 2012, the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England. ...

(UBS) arranged for Fu Xianwei, chairman of the

Three-Self Patriotic Movement The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church (). The National Committee of the Three-Self Patrio ...

, to visit

. After seeing the content and presentation of the ''ESV Study Bible'', Xianwei sought to publish a Chinese edition. In 2017, the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...

, in collaboration with Crossway, published the ''Chinese Study Bible''. Led by UBS Global Translation Adviser Simon Wong, "a team of local reviewers, who included seminary lecturers and experienced pastors, was formed to rigorously review and adapt the content for a Chinese readership." Wong served as chief editor of the project. In 2022, Crossway published a hardback edition of the CSB. As of 2023, the CSB is the only study Bible available in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In 2022, Wong stated, "If we had started the Study Bible project two years later, I don’t know if it would ever be finished... The situation in mainland China has progressively tightened, especially in the past two to three years."

References

External links

Official webpage
{{Portal bar, Bible 2008 in Christianity 2017 in Christianity 2008 non-fiction books 2017 non-fiction books Study Bibles Evangelical Christian literature