Orthodox Study Bible (Eastern Orthodox)

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The Orthodox Study Bible is a translation and annotation of the Christian Bible currently in production by clergy and laity within the Orthodox Church. The text of the New Testament & Psalms translation is currently the New King James Version accompanied by Orthodox viewpoint commentary. The Old Testament is being directly translated from the Septuagint [1] using the New King James Version as the template, and will be accompanied by Orthodox viewpoint commentary.

The first version, containing the Psalms and the New Testament, was published in 1993 by Thomas Nelson. It is currently being published by Conciliar Press.

The Old Testament has experienced some production delays. It was originally expected by Pascha (Easter) 2007, but now the Old and New Testaments have been further delayed until February of 2008.

[edit] Criticism

Despite positive endosements by such prominent bishops as Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) and Metropolitan Phillip (Antiochian Orthodox Church), some commentators have been critical of the results of the project that have been published so far. Critics tend to be concerned both with the version chosen (NKJV) and with the overall approach of the commentators. One review, printed in the journal Sourozh stated that the commentary "feels far too much like a piece of evangelical propaganda decked out in the trappings of Orthodoxy". It remains to be seen how future publications of the project will address these criticisms.

[edit] Alternate Projects

An alternative attempt to provide a traditional Orthodox study bible is The Orthodox New Testament by Holy Aposltes Convent in Buena Vista, Colorado. This work is currently printed in two volumes (Vol. I: The Gospels, Vol. II: Acts, Episltes, and Revelation). Criticism of this work has tended to object to the stilted and almost too-scholarly rendition of the scriptural text. The same publisher also provides a New Testament study software.