Oxford Annotated Bible

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The New Oxford Annotated Bible.

The Oxford Annotated Bible (OAB) is a study Bible published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). The notes and the study material feature in-depth academic research from non-denominational perspectives, with contributors from mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish traditions.

The original OAB and the first edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB), edited by Bruce Metzger and Roland Murphy, were based on the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. After the release of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible in the 1989, OUP published a second edition of the NOAB based on that translation. The NRSV was also the basis of the third edition (2000), edited by Michael Coogan, which is considered to be much more liberal and ecumenical in approach. For example, it calls the Old Testament the "Hebrew Bible" out of consideration to Jewish readers.

Some editions of the Oxford Annotated Bible also include the apocryphal and deuterocanonical books used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek and Slavonic Orthodox Churches, as well as churches of the Anglican Communion (including The Episcopal Church); these editions are titled the "[New] Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha".

The third edition is disliked by many fundamentalist and evangelical Protestants as well as traditional Catholics. They object to the assertion that passages in the Old Testament traditionally seen as referring to Jesus do not do so, and to the claim that 1 Corinthians 6 and other passages do not refer to homosexuality in their condemnations. Another objection is raised to the OAB because the editors adhere to contemporary views of Biblical criticism, and thus call into question the authorship of some books.

Despite controversy over its content, the NOAB is widely accepted for numerous reasons. Aesthetically, it is beautifully designed and typeset. The text of the Bible appears in the upper portion of the page in two columns with the annotations in a separate section at the bottom of the page. The flow of the verses is undisturbed by subheadings or cross references. The only superscripts are those that appear in the NRSV text. This arrangement allows for reading of the passages without focusing on the annotations.

Regarding content, the essays at the end highlight many topics, such as Bible translations, early Jewish history and the geography of the Bible. The NOAB also features maps of the Holy Land during various time periods. Because of its many features, the NOAB is now commonly assigned in collegiate classes about the Bible.

In addition to the NRSV editions, OUP continues to make the 1973 and 1977 RSV editions available.