The ''Orthodox Study Bible'' (OSB) is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

study Bible published by Thomas Nelson in 2008. It uses an English translation of the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

by St. Athanasius Academy for the Old Testament and the

New King James Version The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

for the New Testament.

Translation

The original edition of the OSB, released in 1993, included only the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

and

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

, both

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

. Priest Seraphim Johnson criticized the use of the NKJV translation, particularly for the Psalms. The 1993 edition was also criticized by

Archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

Ephrem for its commentary feeling more evangelical than Orthodox. The NKJV text of the Psalms was replaced in the 2008 edition by the Psalms of the new OSB translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. The 2008 OSB's Old Testament is a translation of the

developed by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology. The translation is based upon the Alfred Rahlfs' edition of the Septuagint using the NKJV as the base text, being altered where different from the Septuagint, and the Brenton edition as additional reference material. The 2008 OSB's New Testament is the NKJV, which translates the Greek ''

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

'' used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The overview committee included fourteen archbishops, metropolitans, and bishops from various Orthodox jurisdictions, as well as eight priests and seven lay scholars.

Study materials

The translations of the Old Testament and New Testament are accompanied by commentary from the Orthodox viewpoint. Articles provide guidance and support for many facets of the Orthodox faith which can be confusing or unknown to those unacquainted with the Church. There is a comparative of list of contents, side-by-side with the Roman Catholic canon and the generally accepted Protestant canon. The OSB addresses such questions as: "Why is the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer ...

essential to the Faith?", "Who were the

Seventy Disciples The seventy disciples (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητές, ''hebdomikonta mathetes''), known in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκον� ...

?", "How is an Orthodox understanding of the Bible different from a Roman Catholic or Protestant understanding?". In addition, the OSB provides basic daily prayers, a

lectionary A lectionary () is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaism, Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, ...

for personal use, and reproductions of

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, saints, and angels. Although especially ...

in its pages.

Response

Although not an official text of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, the publication has received positive endorsements from such prominent bishops as Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh (

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOArch; ), headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current Primate (bishop), primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. The Greek Orthodox ...

), Metropolitan Phillip (Antiochian Orthodox Church) and Metropolitan Theodosius (

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

Notes

References

Citations Bibliography * {{English Bible translation navbox 2008 non-fiction books 2008 in Christianity Bible translations into English Eastern Orthodoxy Study Bibles

Translation

Study materials

Response

See also

Notes

References